Sermon: Psalm Genres (Part Three): Messianic
Christ Foretold in Song
#1852B
Richard T. Ritenbaugh
Given 27-Dec-25; 40 minutes
description: The Messianic Psalms serves as a powerful corrective to shallow or misguided views of Christ fostered by nominal Christianity. Thankfully, the Psalms are one of the Scripture's richest repositories of prophecy concerning both Jesus' first and second comings. Drawing on rabbinic and scholarly counts, we learn how many Psalms, sometimes through type and antitype, sometimes purely prophetically) anticipate Christ's life, death, resurrection, priesthood, kingship, and final victory. When we distinguish the Messianic Psalms from the Royal Psalms, we learn how figures like David prefigure Christ while ultimately pointing beyond themselves. Detailed treatments of Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 demonstrate how these texts speak with Christ's own voice, foretelling His resurrection, ascension, eternal priesthood after the order of Melchizedek, and the triumphant return as King of kings. The Psalms reveal Christ not as a powerless infant, but as the Sovereign Messiah who calls believers to endure faithfully so that His victory becomes theirs.
transcript:
Aren't you glad that Christmas is over? That the season is finally in our rearview mirror. I'm really thankful, even though I do not get out in the world all that much I'm usually hunched in front of my computer doing stuff like articles and sermons and stuff like that. But every time you go into a store or whatnot all you hear is the Christmas music. We're inundated with nativity scenes in our neighborhoods or, or the local Christian church on the corner, uh. Lots of lights on the houses, baby Jesus is everywhere, and uh like I said, the aforementioned Christmas music. Uh, lately over the past probably about 5 years, I've gotten an increasing number of emails about Advent and Advent calendars and Advent this and advent that and they are, they are pushing back the Christmas celebration time all the way to the beginning of December. And they are counting down. I saw some of the emails I got um have nothing to do with Christians at all, but they are like these, these online sellers give you a good deal on these things, and they are selling Advent. Um, Keurig cups. There is, I think, 24 of them and they are numbered and you count down from, from the first down to number one and you're supposed to have this final Keurig Cup on Christmas Eve or something like that. Um, it's just everything, everywhere you turn, there is just Uh, more and more advertising and song earworms and, and just things that, that They would just make you tired by the time you get to December 25th. It's really excessive. Like Joe was talking about in terms of self-indulgence, um, and it seems to get worse. Worse all the time. I mean, they sing Joy to the world, the Lord has come, and by December 25th, I'm very happy that joy to the world, Christmas is over. I mean, we are, I'm being a little bit facetious here. We are very thankful for his incarnation. That's what Christmas supposedly represents, that when he came in the flesh. But it really bugs me that nominal Christianity believes so much. About Christ's coming that is wrong. It's just totally, you know, made up out of thin air or more, more than likely has come down to us from various mythological stories that, that have been told about other gods, and they have been then just smashed up with, with Christianity. It's syncretistic, as we would say, or syncretic. And they do not get his first coming wrong alone. They get a second coming wrong as well. And so it's Uh, I look out there at what they do is supposedly keeping Christ in Christmas and worshiping Him, and then you look at it and you say, how could that be? There is, there is no Christ there really. You've made everything up. You do not believe the Bible. It's just. A lie From beginning to end. And then those, I think about those, those supposed Christians who darken the door of a church only once or twice a year they leave the Christmas season thinking that Or are. Having in their mind the image of a baby Jesus who is totally dependent on his mother. Powerless Lying in a manger I mean, is that really the image of Jesus Christ that we are supposed to have? Probably by the end of the sermon you will think, no, I like this other one better. It means a whole lot more. Now some denominational Christians and some of their scholars believe the scriptures that is, they believe them enough to admit that. What is generally understood among the masses is just unfounded in biblical terms. But most Have accepted what is taught in their churches. I mean, most nominal Christians believe whatever their churches teach about the matter. And if they are teaching. Uh, or if these Christians are believing that in all the baby Jesus stuff and you know, the just. Ending it ending the basically the story of the Bible and what they are taught with this just the birth of Christ, then. I think that means that most of the churches do not believe either the fact of facts of history which are found in the Bible. Or the prophecies that predicted them. They are just going by what is generally considered to be the case. Now I want to concentrate on the prophecy side of this