Dr. Richard Belcher highlights the profound connection between the Psalms and the life of Christ. Discover how Christ’s life, death, and work are woven throughout the Psalms.
The following is a transcript of the video above.
Is every Psalm about Christ?
Is every Psalm about Christ? Well, I think most would agree that there are a lot of Psalms that are directly related to Christ: Psalm 22, Psalm 110, Psalm 16. And these are Psalms that we would call messianic Psalms. But if you look at the list of Messianic Psalms, you will notice that those lists don’t always agree. In fact, there’s one Psalm in the Old Testament that’s quoted by Christ on the Cross that doesn’t make any of the list of the messianic Psalms. That’s some 31. In Luke 23, Jesus quotes from Psalm 31 five right before he dies. Into your hand, I commit my spirit. Now, I think some don’t make the list of messianic Psalms because there is a confession of sin in verse ten. And people think, well, Christ didn’t have sin. So if there’s a confession of sin in Psalm 31, then maybe it’s inappropriate to have that Psalm relate to Christ, even though Christ himself quoted from that Psalm. So, I think we need to expand our view of how the Psalms relate to Christ a little bit.
An Expanded View of the Psalms
If you look at how the Apostles used the Psalms, they quote from the Psalms, and they allude to the Psalms all over the place to talk about Christ. And they use Psalms that are not what we would call traditional messianic Psalms. I mean, just look at the index of allusions and verbal parallels in the back of the Greek text to see the many times the apostles refer to Christ. So my argument is that every Psalm directly or indirectly refers either to the person or the work of Christ. His person was his humanity and deity. The work of Christ would be prophet, priest and king. So I think it’s appropriate that Christ, in his priestly ministry, could use a Psalm of confession on our behalf. I mean, in the Old Testament, the priests would confess the sins of the people. On the Day of Atonement, Leviticus 16, the priest puts his hand on the head of the live goat there and confesses that go to the sins of the people and then that God is sent out into the wilderness. Isaiah 53, the suffering servant passages combine burying our sin with interceding for transgressors, and we know Christ bore our sin. He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us. And we know he intercedes for us. So, I think it’s appropriate for Christ to use a Psalm of confession in his priestly work. So, open up other possibilities. Think of the lament Psalms. The lament Psalms relate very well to Christ’s humanity and his suffering. Take a Psalm like Psalm 88. It’s one of the lament Psalms that doesn’t have a movement toward confidence in God’s response or the praise of God. It ends in darkness. And so it is a Psalm that we can use when we go through experiences of darkness in this fallen world. But it really does fit the picture of Christ from the Garden of Gethsemane to the crucifixion. And you see what the Psalmist says, “I’m like a man set among the dead, set loose among the dead, a man drawing near death”. He talks about the fact that his companions have shunned him. Of course, we know that Christ was abandoned by his disciples. He talks about your wrath, which lies heavy upon me. We know that Christ bore God’s wrath for our sin three times in Psalm 88; the Psalmist cries out to God, and there’s no answer three times. He feels abandoned by God, and it ends in darkness. And we know Christ himself was abandoned by his Father because he was burying our sin, and he suffered the darkness of sin, hell, and death for us as he hung on the cross. And you remember when he hung on the cross, there were three hours of darkness. So what a comfort to us to know that Christ has taken this darkness upon himself. And then. And then you have a Psalm like Psalm 103, a hymn that talks about the Lord and talks about the Lord as our redeemer and how he pours out upon God’s people. These covenant blessings in Psalm 103 include forgiveness. And it ends with all of the works of creation praising this Lord. Now, when you talk about the Lord in the Old Testament, it’s referring to the God of Israel using Yahweh, But we know Christ is Lord. And so, it’s appropriate to take the things in Psalm 103 and reflect on how they would relate to Christ. All these covenant blessings laid out in Psalm 103 Christ provides for us forgiveness of sins. He tells a paralytic, “Take up your bed and walk” to prove to those around him that he has the power to forgive sins. He’s the creator. It’s appropriate that all he. His works would praise him. I think that the author of Hebrews in Hebrews chapter one is doing the very same thing with the end of Psalm 102, taking the end of that psalm that refers to the Lord. In the Old Testament, the God of Israel makes a reference to Christ. So, my view is that all the Psalms, either directly or indirectly, refer to Christ. And in this we see the majesty of Christ in terms of who He is and what He has done for us.
