Reading Psalms Messianically
Psalms: Songs of God's People • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 5 viewsWhat do the Psalms have to say about the Messiah?
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We are continuing our series in the book of Psalms.
We have seen that the Psalms are prayers we can pray to God.
They have words that be prayed by us in any situation in life.
Today I want to consider that when we read the Psalms we can read them Messianically.
That means they can read with the Messiah in mind, looking forward to Jesus Christ.
Let us start today by reading Psalm 2 together with the Messiah, God’s Anointed in mind. Which we know to be Jesus - Chair Bible page 363
Why are the nations restless
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers conspire together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,
“Let’s tear their shackles apart
And throw their ropes away from us!”
He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
“But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”
“I will announce the decree of the Lord:
He said to Me, ‘You are My Son,
Today I have fathered You.
‘Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth as Your possession.
‘You shall break them with a rod of iron,
You shall shatter them like earthenware.’ ”
Now then, you kings, use insight;
Let yourselves be instructed, you judges of the earth.
Serve the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way,
For His wrath may be kindled quickly.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Are you ready for the message God has for us?
Cool let’s dig in!
With the idea of the Messiah in the Psalms C.S. Lewis wrote, “Two figures meet us in the Psalms that of the sufferer and that of the conquering and liberating king. Our Lord identified Himself with both these characters.”
So what we can take from this is the Psalms can teach us a bout Jesus and His part in God’s plan.
WE first need to remember that in the Psalms My Anoinoted, translates the Hebrew word Messiah.
This will help us going forward
Even Jesus Himself stated that the Psalms prophesied about Him Luke 24:44
Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
Jews were taught to read the Psalms this way as they were waiting for the appearing of the Messiah. Like Jesus they knew they talked about God’s anointed.
What the Psalms Teach about Messiah
What the Psalms Teach about Messiah
Psalm 22 is a great example of reading the Psalms with Messiah in mind.
According to Psalm 22:8
“Turn him over to the Lord; let Him save him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”
They divide my garments among them,
And they cast lots for my clothing.
These are direct predictions of the crucifixion. We find their fulfillment record in the Gospels.
Psalm 22:8 is found in Matthew 27:43
he has trusted in God; let God rescue Him now, if he Takes pleasure in him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’ ”
Psalm 22:18 is pointed out by John as fulfilled at the cross in John 19:24
So they said to one another, “Let’s not tear it, but cast lots for it, to decide whose it shall be.” This happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled: “They divided My garments among themselves, and they cast Lots for My clothing.” Therefore the soldiers did these things.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “David himself may have once prayed this Psalm in his own song. If so he did this as the king, anointed by God and therefore persecuted by people from whom Jesus Christ would descend.”
We find the fulfillment of these words in the actions and words of those who persecuted Jesus while he was on the cross.
Even the prophet Zechariah writing a prophecy from God in Chapter 9:10 quoted from Psalm 72:8.
And I will eliminate the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
And the bow of war will be eliminated.
And He will speak peace to the nations;
And His dominion will be from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
May he also rule from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
The date of Zechariah’s prophecy is uncertain.
However, the quotation shows us that reading the Psalms Messianically is a very ancient way of reading the Psalms and even God referenced them in prophecy.
Gordon Wenham in The Psalter Reclaimed wrote: “The early Jewish translations of the Psalms into Greek and Aramaic indicate that Jews understood the Psalms Messianically too.Even Jesus opponents the Pharisees accepted the Psalms Messianically.”
Consider Matthew 22:44-46
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
Until I put Your enemies under your feet” ’?
“Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to offer Him a word in answer, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him any more questions.
This is from Psalm 110:1
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
The Christian Tradition
The Christian Tradition
As time went on the early Christians picked up this tradition of reading the Psalms with the Messiah in mind - expand
Justin Martyr an early church father who lived between 100-165 AD cited Psalm 2,22,24,68,72, and 110 as Messianic Psalms.
Athanasius a church father from the 4th century cites Psalm 2,22,88,69,135,50, and 72 as Messianic. He also saw the ascension of Jesus in Psalm 24,47,10.
Augustine another church father noted the Messiah prophecy in Psalms like Psalm 3.
Martin Luther saw different collections of Psalms as focusing on different aspects of the Messiah’s work.
John Calvin also saw the Psalms as referring to the historical David and the future King, Christ.
So this reading the Psalms through the lens of Jesus as the Messiah is not some radical new idea, but has a long wonderful tradition.
Thoughts on Reading Messianically
Thoughts on Reading Messianically
Psalm 2 is the first of several royal Psalms that open and closes the Psalms.
Consider the heading of Psalm 72 - The Reign of The Righteous King; A Psalm of Solomon.
No note the last verse Psalm 72:20
The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
This implies that though Solomon wrote it, it is likely a prayer David offered for his son Solomon.
The Spiritual fulfillment of this prayer was not Solomon but the Messiah.
Recall that book 3 of the Psalms contains many of the lament Psalms, the most explicit is Psalm 89.
