CHRIST IN THE PSALMS

The Bible isn’t two distinct Books – the Old and the New Testaments – but one integrated revelation of God. It couldn’t be of men. Why not? The two together reflect an uncanny harmony which couldn’t have been replicated by the multitude of Biblical authors if they had been writing without the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Nor is this unity a surface unity, one that is easily humanly manufactured in order to prove that God is the ultimate author. Instead, it is a unity observed on a deep and cryptic level that defies human invention.

In this chapter, I hope to demonstrate a little of this phenomenon, and Christ Himself has given us license to do this very thing:

·       You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:39-40; ESV)

That the Psalms are about Jesus is the very thing that I hope to demonstrate in this chapter. Jesus mentioned that the Psalms bore witness to Him and also had to be fulfilled:

·       Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. (Luke 24:44-45)

If our minds are opened to this reality, we can find great encouragement and one more reason to regard Scripture as the Word of God.

Usually, when we think of Messianic passages in the Psalms, which the New Testament identifies as fulfilled, these verses are likely to come to mind:

·       Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against his Anointed [or “Messiah”]…I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me [the Messiah], “You are my Son; today I have begotten you [from the dead]. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.” (Psalm 2:1-2, 7-8; fulfilled according to Acts 4:25-26; 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5)

Jehovah’s Witnesses wrongly claim that to be “begotten” always means to be birthed into existence. However, this passage will not allow them to do this. The Father informs His Son “Today I have begotten You.” However, if He was just birthed into existence, the Father couldn’t have said this to Him. Besides, the nations had been plotting against the Messiah even before He was begotten. Instead, the context argues that “begotten” is associated with being made the heir to everything that the Father owns.

Psalm 16 is another Psalm which the NT identifies as Messianic:

·       Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my [David’s] soul to Sheol, or let your holy one [ the Messiah] see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Psalm 16:9-11; Acts 2:25-28, 31; 13:35)

Both Peter and Paul cite this Psalm as a prophecy that the Christ will be raised from the dead, since His body will not decay as David’s had.

Psalms 22, 40, and 69 picture the crucifixion:

·       My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?...they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots…I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you. (Psalm 22:1, 18, 22; Matthew 27:35, 46; Mark 15:34; John 19:24)

However, there are other portraits of Jesus, which I find far more impressive, although often overlooked. We sometimes find perplexing divine statements. For instance, the Psalms reveal that God didn’t delight in animal sacrifices (Psalm 51:16-17; 40:6). This is strange because the entire sacrificial system demanded these sacrifices. It was through these sacrifices that Israelites were reconciled to their God, as He had required from them. Besides, the aroma of the offerings was described as pleasing to the Lord (Exodus 29:18, 25).

This sounds like a contradiction. How is it possible that God was both pleased and not pleased by these offerings? The answer seems to be that He was not pleased by the offerings themselves. His creation had been one where there was no death, and His future kingdom would be one of complete peace where no pain or death will be found. Therefore, animal sacrifice is not His ideal. Nor should we expect that He would find this institution satisfying.

What then could be pleasing about the offering? Simply what it symbolized – the ultimate and future offering that would accomplish reconciliation:

·       For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I [the Christ] have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” (Hebrews 10:4-7; quoting Psalm 40:5-7 in the LXX)

All of the animal sacrifices had been pointing to the Christ. Once He accomplished His purpose, these sacrifices were no longer acceptable. They had merely served as preparation for the one Sacrifice that could reconcile humankind to God.

Christ is the key who brings harmony to the Scriptures. Without Him, we are left with a contradiction that God can be pleased and not be pleased simultaneously.

Here is another apparent contradiction that Christ resolves. Under the Mosaic Covenant, the Levites had been designated to perform the sacrifices that brought the mercy of God upon the people. However, God is identified as the Redeemer in many verses, especially in the Psalms. Why must God redeem or provide the atonement when He had designated the Levites to redeem?

