by Rev. Alex MacPherson, London
(Continued from Page 18)
MESSIAH
Through the centuries of the Old Testament, many believing souls had looked for the promised Deliverer. In due time, the Deliverer came to be known as the Anointed, which in Hebrew is Messiah, and in Greek, Christ. Under the Mosaic Law, the high-priest was anointed, and by the same ceremony, Saul, David and later kings were set apart to their office. From David’s time the expected Deliverer came to be spoken of as the Messiah, so that even Herod the Great, an Idumean, knew that a descendant of David was expected to deliver the Jewish nation from the Roman lordship. So that, when the wise men arrived inquiring for the recently born King of the Jews, Herod at once wanted to know where Christ was expected to be born.
The word “anointed” occurs 13 times in the Psalms, and of these, 6 can be taken as certainly referring to Christ. In Ps. 2: 2, sinful rulers are described as acting against “the Lord and his anointed”. In Ps. 45, the ascended Christ is greeted by his Father with the words, “Thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.” And in Ps. 89: 20, God says, “I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him.” The other occurrences are in Psalms 20 and 132.
REJECTED
The Saviour came to his own and they did not receive Him. On the contrary, they rejected Him, and this also was foretold in the Psalms. The first 3 verses of Ps. 2 picture a universal refusal to have Christ reigning over them; “Why rage the heathen . . . To plot against the Lord . . .” In Ps. 118 mention is also made of Christ’s rejection by the leaders of his people, and on the other hand, God’s raising Him to the highest honour — “The stone which the builders rejected is become the headstone of the corner.”
SUFFERINGS and DEATH — PRIESTHOOD
The rejection was complete; nothing but the death of Jesus of Nazareth would satisfy the unbelieving Jews. So, He was condemned to be crucified. It was common practice among the old divines to divide the Saviour’s obedience into active and passive. His active obedience was his perfect keeping of God’s law; his passive obedience was his enduring the death of the cross. While the distinction had its uses, it tended to mask the fact that the Saviour was intensely active in his dying. It was then that He performed the first part of his priestly office as clearly brought out in Heb. 7: 27; Not daily, but just once, “Christ offered up himself”. Again, in Heb. 9: 14; “Christ through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God.” And also in Heb. 9: 26, “Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Two Psalms refer to Christ’s priesthood. In Ps. 40 it is clear that the purpose of the Son’s coming into the world was to offer the sacrifice of Himself that would really take away sin; “Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire . . . burnt offering and sin offering has thou not required. Then said I, Lo, I come.” In Ps. 110 the Saviour is plainly designated a priest; “The Lord hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.”
As befits the great subject of the sufferings of Christ, the major parts of two Psalms are devoted to it. Ps. 22: 1-21 prophetically gives the very words of the Saviour as He hung on the accursed tree, and graphically brings before us sufferings of soul and body, thus supplementing the Gospel narratives. Five parts of this Psalm are referred to in the Gospels. In the first 21 verses of Ps. 69, there is again a foretelling of Christ’s words on the cross, words which assist us to discern a little of what the sorrows and sufferings of our great high priest were in offering Himself. New Testament quotations once again let us see that it is not David who speaks, but David’s great Son.
RESURRECTION and ASCENSION
The fact that Christ rose from the dead after redeeming his people is also given in his own words in Ps. 16: 9-11. “Therefore my heart is glad . . . pleasures for evermore.” Forty days later, Christ ascended to God’s right hand, there to continue his priestly work in the form of intercession. This is described in Ps. 24. He who ascended into the hill of God and stood in the holy place was the perfect Man who had been obedient unto death. Yet, at the same time, He is God and named the King of glory, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts.
When his people have One so glorious as their Intercessor, what reason they have to be glad and confident that their salvation will be to the uttermost!
PROPHET
Christ discharged part of his prophetic office in his state of humiliation. He described Himself as a prophet when his countrymen were offended at Him: “A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house” (Matt. 13: 57). And while opinions as to his being a prophet varied during his ministry, there seemed to be general acceptance of the fact at the end when He was acclaimed as Messiah on his entrance to Jerusalem. “And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee” (Matt. 21: 10,11).
However, the principal discharge of Christ’s prophetic office has been going on since his ascension. As the Shorter Catechism puts it, “Christ executeth the office of a prophet in revealing to us by his Word and Spirit the will of God for our salvation.” Ps. 40 which we have already seen to teach of Christ’s incarnation and priesthood, also speaks of his acting as a prophet. “The great congregation” must surely refer to the same multitude as mentioned in Ps. 22: 25, people worldwide whom He by his Word and Spirit would instruct in the praiseworthiness of the God of salvation. “I have preached righteousness in the great congregation . . . I have not concealed thy loving kindness and thy truth from the great congregation” (Ps. 40: 9,10). In Ps. 110: 2, the Lord is said to send the rod of Christ’s strength out of Zion which in the light of Is. 2: 3 would make the rod or sceptre to be the Word of Salvation, which blessed by the Holy Spirit brings sinners into subjection to Christ. Verse 2 of Ps. 98, following upon Christ’s gaining the victory, speaks of his work as a prophet: “The Lord hath made known his salvation: his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen.”
KING
The references to Christ’s kingship in the Psalms are numerous, 17 by my reckoning. Thus I can only mention some of those in which the term king itself appears eg Ps. 2; “Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.” Ps. 21; “The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord.” Ps. 22: 28; “For the kingdom is the Lord’s: and he is the governor among the nations.” Ps. 24: 7-10; “Lift up your heads, O ye gates . . . and the king of glory shall come in.” Ps. 45; “So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty.” Ps. 47: 2; “he is a great King over all the earth.” The other Psalms in this class are 20, 23, 68, 72, 78, 80, 89, 97, 98, 110, 132. If it be wondered why Ps. 23 is included, the reason is that when the same Good Shepherd is spoken of in Is. 40: 11, his shepherdly work follows immediately a statement that He is, “The Lord God who will come with a strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him.”
JUDGE
Christ’s final activity before gathering his people into heaven is to be that of judging. To this Ps. 50 clearly refers, especially verses 1-6. “He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people” (v. 4). “And the heavens shall declare his righteousness: for God is judge himself. Selah” (v. 6). The Judge must be Christ, because He said while on earth, “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son” (John 5: 22). At the beginning of Ps. 72, Christ is twice said to judge with righteousness, and Ps. 96: 13 is very specific: “he cometh to judge the earth: with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity.”
The scope of this paper ought to show that there is much in the Psalms regarding Christ. Most of the Psalms are Davidic in origin, and as he was a type of Christ, it might be expected that his Great Son would figure in a number of his inspired songs of praise. What I have done is identify the Psalms which undoubtedly speak of the coming Saviour, and then show how these refer to a number of aspects of Christ’s Person and mediatorial work. Thus, beginning with references to the Saviour’s Deity, I have gone on to show how the Psalms testify to his Incarnation and Humanity, his Moral Character, his Messiahship, his Rejection, his Sufferings and Death (involving his Priesthood), his Resurrection and Ascension, his Prophetic and Kingly offices, and his final function as Universal Judge.
It must be remembered that what the Psalms say on all these subjects was inspired by the Holy Ghost, and therefore is most sure truth, and his depth of meaning not found in any merely human composition. Ought we not, therefore, to make the fullest use of the Psalms when praising God, and in fact regard them as the only proper vehicle of public praise?
“The Psalter is a little Bible, and the summary of the Old Testament. One verse of the Psalms is sufficient for the meditation of a day; and he, who at the end of the day finds himself fully possessed of its sense and spirit, may consider his time well spent. — Luther