02.08. The Messiah in the Psalms
Chapter 8
THE MESSIAH IN THE PSALMS
THE Psalms are the response of the inner Israel, the remnant loyal to JEHOVAH and His prophets, to the divine revelation, whether in Creation, History, Law or Prophecy. And as the history of the chosen people culminates in the MESSIAH as its divine goal; and as the prophetic word has for its objective the One who is to accomplish the purposes of GOD for the deliverance of man from the thralldom of evil; this Hope would naturally have a prominent place in the Psalms. And so we shall find that the Psalms are shot through and through with the expectation of the Coming One.
The inner Israel whose language we hear in the Psalms was a people with a threefold quest. There was the mystical quest for the vision of the Face of GOD (Psa 27:4). There was the ethical quest for righteousness (Psa 15:1-5 and Psa 24:1-10). There was besides the Messianic quest: the cry for a Man, of whom Israel would be the mother, who should bring in the triumph of truth and righteousness and fill the earth with the glory of GOD (Psa 1:1).
These longings, unsatisfied from century to century, are told out in the Psalms and are in themselves prophecies of our LORD, who is the Divine answer to the need of the human soul, as the light is adapted to the eye and the soundwaves in the ether to the ear.
In Him we see the FATHER. The glory of GOD shines in His face. (John 14:8-9; 2Co 4:6). He is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. We are made the righteousness of GOD in Him (Rom 10:4; 2Co 5:21). He is the man in whom GOD can rest, and in whom we can rest in undisturbed repose (Mat 11:27-30).
The Messianic Hope celebrated in the Psalms is a diamond with many facets. He is not only prophetically foretold and spiritually longed for, He is also typically foreshadowed in the sufferings of the "Chassid," the ideal righteous man in the psalms, and already mystically experienced, for the spiritual experiences recorded in the psalms were foretastes of the blessings dispensed in the day of the MESSIAH, whose SPIRIT wrought in the psalmist, before His appearing in the flesh.
(1) The Introduction to the Psalms
Psa 1:1-6 and Psa 2:1-12, which originally formed one psalm in the Hebrew, are the introduction to the entire collection of psalms, and give us the history of the MESSIAH from His earthly experiences till He comes in manifested glory to enter into His kingdom rights.
If Psa 1:1-6 describes the blessedness of the man who measures up to the Law of JEHOVAH, He alone fulfilled the contents of this psalm as "made under the Law." (Gal 4:4) The keynote of His human life was: "That the Scripture might be fulfilled." (John 19:28) Thus in His present heavenly life He has become "the Tree of Life which is in the midst of the Paradise of God" (Psa 1:3). Then after a glance at the world and the saints in it (Psa 1:4-6), we have in Psa 2:1-3, the world’s antagonism to Him, which began to be fulfilled at His crucifixion (see Acts 4:24-28) and which still casts its shadow on the world, and which will culminate in the open apostasy of Christendom and the joint-worship by Jew and Gentile apostates of "the Man of Sin,"(2Th 2:3) the glorification of the principle of human self-deification, fallen Adam fully developed.
In Psa 2:2-6 we have heaven’s view of this antagonism to the Anointed King, the One whom He calls His Son. Psa 2:7-9 declare the new dispensation, when the long silence of GOD will be broken in judgment, while Psa 2:10-12 press home the present responsibility of man in the light of these coming events.
(2) The First Man and the Second
One of the outstanding features of the Messianic doctrine of the Psalms is the repeated contrast between two types of man, the first man who fell and the second Man who overcame. This contrast between Adam and CHRIST, the rejected man and the Man of JEHOVAH’s choice, is very striking.
Thus Psa 90:1-17 and Psa 91:1-16 which open the fourth book of Psalms bring before us first, the tragic story of the defeated man, who is under sentence of death in Psa 90:1-17 and the glad tidings of the triumphant Man, the MESSIAH, in Psa 91:1-16.
Psa 91:1-16 gives us the human rights of One, originally in the form of GOD (Php 2:1-30), which He surrendered in His obedience unto death. As GOD He "made Himself of no reputation (emptied Himself)" (Php 2:7) ; as man "He humbled Himself." (Php 2:8) He gave up His human rights, the experience of Psa 91:1-16, when He stooped to the shame of the Cross.
As every human being is a reproduction of the defeated "first man," he repeats his history of failure and ruin. But "the Second Man" has taken up in His Manhood the cause of "His brethren," to whom He was in His incarnation made like in all things, except sin, and has glorified GOD in the scene of their failure. He goes into death for them; but, as Psa 91:1-16 shows in the final passage, He is vindicated and rewarded in resurrection.
(3) The Psalm of the Inner Life of JESUS as a Man on Earth
Psa 16:1-11 shows us the ideal life lived by the MESSIAH as an answer to the challenge of the preceding psalm. (See also Rev 5:2) "Who is worthy?" The answer is, the slain LAMB.
Psa 15:1-5 calls for the man who shall never be moved.
Psa 16:1-11, for One who lives His life joyously, calmly, and unmoved, even though threatened with death. It is the inner life of the Man CHRIST JESUS. Neither poverty, rejection, loneliness, nor death could move Him.
Psa 16:1 : DEPENDENCE - Filial dependence. JEHOVAH His only asylum. The opening clause reveals the "Michtam," or golden secret, of the psalm. It is the secret of contentment though bereft of outward good.
Psa 16:2 : HAPPINESS - JEHOVAH His only good. His fountain of happiness. This is the Old Testament forecast of the Kenosis (Php 2:1-30). The LORD of glory takes the place of a man, of a servant, obedient and dependent every step of the way.
Psa 16:3 : COMPANIONSHIP - After thus describing the world of heavenly harmony and blessedness, the true country of the soul, the world of the beatitudes, he turns to earth. And what does he find there? The saints. They are all His delight. (See John 13:1)
Psa 16:4 : APOSTATES - The apostates are contrasted with the saints. The saints are a poor people.
