An astonishing thing about
the Bible is that every book in it has a statement about the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's in every single one of the books, either in connection with prophecy, or
through a picture-type, or as a direct reference.
When it comes to the Book of
Psalms, for example, almost all—if not all—of the 150 individual
psalms have some kind of reference to Jesus Christ. Some times you'll simply
read it as, "The Lord is my shepherd." Christ says, "I am the
good shepherd."
There are references to Him
as our shield, our helper, our salvation, on and on.
Throughout the Psalms, too,
the situations, circumstances, etc., where it's talking about David or someone
else, serve as allusions or parallels to things Christ does or is involved in
somehow.
You can look at a psalm and
know it's a reference to Jesus Christ that underlies the picture of the event
being discussed.
In the New Testament are
actual quotes from certain psalms that provide direct statements about Jesus
Christ, not just allusions or parallels to Him.
Take, for example, John
13:18. Peter, talking about Judas, says, "He that eateth bread with me
hath lifted up his heel against me."
This comes from the obscure
little verse, Psalms 41:9, which says, "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in
whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against
me." This is Christ talking.
We know Psalms 8, for instance, is a messianic psalm because it's quoted half a
dozen times in the New Testament, including in Hebrews 2:7, which says,
"Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with
glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands."
The psalm in its entirety
reads, "O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who
hast set thy glory above the heavens.
Psalm 8 begins by referring
to man and God's purpose to extend His dominion in the earth through Adam and
mankind. But since Adam failed, the reference goes forward to the Lord Jesus
Christ as "the last Adam," the true Son of Man who's going to do for
man what man failed to do for himself. Basically, when man flubbed
his commission given by God, God reasoned, "Okay, I'll send my Son to
become a man and accomplish for man my original purpose in creating
mankind." The psalm is anticipating
that day when all of God's purpose for man is accomplished through Jesus
Christ, who will reign as King on earth. That's why David says, "O LORD
our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth." Of course, the word
"our," refers to the nation Israel. The God of all the earth is the
God of Israel. God provides for a "seed
of the woman," and that seed becomes the seed of Abraham (the nation
Israel), which then becomes the line of David and the Lord Jesus Christ. Abraham's given the promise
of the nation, and David's given the promise of the throne along with the
kingdom blessings, but none of it will be accomplished except in the Lord Jesus
Christ. As my pastor, Richard Jordan
(Shorewood Bible Church, Rolling Meadows, Ill.) sums it up, "God gave Adam
dominion in the earth and he failed. Now, if the Lord Jesus Christ is going to
accomplish what Adam was originally intended to accomplish, where's Christ's
dominion going to be? In the earth. "That's why he says,
'Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,' and, 'Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.' "The idea that's taught
in 98 percent of churches all around Chicagoland is that what Jesus Christ is
doing is, 'He's reigning in the hearts of men—as long as He reigns as
Lord in your life, that's the Kingdom of God working.' But there's something
far more than that going on. "God has a plan and
purpose not just for this planet, but for the whole universe. That's what it's
saying in Psalm 8:1—'who has set thy glory above the heavens.' " (Editor's Note: To be
continued . . .)
"Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength
because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars, which thou hast ordained;
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou
visitest him?
"For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast
crowned him with glory and honour.
"Thou madest him to have
dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
"All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field;
"The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth
through the paths of the seas.
"O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!