·       When iniquities prevail against me, you [God] atone for our transgressions. (Psalm 65:3)

What was the matter with the Mosaic sacrificial system that God would have to make the atonement? And what price would He be paying? This would remain a mystery until the Cross.

To add to this mystery, it seems that the Israelites were never able to make a sufficient offering for their sins.

·       Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit…But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. (Psalm 49:7-9, 15)

This too is perplexing without reference to the Savior. Wouldn’t animal sacrifices buy redemption? Evidently not! Why then the Mosaic system if it couldn’t accomplish what it seemed to claim to accomplish? After all, even the Torah claimed that God would have to atone for the people:

·       "Rejoice, O nations, with His people; For He will avenge the blood of His servants, And will render vengeance on His adversaries, And will atone for His land and His people." (Deuteronomy 32:43; NASB)

Once again, Jesus is the key to reconcile this paradox. No amount of animal sacrifices or Levites could atone for our sins or cleanse our conscience. Only the blood of Jesus (Hebrews 9:13-15), the atonement and redemption of God, could accomplish this.

Why then the Mosaic sacrificial system? It served as our schoolmaster that would led us to Jesus (Galatians 3:22-24).

We find Jesus in some Psalms, perhaps the most poignant of all, which seem to be entirely opposed to the Gospel, for example:

·       LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the LORD; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved. (Psalm 15:1-5)

This Psalm totally depressed me. Why? It informed me that I didn’t qualify to have a saving relationship with the Lord. I wasn’t blameless and I fell short of all the other requirements. Therefore, I had no confidence that such a God would receive me.

Later, I painfully encountered its sister Psalm:

·       The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation… Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory! (Psalm 24:1-10)

This Psalm starts like Psalm 15, asking the question, “Who can dwell with the Lord,” followed by demanding and depressing moral requirements. Once again, I realized that I lacked the necessary “clean hands and a pure heart.” Struck out again!

However, I began to see that there is more here. The Psalm dramatically shifts at verse seven: “Lift up your heads, O gates…Oh ancient doors.” It seemed as if the gates into the Temple, the place to find the mercy and forgiveness of God, were impassable. No one possessed the necessary entrance qualifications! However, there suddenly was the call to the gates to be lifted up! Why? There arrived another who did possess the necessary qualifications to pass through gate into the presence of God, “Yahweh.”

Here is where it really got strange. Who is this person who had the qualifications to come before Yahweh? The King of glory! The Psalm answers this question twice to address the two earlier questions, “Who shall ascend… who shall stand in his holy place? Again, the King of glory is the answer, but who is he? The Psalm answers, “The LORD [“Yahweh”] of hosts, he is the King of glory!”

What? Yahweh is coming into the presence of Yahweh? This must be a contradiction, right? Wrong! The Son of God is also God, Yahweh. He alone is worthy to come into the presence of His Father. The rest of us are utterly unworthy (Luke 17:10). We fall far short of the necessary qualifications.

How exhilarating! I no longer need to be perfect. Instead, my Savior is perfect, and He has gone into the presence of the Father on my behalf to liberate me from sin, guilt, and ultimately, my damnation.

In the Book of Revelation, the Apostle John was given a similar vision where no one was found worthy to come before the Lord to open the scroll. As the gates had been impassable because all were unworthy, John was shown that there was no possible way to proceed with the glorious plan of God, because no one was found worthy:

·       Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (Revelation 5:1-5)

However, there was one piece of the equation that John was not seeing – the Lamb of God who is worthy to unlock the Father’s plan. It is only through Him that the Gospel could go forth.

I now love these two Psalms. Why? They remind me of my hopeless condition and the Lamb of God who turned all of this around.

How else can we understand these Psalms! The Jewish Study Bible blandly comments on Psalm 15 that “This may be considered a Psalm of instruction, teaching the listener to become an individual who shall never be shaken.” (p. 1297)

Fat chance! Instead, if we are honest about ourselves, without the “King of glory” coming on our behalf, we are relegated to one hopeless sobbing heap. What is the alternative? To live lives in the darkness of denial about our true status, condemned to always trying to prove our worthiness.