rather than the facts of Jesus' birth or any of the facts of His coming, first or second. The Old Testament contains about. Well, let's just say a few 100 messianic prophecies, prophecies that predict Christ's coming, either 1st or 2nd. The exact figure really depends on how you divide certain prophecies out and how you interpret them. Obviously when we are talking about Messiah you're going to get a difference between Jewish commentators and Christian commentators because the Christians believing in Jesus Christ as the savior of the world find evidence of of him more often. In the Old Testament than the Jews do. They're looking for their Davidic savior, and they. Basically we are looking for his second coming, not his first, so we see a lot more. But Alfred Etersheim, who was converted from Judaism into Christianity, says that the rabbis count 456 passages in the Old Testament That refer to the Messiah. But this is kind of funny because Christians, like Old Testament scholar J. Barton Payne, he was at Wheaton College in the middle of the last century he says that there are only 191. See what I mean about the difference of how you, you divide them and, and count them. But a commonly cited figure that both Jews and Christians seem to be able to accept is that there are either 332 or 333. Distinct messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. Now my last few sermons have concentrated on the Psalms. So what about the Psalms in terms of Messianic prophecies? It contains a good many of them, actually. For telling both his 1st coming and his 2nd coming. In fact, one could assert and be absolutely correct that the Psalms are a major repository of Messianic prophecies, especially when we factor in something that Christ says in Luke 24:44. I'll just read it to you here. Uh, this is Luke 24:44. After he had been raised and, and, uh. And he was speaking to the disciples. He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms concerning me. Now generally we have come to understand that the whole of the Old Testament is what was written concerning Christ. What he says here, the law of the prophets in the Psalms, that's the three major divisions of the Old Testament, they are chock full of things concerning Christ. Now I would think That if the Church of God Uh, got together and started looking through the Old Testament and started figuring out which, which Psalms were or which Psalms, which actually doesn't matter which parts of the Old Testament were messianic prophecies, we could probably come up with a lot more than just. The, the the people out there in the world because using the Holy Spirit we should have our minds opened up to these things. I mean, look at what the, the apostles did in the New Testament. They were pulling things out of Scripture, the Old Testament, that nobody had ever connected with the Messiah. But they were true They with their minds filled with the Holy Spirit, were able to discern. The truth that was locked into these prophecies in the Old Testament. So, this has been my longest introduction to another genre of, of the, the Psalms, and that is Messianic Psalms. They are Psalms, of course, in which the authors under God's inspiration prophesy of the coming Savior. And like I said, I've said it a couple of times already, either his first coming or his 2nd coming. Uh, they are both in there. Now Something we need to understand. Um, and I think you do. You, we've been at this for a long enough time that we understand the principle of type and anti-type that's been mentioned already, a couple of times, but oftentimes in the Psalms the Messianic prophecy is written about the type. And certainly David is the foremost of those types because he's the one that wrote the most songs and so he's praying to God or praising God or, you know, otherwise talking to God um about things that are going on in, in his life, but because we have the Holy Spirit and we, we already have the historical. Um, truth of Christ written down for us in the New Testament, we can see how these songs, Psalms in the Old Testament prefigured things that he would do. And so those two are type anti-type prophecies of Messiah. So they were written about a type, let's say David, but they apply more significantly to us. Uh, to, to the anti-type which is Jesus Christ, either as a man in his first coming or as God, divine warrior, judge, high priest, what have you in his New Testament appearances. OK, You may have heard if you've studied any of the genres of psalms, I do not know how many of you have, have, but There are There is a genre called Royal Psalms. We're talking about Messianic Psalms, but there is one that's called Royal Psalms, and oftentimes when you go to study in a commentary or whatnot, they will tell you that a psalm is a royal psalm, but when you look at it, you see. Very clearly, it's a Messianic Psalm. Why did they call it a royal song? Well, mostly it just has to do with the way the scholars categorize things, um. The two categories overlap a great deal because obviously the Messiah is the coming king. And so when there are royal psalms, they are oftentimes talking about David or a coronation scene or something that happened in the physical realm, but spiritually they are raised up to apply to the Messiah. So some