by Rev. Alex. MacPherson, London.
(A paper given at a meeting of the Society for Biblical Principles held in London on 6th October, 1990).
Orthodox Christians have always accepted that Christ’s Person and mediatorial work are the subject, in whole or in part, of some of the Psalms of Scripture. There is, however, not the same agreement over which Psalms fall into this category. Those Psalms, or portions of Psalms, which are applied to Christ in the New Testament are clearly Messianic. Even here, though, there may be difficulty. For example, verse 20 of Ps. 34 reads, “He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken.” Some take this to be a source of John 19: 36: “For these things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken.” Against this view is the fact that the Psalm gives no other appearance of being Messianic, and that the quotation can be traced to the Passover Lamb. In other Psalms which are not quoted as Messianic, it is the subject matter which closes us into the view that they are.
The Messianic Psalms that I have identified are 22 in number. They are Psalms 2, 8, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 40, 45, 47, 50, 68, 69, 72, 80, 89, 98, 102, 110, 118, 132. What I have tried to do in this paper, is show what aspects of the Saviour’s Person and work are spoken in these Psalms.
DEITY
The natural starting point has to be Christ’s deity. It was the Son of God who became man in order to his being the Saviour of a sinful people. We find, therefore, God saying in Ps. 2, “Thou art my Son.” And in Ps. 89 the Son in our nature says, “Thou art my Father, My God, and the rock of my salvation.” In Ps. 45, Christ is addressed in this manner, “Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever,” and when these words are quoted in Heb. 1: 8, they are followed by a quotation from Ps. 102 which refers to the Son’s creative activity: “And thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth,” etc.
INCARNATION and HUMANITY
The coming of the Son of God into this world is stated in his own words in Ps. 40: “Then said I, lo I come, in the volume of the book it is written of me.” Here, in divinely inspired words is another revelation of the mystery of godliness, “God was manifest in the flesh.” The eternal “I” speaks of coming into the world, and says further that the whole of God’s Book witnesses to the fact, from the first promise of the woman’s seed to Malachi’s prediction of the coming of the messenger of the covenant.
With the incarnation of God’s Son can be linked his human nature whose reality is referred to in several Psalms. In his sermon on the Day of Pentecost, Peter quotes Ps. 132: 11 which reads, “The Lord has sworn in truth to David; he will not turn from it: of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.” Peter’s application of the words kills any speculation that David’s words refer merely to the succession of human monarchs who would succeed him. “Therefore, (David) being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit upon his throne.” (Acts 2: 30).
Two verses in Ps. 89 teach the same truth: verse 19: “I have exalted one chosen out of the people,” and v. 26: “He shall cry unto me, Thou art my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.” In the latter sentence we see how the man Christ Jesus was ever conscious of his identity as the Son of God. He can properly address the Most High as his Father, and at the same time, because of his being made under the law and owing obedience to it, views his Father as his God, the Lawgiver and Judge. Other words of Christ, spoken on the cross while seeing the glorious end of his redemptive work, are those of Ps. 22: 22: “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.” He is brother to his sinful brethren.
The importance of the truth that Christ is God and man in two distinct natures and one Person forever (the two aspects dealt with so far), is something that not only does Scripture bring out, but is learned by every person whom Christ saves. The Person whom the Holy Ghost reveals to the soul at regeneration, is perceived to be truly a representative Man who bore his people’s sins upon his own body on the tree. And by the same divine light shed upon this wonderful Person, the new-born soul perceives that is was his deity which gave infinite merit to Jesus’ obedience, sufferings and death. In every case of regeneration, Christ’s own words in John 6: 40 come true: there is a seeing of the Son and a compulsive believing on Him.
Perhaps I should add two other portions that refer to Christ’s mediatorial Person. One is that part of the 8th Psalm, from verse 4 to the end, which so wonderfully blends the Person, and works, and elevation of Christ with a description of his people from their sinful to their glorified state. “What is man that thou art mindful of him,” etc. The other reference is verse 2 of Ps. 45: “Thou art fairer than the children of men.” The moral perfection of Jesus of Nazareth was more than purely human, inasmuch as He was The Holy One of eternity. At all points, his humanity was pervaded with his divinity.
MORAL CHARACTER
Which leads me on to say that the Psalms elsewhere refer to the moral character of the God-man. The fact of his perfect obedience that was as necessary to his acquiring righteousness for his people is evident in Ps. 40: “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” Christ came in a delighted obedience to his Father’s entire will and commission. As man, bound to love God and man, He differed from fallen man in that He had a heart-love to the moral law, a love that would never fail as Adam’s did.
In Ps. 45: 4, the grace of meekness is ascribed to the Saviour: “And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness.” Meekness is the ability to maintain a quiet spirit in face of provocation. With humility it was one of the qualifications claimed by Jesus when calling men to be taught by Him: “Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart.” The divine Teacher’s need of meekness implies the provoking slowness of learning that marked the first disciples, and all subsequent learners of Christ’s salvation. Paul in 2 Cor. 10: 1 extols “the meekness and gentleness of Christ.”
The very fact of God’s Son coming into the world to save sinners bespeaks infinite love on his part, so that specific mention of that love is scarcely necessary. In fact the word is not found in the Messianic Psalms. But in Ps. 72: 14 it is certainly Christ’s love that is spoken of: “He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight.” Likewise, the words in Ps. 69: 9: “For the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up,” reveal the intense passion felt by the Saviour for those who make up the spiritual temple for whose sake He bore reproach and suffered death.
There is a fashion much followed by biographers today to search into the lives of notable persons now dead, to try to find marital infidelity, or sexual aberrations, or even indulgence in horrid vices. And, at the same time to make out that the victims of their character assassination were in some ways worthy of respect and praise. The fashion has gone so far that wicked individuals have imputed sins to the Lord Jesus Christ. If such persons do not repent of their depraved imaginings and devilish slanders, they will eventually meet the One they blasphemed and be shattered by the sight of his divine majesty and holiness. In Ps. 89: 19, 20, God in prophecy speaks of the coming Saviour as holy: “Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty: I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David my servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him.” Christ’s moral purity is expressed also in Ps. 45: 7: “Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity.” Holiness marked Him all his days in this world; had it not, there would be no salvation for any.