How should a Christian read the Psalms?
The Old Testament is God’s revelation before Jesus and the New Testament is God’s revelation after Jesus. But while the Old Testament was written before Jesus, he is not absent from the Old Testament.
Jesus himself taught otherwise. After his crucifixion, two people were walking to a town near Jerusalem called Emmaus (Lk 24:13–35). Suddenly they were joined by a third person whom they didn’t recognize. They were startled that this man seemed to have no knowledge of the momentous events of the previous days when Jesus was nailed to the cross.
In addition, these two followers of Christ told the stranger that some women had gone to the tomb and had found it empty! Others followed and confirmed their report. The two travelers to Emmaus were confused. What was happening?
At this point the stranger interrupted:
“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Lk 24:25–27)Jesus here leaves no room for doubt. The whole Old Testament anticipates his coming. More specifically, the entire Old Testament anticipates his suffering and his glorification.
The passage may need explanation for some. The Old Testament was for obvious reasons not called the Old Testament in the first century. The usual way to refer to what we now call the Old Testament was to name its main parts.1
In this passage, two parts are named. First of all, Jesus says that Moses anticipated his coming suffering and glorification. Moses here means the first five books of the Bible, the Law, the Torah, or the Pentateuch.
The Prophets in this passage refers to the Former Prophets and the Latter Prophets. The Former Prophets are those books we usually identify as “historical.” For example, Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings are all Former Prophets. The Latter Prophets are those books which we normally associate with prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and so on.
But where do the Psalms fit in? They are assumed in this passage but not explicitly mentioned. However, the Psalms in “all Scripture,” turn to Luke 24:44, where the picture becomes absolutely clear. After the two followers on the road to Emmaus realized that they were speaking to the risen Jesus, they immediately returned to Jerusalem and went to the remaining eleven disciples.
While they were excitedly telling the disciples of their encounter with Jesus, he appeared to them. He reminded them of the earlier lessons they had learned:
This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. (Lk 24:44)The Old Testament canon is usually divided into three parts: the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. The Psalms stood at the front of the Writings, but also would include books like Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job and others (including, surprisingly, Daniel and Chronicles). In this passage Jesus calls the third section of the canon Psalms after the first book in that collection.
In any case, Jesus’ language makes it absolutely certain that he believed that the Psalms anticipated his future ministry of suffering and glory.
The relationship between the Old Testament and the New Testament is a very difficult and detailed question, but for the Christian one thing is certain: Jesus is the focus of the Bible as a whole. This is not to say that the Old Testament writers had a clear and precise understanding of Jesus and his future ministry. But a future Savior was expected in the Old Testament. Immediately after the Fall, God delivered a curse upon the serpent: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Gen 3:15). As the Old Testament period continued, the expectation of a suffering, yet glorified Messiah grew stronger and stronger.
In the words of St. Augustine, “the New Testament is in the Old concealed; the Old is in the New revealed.” A Savior is anticipated in the Old Testament; he is named Jesus by the New Testament.
How are we as Christians to read the Psalms? How does the coming of Christ affect our understanding of the hymns and laments?
Longman, T., III. (1988). How to Read the Psalms (pp. 63–65). Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press.