interpreters say that Royal Psalms are a separate genre, whereas others say that Messianic Psalms are a subset of royal Psalms. Uh, you'll get both in the commentaries, but I consider them two distinct genres. And one of the reasons for that is that is that most Messianic prophecies that you find in the Psalms are just single verses. Or maybe a couple of verses. And so that may be a full royal Psalm, but there is one verse or two verses in there that have messianic overtones. And so I'm considering things a little bit differently than the, than the commentators. I'm saying that Messianic Psalms are are those in which a majority of the verses or a long section of the Psalm. Is Messianic. So I wouldn't have a problem with people saying this is a royal p Psalm or a Messianic Psalm or both. It doesn't matter when it's, when it's clearly identifying Christ in a royal psalm. As king of kings as he will, as he is. Um, Very well known examples of this overlap are Psalm 2. Uh, which is about. Uh, God saying, this is my son. This day I have begotten you, and It talks about him Uh, picking up his scepter not scepter, rod and smashing the nations. We'll go, go to this in a, in a little bit. Psalm 45 is another royal psalm which the, the first half is about. The king And the second half is his bride. And just, this just points back to what Mark was saying about the bride of Christ and Christ Himself. So this one's obviously not only a royal psalm, but half of it is a messianic Psalm about Christ as the king. So that's Psalm 2 and Psalm 45. Back to Alfred Ettersheim he commented about this. He lists 26 Psalms that ancient rabbis considered as having prophecies or allusions to the Messiah. They're not saying necessarily that these 26 Psalms are fully Messianic Psalms, but there are 26 Psalms in which Messianic prophecies appear according to them. Christian commentators are all over the place in terms of which Psalms they consider to be messianic. Again, it has to do with, with the way they perceive things and how they cut things up. Generally, like I said, Christians find more than the Jews because the Jews have rejected Jesus Christ. Now I'll give you my list. It's only 16. Is that right? Maybe it's only 11. OK, that makes it shorter, less writing. OK, my, my start Psalm 2. Psalm 16. Psalm 22 Psalm 40 Psalm 45. Psalm 69. Psalm 72. Psalm 89. Psalm 101 Psalm 110. And Psalm 118. So that's 2, 1622, 40, 45, 69 72 89, 101, 110. And 118, the last three are highways in the LA basin. 101, 110, 118. OK. Actually, 2 is as well. This just popped into my head. I drove so many miles around Southern California. It just Kinda cracks me up that there are so many of those in this list. OK. Now, these particular Psalms that I just gave you have major portions dedicated to for telling Christ's life or his character or his ministry, or his death or his sovereign rulership um in the kingdom of God. Many other psalms. Contain a verse or two that are short messianic prophecies and I wanna go through a small list of this. Uh, let's start in Psalm 34. Psalm 34. Psalm 34:20. You'll recognize this one. He guards all his bones. Not one of them is broken. This is when he was crucified. He was beaten quite badly and tied up on or nailed up on a, on a stake, and not one of his bones, bones was broken. So, this is one of those that the Jews would not believe would be messianic because they do not have the actual historic fact to link to this. Let's go to another one, chapter 41, verse 9, 41 9. David writes here, even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted who ate my bread has lifted up his heel against me. Judas Iscariot here foretold in this Psalm betrayed the Christ whom he ate many meals with, I'm sure during his ministry. Let's go on to chapter 78. Psalm 78. And verse 2. You can link this with Matthew 13 and the other parables. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old. So clearly, The most famous parable teller in all of world history is Jesus Christ, and this foretold his ministry and how he would teach. Let's go to one more chapter 96. Verse 13, actually this is also the same, pretty much the same verse as in 989, but we will just read this one here in 96:13, for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth. I'll just read 989 for kicks, for he is coming to judge the earth with righteousness. He shall judge the world and the peoples with equity. So Jesus Christ Himself said that all judgment had been given into his hand by the Father, and he will do this. He will judge the earth when he returns. So I could go to many, many more of these. Uh, there are plenty of them scattered across all 1150 chapters. Uh, you, if you go out on the internet, you'll probably find lists that will give you. Um, the Psalms that contains prophecies that were fulfilled in the New Testament with both the Psalm you know, chapter and verse and the fulfillment in the New Testament, uh. Usually in the Gospels, but um. There are roughly 70 of those 70 clear specific references to Christ fulfilled in the New Testament just from the Book of Psalms. OK, Let's make this just a slightly bit more complex. Some have further subdivided Messianic Psalms into 5 types. 