Written by Ethan the Ezrahite and is a Psalm about the Lord’s Covenant with David and Israel’s affliction
This Psalm is the end of book 3.
It talks of the threatening of royal aspirations that were contained in the closing of book 2.
Yet through Psalm 89 in all of its darkness shines a ray of hope in the coming of Messiah.
Psalm 89 recalls the promise made to the house of David Psalm 89:35-39
“Once I have sworn by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.
“His descendants shall endure forever,
And his throne as the sun before Me.
“It shall be established forever like the moon,
And a witness in the sky is faithful.”
Selah
But You have rejected and refused,
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
You have repudiated the covenant of Your servant;
You have profaned his crown in the dust.
Then comes the fall of David’s house and the shame of an exiled king we Psalm 89:41-42
All who pass along the way plunder him;
He has become a disgrace to his neighbors.
You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
Can this be how all this ends?
Where are Your former acts of favor, Lord,
Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
Then note how the Psalm ends - Psalm 89:52
Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
That is how book 3 ends. How will God fulfill his stadning promise to David’s house. Thus the LORD is blessed forever!
Book 4 then looks back to the Mosaic era by recounting the history of Israel’s disobedience and God’s forgiveness.
Giving the reader of the Psalms hope that God will do it again
The Lord reigns, He is clothed with majesty;
The Lord has clothed and encircled Himself with strength.
Indeed, the world is firmly established; it will not be moved.
For the Lord is a great God
And a great King above all gods,
In the midst of this is a reminder of God’s sovereignty.
His sovereignty is universal
Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved;
He will judge the peoples fairly.”
The Lord will stretch out Your strong scepter from Zion, saying,
“Rule in the midst of Your enemies.”
We learn in the Psalms that God’s oath is unchanging Psalm 110:4
The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind,
“You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek.”
If God being sovereign keeps His oath to Melchizedek then it can be expected that God will keep His oath to David Psalm 132:11-12
The Lord has sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“I will set upon your throne one from the fruit of your body.
“If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will sit upon your throne forever.”
Psalm 132 contains a condition clause to this oath Psalms 132:12
“If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will sit upon your throne forever.”
Now we see the explanation for the interruption of God’s promise, but it does not rule out the hope for restoration - Psalm 132:14
“This is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
“I will make the horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed.
“I will clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his crown will gleam.”
As we read on in the Psalms we come to the optimism of Psalm 145:1
I will exalt You, my God, the King,
And I will bless Your name forever and ever.
Psalm 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The Lord is faithful in His words,
And holy in all His works.
Carrying over the hope of revival for the house of David.
The Jews could have easily read the Psalms not just as failed prayers for the old house of David, but as failed prophecies.
Remember Royal Psalms are not just prophecies but also as laments.
This is where the New Testament comes in and sheds light.
We saw this with Psalm 22 which Jesus quoted from while on the cross.
Through his groaning Jesus was fulfilling what the Psalms had written about Him
The Messiah in David’s Psalms
The Messiah in David’s Psalms
There are 73 Psalms with the tile “A Psalm of David,” or something similar.
13 Psalms have titles that explain the circumstances Psalm 34’s title: “The Lord, A Provider and The One Who Rescues Me. A Psalm of David, when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.”
The historical tidbits in the titles refer to problems in David’s life - Psalm 59, “A Mikhtam of David, when Saul sent men and they watched the house of David in order to kill him”
What these Psalms reveal is someone in trouble
A similar picture is seen in other Psalms of David.
They are a mixture of laments during distress and thanksgiving after rescue.
These Psalms record the appeals for help by a righteous man persecuted by his enemies Psalm 7:8-10
The Lord judges the peoples;
Vindicate me, Lord, according to my righteousness and my integrity that is in me.
Please let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous;
For the righteous God puts hearts and minds to the test.
My shield is with God,
Who saves the upright in heart.
In some of the titles we see David as the plaintiff, the aggrieved party who comes to plead his case before the righteous judge.
When we look at the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel we could see a different David than what might be seen in the Psalms.
In a number of incidents David did not act quite as honorably as seen in the Psalms.
Over all we see David squandering the promises of God, then there were times we see he did not recognize his failings and seek God’s forgiveness.
If we put the two pictures together the ideal king with universal sovereignty and the innocent suffering David we arrive at a picture of David who through suffering inherits a universal kingdom.
This is a vision of Jesus and his kingdom.
He explained this to His disciples - Luke 24:26-27
Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to come into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the Prophets, He explained to them the things written about Himself in all the Scriptures.
Gordon Wenham, “This seems to me an excellent case for fuller meaning of the Psalms long after it was first written and the crucifixion had been seen.”
Conclusion
Reading through the Psalms Messianically can help us deepen our understanding of the ministry and person of Jesus.
We can gain understanding of God’s eternal plan to redeem and reconcile people to Himself through His Messiah.
Also seeing God fulfill his promises to David gives us hope.
He kept His promises then, he keeps his promises now!
Let us pray.