A Recap of Our Psalm Series
Prior to our Advent series that traced the theme of offspring through the Bible, we were in the middle of a mini-series through the book of Psalms. To help us get back into the mode of the psalms, I have decided to write a little recap for us all (me included!).
You may remember that we were approaching the psalms from a particular angle. We are trying to read and hear them as prayers and praises of Jesus, himself. We know that Jesus read and sang the psalms, and so some questions we are seeking to answer are: how would these psalms relate to the life of Jesus? How would he hear them and apply them? How can hearing them this way help us to know and better understand our Savior?
The New Testament authors are often placing the psalms in the mouth of Jesus in interesting, and sometimes, startling ways. At an evening service in October, we walked through the book of Hebrews together, looking at how the author applied certain passages to Christ and how he places some psalms on the lips of the Father and the Spirit. These are absolutely fascinating to pursue, and as we become aware of this, we notice that it happens all over the NT (we will be looking at a number of these passages in Sunday school, this Sunday; don't miss it!).
Copying the NT authors’ practice, the early Church often read the psalms in this light and would relate them to specific events in the life of Christ. Some of the easy ones that come to mind are Psalm 55 (Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane), Psalm 22 (Jesus on the cross), Psalm 16 (related to the resurrection), and Psalm 110 (related to his ascension).
At the beginning of our psalm series, I gave the illustration of the backwards brain bike and how learning to ride it requires a restructuring of your brain, which can open up a whole new dimension in bike riding. I mentioned that hearing the psalms as prayers of Jesus may require a similar process and may open up a new dimension to the psalms for us. Looking at the psalms from this perspective brings fuller meaning and, in a sense, leads to their ultimate fulfillment.
Some psalms may seem difficult, or even inappropriate, to relate to Christ, especially as a prayer of his. The one that probably comes to the mind of many is Psalm 51. This is David’s prayer of repentance for his sin with Bathsheba. Richard Belcher addresses this very issue in his book, The Messiah and the Psalms, saying, “How can Jesus, who is without sin, pray this psalm of confession? Jesus can pray Psalm 51 as our representative and priest before God.” 1 This highlights for us that as we seek to hear the psalms in this way, it may take a little thinking on our part to hear them properly.
I appreciated the way that Mark Jones expressed this in his little book, The Prayers of Jesus. After quoting portions of Psalm 71 and 17, he makes these comments: “If these words are true of the psalmist, how much more are they true of the Son of God!” “If David could say these words with integrity, how much more the One who was without sin!” 2 These statements from Jones seem to be a helpful way for us to understand what we are trying to do in our psalm series. If the psalmists could pray the psalms, how much more could our Lord Jesus!
So far, we have looked at Psalms 139, 55, and 22 from this perspective. In Psalm 139, we sought to hear it as an overarching posture of Jesus to his Father. In some ways, it stands as a good summary of his life of faith while walking the earth. We heard him enjoying sweet fellowship with his Father (139:1-12), praising (extolling) the Father and Spirit for the wondrous body given to him (139:13-18), and engaging his heart in full devotion to his Father (139:19-24).
In Psalm 55, we saw how fitting this psalm is for Jesus’ time in the garden of Gethsemane. We can hear him lamenting (complaining) to his Father as it seemed that the whole world was crashing in upon him (55:1-15). However, his complaint turns to confidence in his Father’s provision and care (55:16-21, 23a). And then, lastly, we heard his counsel to his own heart (and ours) to cast his (our) burden upon his Father (55:22, 23b). Jesus had been betrayed and was soon to walk, willingly, into the hands of his enemies, which will lead him to the cross. This psalm could stretch through his time of arrest and trial as well.
Finally, in Psalm 22, we come to the famous psalm that Jesus quoted, while hanging on the cross. In this psalm we hear of the hatred of the world and how he is surrounded by his enemies who mock him as he experiences unimaginable pain and suffering (22:7-8, 12-18). And in the midst of this, we hear the hush (silence) of the Father as Jesus cries out for deliverance (22:1-6, 9-11, 19-21). The psalm ends with the great hope that the Son has that his Father will ultimately deliver him, and his life and death will have incredible meaning and purpose, resulting in him leading his people in worship for the great salvation that has been wrought by the Lord (22:22-31).
As is probably obvious by now, we are using the psalms to walk through some major events in the life of Jesus. We’ve highlighted his incarnation (Psalm 139), time in the garden (Psalm 55), and time on the cross (Psalm 22). We are not done with his time on the cross, as we will be in Psalm 88 this Sunday. By the end of our series, we will have made it through his resurrection, ascension, Second coming, and the New Heavens and New Earth.
I'm really looking forward to getting back into the psalms! See you all on Sunday!
1 Richard Belcher, The Messiah and the Psalms, (Scotland: Christian Focus, 2006), 87.
2 Mark Jones, The Prayers of Jesus: Listening to and Learning from Our Savior, (Wheaton, IL: Crossway), 30,33.