5 distinct types of Messianic psalms. The first Are what they call typical Messianic psalms. Meaning a type. It, it refers to a type that is fulfilled in Christ, so they are called typical Messianic Psalms. The psalm's subject, usually the author, is in some respect a type of Christ. And so like I said earlier, this is usually David. Something occurs in David's life. He writes it in a psalm, and later it's fulfilled in the life of Christ in a greater way. Let's just pick up Psalm 69:4 here. Psalm 69:4. And we will also read verse 9. Uh, actually, we can read, we will just read 4 through 9. This is David actually going through a very severe trial. Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. They are mighty who would destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully. Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it. Oh God, you know my foolishness and my sins are not hidden from you. OK, that's obviously we are talking about David here, not Christ. Let not those who wait for you, O Lord of hosts, be ashamed because of me. Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel, because for your sake I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to my mother's children, because zeal for your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me. Knowing what happened in the life of Christ, we can see how this was fulfilled in his life. Uh, he was reproached terribly without a cause really cause he had never sinned, never done anybody any wrong. But he had borne that reproach. He had borne that shame. And then we also know that his brothers did not believe until after, afterward and uh. This specific verse 9. Was used Uh, to describe the zeal of Jesus Christ. OK. We do not need to go any farther there. The second one of these subdivisions of the Messianic prophecies are called typical prophetic. Messianic prophecy or Messianic Psalms. That is, let me explain this one. The psalmist's present experience points to the Messiah's life. It's very similar to the one, but uh. The difference is, uh. That we see the one we just saw, we see. From David's life in Christ, this one is a little bit different. Let's go back to Psalm 16. You know, those scholars, they, they. They break things up really fine. It's hard for me to explain the difference between these two. One is typical Messianic, the other one is typical prophetic. This is the prophetic verse 8, Psalm 16. I have set the Lord always before me because He is at my right hand. I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices. My flesh also will rest in hope, for you will not leave my soul in Shiel, nor will you allow your holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of, of life in your presence is fullness of joy At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. And in this case, it's the, the Davidic hope of being resurrected, a prophecy. That he would be resurrected. That is slightly different from the experience that we saw in chapter 69, but this one very clearly. Applies to Jesus Christ because when he was put in the tomb, he did not stay there, not enough even to, to begin to um. To rot if you will, and uh. He was brought up and resurrected and brought to the Father's right hand. OK, let's go to the next one, number 3. This one is indirectly, indirectly messianic, an indirectly messianic song. This psalm refers to someone or something else. But finds its fulfillment in Christ. These are often found in royal psalms, and this one's a little bit easier to explain. Uh, the royal Psalms and the coronation Psalms and the enthronement Psalms and such like that, depending on how they are named, have to do usually with some piece of liturgy that the um That they would use at a coronation and so they were used in like David's coronation, Solomon's coronation, Riaboam's coronation, whatever and so they refer to that but actually they find their greatest fulfillment in Christ. Uh, let's see Psalm 2. This was, is definitely a coronation song. Let's just pick it up, um. In verse 5 Then he shall speak to the nations in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, You are my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. I do not need to go any further. Obviously this refers to Jesus Christ, even though in, in, in its original context, it had to do with the king who sat on the Davidic throne being crowned and this was the blessing that was put upon him. OK, and finally. Uh, no, did, did I say 5? They're 5This is 4 Purely prophetic. Messianic songs, purely prophetic Messianic songs. How's this different? It's different because it's a psalm that refers to Christ and no one else. It can't apply to anybody else. And this would be, I will not go there. Psalm 1110. You can't squeeze David in there. You can't squeeze anybody else in there. Uh, it's only about Christ. And then the 5th 1 they call enthronement. Messianic Psalms, enthrone Messianic Psalms, it's very much like what we just saw in Psalm 2. But this is a Psalm that foretells Christ's coming as King of kings. And I will not go into any of these, but you can find, they, they are called the Lord Reigns Psalms from Psalm 96 through 99. They're all enthronement psalms, um. And they are about Christ being enthroned as King in the millennium. OK I have a decision to make here. Let's just read Psalm 110. I'm not going to have time to do much commentary