that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.” When read christologically, this passage evokes Jesus’s passion (i.e., suffering and sacrifice) and resurrection: false witnesses maliciously insulted and assaulted him, yet God delivered him by raising him from the dead. Given that the OT does not have a developed doctrine of the resurrection, the original context involves David’s faith in God’s deliverance in this life, that is, the “land of the living,” in contrast to the vague non-existence of the grave.12 For the poet, there is no life beyond the grave; salvation consists of God’s preservation of life in this world. However, the “land of the living” evokes the resurrection—eternal life beyond the grave—when read from a post-resurrection vantage point. Church fathers like Augustine and Jerome, for example, referred to eternity in heaven as the “land of the living” in contrast to life in the fallen world as the “land of the dying.”13 Yet their understanding comes about not from an analysis of the historical setting of the psalm, but from their Christian conviction that Jesus Christ defeated death at the resurrection, and this allows them to apply the original language of the psalm in a Christian context. Much more could be said regarding the grammatical-historical exegesis of this psalm and its subsequent christological interpretation (e.g., “The LORD is my light and my salvation”; Jesus is the light of the world; “Wait for the LORD”; Christians eagerly await the promise of Jesus’s Second Coming and the final resurrection, etc.), but the point here is that God’s meaning elevates this psalm from its historical rootedness in the life of David to a witness to the eternal gospel.14
To be sure, we need both exegetical methods because God is not aloof from human history; yet his larger redemptive purposes transcend the original situation of the human author. Dan McCartney and Charles Clayton observe:
Since Scripture functions in human contexts, our access to its divine meaning can only be by way of the human authors and their contexts. The human author’s meaning and his concrete sociolinguistic situation provide the starting point for understanding God’s meaning for all his people. We get to know the human author’s “point” in order to fully grasp God’s “point.”15
The Bible must be read in accordance with the rules of ordinary human language. As Friedrich Schleiermacher explains, “A more precise determination of any point in a given text must be decided on the basis of the use of the language common to the author and his original public.”16 Given that Scripture was written by human beings, our entry point for understanding its content comes by way of apprehending what the authors meant based on the original linguistic context of the words they used, how their audiences would have most likely understood those words, and the cultural and religious setting shared by the authors and their audiences. In fact, this is how we understand any written text, ancient or modern. Even so, Christians believe Scripture is much more than a mere human document—it is not just another ancient writing—its authority as the word of God bears witness to the divine author who has spoken first through the human authors, but finally and fully in Jesus Christ, the Word (John 1:1; Heb 1:1–2). Scripture’s pinnacle purpose is to point readers to Christ as the climactic revelation of God.
Therefore, I will follow a two-step method of historical interpretation followed by christological interpretation throughout this book. I will examine each psalm in its original historical context, and then apply a christological reading to demonstrate how the psalm points to Christ. Ultimately, I want to explore what it means to follow the interpretive assumptions of the NT, not by stepping directly in the footsteps of the apostles, only going where they go, but by following their lead, and going in the direction that they set for us when interpreting the OT. I want to read Psalms through a Jesus lens not to find Jesus under every rock in the OT (although 1 Cor 10:4), but to see it as an expansive redemptive-historical witness to the gospel.
This book is an introduction to christological interpretation of the OT for beginning college and seminary students, church leaders, and interested lay readers. I hope it serves as a valuable tool for preaching and teaching Psalms from a Christian perspective, offering pastors something meaningful to say about the relationship of Christ to Psalms, and its relevance to the church as a witness to the gospel. Many people in our pews have not been taught to read the OT through a Jesus lens; therefore, they remain bogged down in what appears to them to be an antiquated, bygone part of the Bible with no connection to their Christian identity, apart from a few moralisms and messianic references scattered throughout. I hope this book contributes to a robust reading of the OT that understands Jesus as its summation and goal.
Following the NT, which sets forth the trajectory of christological interpretation of the OT, my hope is that we can experience fresh readings of non-messianic psalms by illustrating their christological character. In other words, I want to explore the question, “What might it look like to apply christological interpretation to non-messianic psalms?” I use the term explore intentionally because I do not presume any christological interpretation in this book as definitive for any particular psalm. I am simply exploring the issue and proposing interpretations that I believe are consistent with the NT conviction of the christological character of the OT. The general approach of this book is to highlight christological themes in select psalms from a bird’s-eye view. I do not want to sacrifice the overriding theme of the psalm at the expense of methodological minutiae. I will not, therefore, enter into the morass of theories and definitions concerning methods like intertextuality, authorial intent, and the multifaceted nuances of the NT use of the OT, but will briefly address these when applicable, and refer the reader to the notes for additional resources on the topic.17 I have adopted a canonical approach that reads OT passages in light of NT ones, and vice versa, within the larger context of the Christian canon, in order to show how the passages may illuminate each other when read christologically. I have transliterated original language terms for the sake of readability, and have included a bibliography of the sources used for this book, as well as additional sources on christological interpretation of Psalms, NT use of the OT, and Psalms generally.
Many thanks to David Musgrave, Andy Walker, and Paul Watson for their input; their expertise has proved invaluable. To Rodney Cloud for encouraging us faculty in the Turner School of Theology to take time to research and write, while at the same time making the spiritual nourishment of the students at Amridge University a priority. To Dr. Michael Turner and the administration at Amridge for their ongoing support. To Doug Green, now at Queensland Theological College, for introducing me to the academic study of Psalms during his tenure at Westminster Seminary, and for pressing for bold christological interpretations of the Psalter. To Mike Moss at Ohio Valley University for inviting me to speak at the Inman Forum. To Lauren Daniel for her editorial efforts. To the good folks at Wipf & Stock for their professionalism during the publication process. To my wife and kids for their faithful love. And finally, to my parents, Joe and Dianne, for their eagerness to hear of the weekly progress (or lack thereof) of this book, and for their constant encouragement and exhortation in the faith, which they have so bountifully passed down to me.
1. E.g., Typology (John 3:14; cf. Num 21:8–9); allegory (Gal 4:24; cf. Gen 16; 21); intertextuality (Phil 2:10–11; cf. Isa 45:23); prophecy as “filling up” (Matt 2:15; cf. Hos 11:1); adaptation (Eph 4:8; cf. Ps 68:18).
2. Longenecker, Exegesis, 187.
3. For a popular-level treatment, see Williams, Jesus Lens.
4. Belcher, Messiah, 7.