Psa 16:5 : HOLY POVERTY - The Psalmist will not hear of any other GOD. Why not? Because you cannot offer him anything better. He lives the Levite life of holy poverty (Num 18:20; Deu 10:9).
Psa 16:6 : PARADISE - "The measuring lines have fallen to him in a delightful district, viz., in the fellowship with GOD which is so rich in enjoyment; this most blessed domain of love has become his paradisaic possession." (Prof. F. Delitzsch).
Psa 16:7 : COUNSEL - GOD has counselled him thus to choose the good part, not the ephemeral and unsubstantial things of earth. Abraham had GOD for his adviser, and was thus kept out of the foolish speculations of his nephew Lot.
Psa 16:8 : PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE - The practice of the presence of GOD. 1Th 5:23. Heart, glory (soul), flesh.
Psa 16:9-10 : HOPE IN DEATH - Such a life triumphs over death. GOD is trusted for the life to come as for this present life. In the days of the psalmist it was easy to trust GOD for the life that now is, and difficult to have faith for the life beyond the veil. Now it is the very opposite.
Psa 16:10 : THE HOPE NEGATIVELY PRESENTED - NOT sheol. NOT corruption.
Psa 16:11 : GOD’S RIGHT HAND - The positive side of the hope of the resurrection life. Life, joy, pleasure, and that for evermore, in Thy presence, that is to say, in the beholding of Thy face, and in Thy right hand. That hand has pleasures for ever more, and is never empty through giving.
Acts 2:1-47 and Acts 13:1-52 point out the fact that David did not fully realize all that the psalmist hoped for. The psalm was fulfilled in JESUS.
(4) The Psalm of the Cross
Psa 22:1-31 is an inspired photograph and prophecy of our Lord’s saddest hours. But glory as well as gloom are found there. It begins with a shriek of anguish; goes on to a cry for help, full of trust, and ends with thanksgiving and the vision of the world-wide kingdom of GOD, resulting from the sufferings of the One whose language is here heard. He believes that the story of His woes will provide a gospel to generations yet unborn.
The piety of this psalm is that of the meek and silent LAMB of GOD. He meets the accumulated griefs, mental, physical, and spiritual, of that hour without murmuring or reproaching the causers of His pain.
He looks beyond them to GOD, who brought Him into the dust of death, even though human hands crucified Him - dogs without shame and conscience; bulls of Bashan, without feeling, staring at Him in His nakedness. They cast dice over His garments. They laugh Him to scorn. But He looks to JEHOVAH.
At first all is dark. He is alone with GOD, personally sinless, but as One "made... sin for us." (2Co 5:21) He justifies the holiness that smites Him in that hour. Psa 22:21 is the turning point. He looks to be vindicated in resurrection. Then He will declare the Father’s name to His brethren. This He did by means of Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-31) and when He came into the midst of their assembling themselves together, and sang the Father’s praises, having proclaimed peace unto them. The godly remnant of Israel will come into view in the latter days; then the great millennial congregation; then "all the ends of the world." (Psa 22:27)
In the meantime "a seed shall serve him," (Psa 22:30) a people born out of His death, and marked by His features.
John 12:32 is the New Testament epitome of this psalm.
(5) The Priest-King at GOD’s Right Hand
No psalm is oftener quoted in the New Testament than Psa 110:1-7.
Our LORD used it to prove that MESSIAH, while human, is also superhuman and heavenly (Mat 22:42-43). The entire Epistle to the Hebrews is a commentary on this psalm.
Perhaps the historical occasion for the psalm was the taking of the ark by David to Zion. It meant that JEHOVAH’s throne was now once more in the midst of Israel. David would, as king, sit at the right hand of GOD. But David looks beyond to One greater, whom he calls "my Lord." (Psa 110:1)
He lays his crown at the feet of a more glorious King, who is priest as well as king, which no earthly king could ever be under the old covenant.
The Structure of the Psalm
The psalm is divided into seven stanzas. In these the majestic name of JEHOVAH occurs three times (Psa 110:1-2, Psa 110:4).
The subject is the spiritual interpretation of history. It begins with the session of the MESSIAH at GOD’s right hand and ends with "the day of the LORD," when His enemies are made His footstool. (The Christian dispensation comes between these two events).
Psa 110:1 The humanity shares the Deity-glory. All things must become the "footstool" of the divine-human CHRIST.
Psa 110:2 As Zion will be His earthly metropolis, so there is a spiritual Zion now (see Heb 12:22). Pentecost was the first installment of the fulfillment of this verse. "The rod of thy strength" is "the rod of his mouth" (Isa 11:4).
Psa 110:3 The King’s spiritual army. They are all volunteers, not mercenaries or conscripts. They are priest-warriors. Their uniform is holiness. A youthful army - being constantly replenished by fresh recruits. They are as bright as the sparkling dew.
Psa 110:4 CHRIST is GOD’s last word. Our Melchizedek was before Aaron and lives on after him. And as Abraham paid the typical Melchizedek tithes, so must the children of Abraham recognize the greatness of this priest (see Heb 5:1-11).
Psa 110:5-6 The day of wrath will end the day of grace.
Psa 110:7 A review over the past. His humiliation led to His exaltation. He has brought His glory out of the depths.
(6) Summary of the Messianic Hope in the Psalms
1. We see Him in connection with His sufferings and death.
2. We behold Him at the right hand of GOD.
3. We celebrate before-hand His coming in manifested glory to reign over a renovated earth.
4. We catch glimpses of His inner life in the days of His flesh.
5. We trace unfoldings of the mystery of His Person, both human and divine.
~ end of chapter 8 ~