on it, but I want you to see it. This is the purely prophetic Psalm that I mentioned earlier that can only refer to Jesus Christ and no one else. Sometimes it's categorized as a royal psalm. Because Some scholars think that it was used as liturgy for the coronations of Davidic kings, but to me it's. Even if it was, it was used that way, it doesn't fit. Um, it fits better as a purely prophetic messianic song. It applies to no one else but Christ. It is prophesying of the anointed God, priest, King. If you will, of the line of David. The Old Testament Davidic kings could not act as priests, so it can't apply to them. And the Maccabean kings who came after the return from exile and before they were pretty much overthrown by the Romans, they were Levites. They were not Davidic, so they do not fit either. The only one that does is Jesus Christ. Now this psalm is divided into two parts. 1 through 3 verses 1 through 3 and verses 3, excuse me, 4 through 7. And there are 2, they are 2 oracles that are put back to back, 2 prophecies from God. Their oracles are prophetic declarations or decrees, and. They, one is given in verse 1 and the next two verses give you a glimpse of its fulfillment and then the second divine oracle is given in, in verse 4 along with an oath from God that is irrevocable. He says he will not relent. He will not change his mind. And then in verses 56, and 7 is another glimpse of its fulfillment. By the way, the first verse in this is the most quoted Old Testament verse in the New Testament 14 times, and it's also alluded to several other times beyond. Let's just read it. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand till I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. Your people shall be volunteers in the, in the day of your power, in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning. You have the due of your youth. The Lord has sworn and will not relent. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at your right hand. He shall execute kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the nations. He shall fill the places with dead bodies. He shall execute the heads of many countries. He shall drink of the brook by the wayside. Therefore, he shall lift up the head. A lot of people do not understand this song. Um, a lot of it has, they understand verses 1 and 4 to a certain degree because they are explained considerably in the New Testament, but they do not understand the fulfillments very well. Also, the, the language in some of these verses are, is obscure and so there are a lot of different translations that you can find. But like I said, I'm not going to be able to go into too much detail here. But I want, I want to at least get to verse one and to make sure you understand, you probably do, but you understand. Who, what's being talked about here? Um, both Jesus and Peter, Jesus in Matthew 22:43, and Peter in Acts 2:34, verified that David, acting here as a prophet is the author of this verse. And you have to believe that in order to understand the pronouns that are used and the Lords that are mentioned here. If you do not have David as the author, then this gets really confusing about who's being talked about and who is talking. So if I can make it a little simpler, the declaration or the oracle that said in verse one is Yahweh. Declares To my adon. Sit at my right hand. OK, We're talking about 3 different people here. This is not 2. This is 3. Yahweh is the Father. My is a reference to David. And then the second Lord Adon in the Hebrew is his master or his Lord, so. God above all said to my master. Sit at my right hand, meaning Yahweh's right hand or the Father's right hand, till I make your enemies, that is, Christ's enemies. His footstool So what this does is it it is very important in establishing the Father-son relationship and the fact that there are two God beings. There is the Father called here Yahweh, and then the Son called here Adon or the Master, the Lord. And then David is below them. David's master is Christ and the Son. And once you have all that straight, then the rest of the the Psalm gets a little bit easier to understand. I also want to mention just before my time runs out here that the time setting here in verse one. Is Christ's ascension to heaven. After being resurrected from the tomb. That is when the Father said, sit at my right hand. I will make your enemies your footstool, and everything goes from there. Uh, by the time you get to verse 2 and 3, we are talking about Christ's second coming. And interesting, it's just interestingly. If we endure to the end, you are mentioned in verse 3. Your people shall be volunteers. That means you have a choice. And you will Come to Christ and serve Him. And be a part of that great army that comes from heaven and defeats his enemies. By the way, just as a little side side light, the word volunteers there in verse 3. It means um free will offering. You know where Paul took that in Romans 12:1. Living sacrifices. Your people will be living sacrifices, it, it, it, it says, and that's how you become a follower of Jesus Christ. So like I just said, endure to the end. Because if you do, you will have the same victory that is shown in the rest of the Psalm.
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