Why Read the Psalms Daily? (4)

 

The Psalms Help Us See the Entire Bible

Reading Psalms daily gives us a framework in which to see the entire Bible. The Psalms guide us from Creation, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the Exodus, to the Promised Land, to King David, to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Captivity, to the Restoration under Ezra and Nehemiah, to the incarnation of Christ, to the Body of Christ, the Church, and into eternity future.

The Psalms bathe our minds and hearts in the Big Picture, as well as in the texture of individual brush strokes. Psalms reveals the Father and Son from ages past into ages future, and in our own lives today. Reading the Psalms daily brings us into the fellowship of saints who have lived before us and who live now in the Presence – Psalms is an expression of Hebrews Chapter 11, when we enter into Psalms we experience the “communion of saints.”

In a world which bombards us with narrative after narrative, with multiple spins on the same story and set of facts, Psalms guards our hearts and minds, it raises us above the chaos of the world system, it provides us with pure air to breathe, it renews an eternal perspective in our souls.

 

            As We Live in Psalms, We Live in the New Testament

               During Holy Week, when Jesus spoke of His impending crucifixion and resurrection, He pointed to Psalm 118 (Matthew 21:42).

               That same week, in confounding the religious leaders, Jesus questioned them out of Psalm 110 (Matthew 22:43).

               During the Crucifixion, both Jesus and the religious leaders gave testimony to Psalm 22; Jesus does this knowingly, the religious leaders unknowingly (Matthew 27:43, 46).

               On the Day of Pentecost, Peter’s sermon is based on two key Old Testament texts, Joel Chapter 2 and Psalm 16.  Peter could assume that his audience knew these passages well, can today’s pastor assume the same?

               In Romans Chapter 3, in his great teaching on justification, Paul quotes six different passages in Psalms.  

               In Romans Chapter 4, Paul continues his teaching on justification with two key Old Testament texts, one from Genesis, speaking of Abraham, the other is Psalm 32, speaking of David. Paul could assume that his readers knew these passages, can today’s pastor assume the same?

               Consider the role of Psalms in the book of Hebrews, with its focus on our glorious High Priest and the New Covenant. In the very first chapter there are 5 quotations from Psalms. In Chapter 2, one of the great chapters on the Incarnation, two psalms (8 and 22) play pivotal roles.

               Psalm 95 is the cornerstone of Hebrews chapters 3 and 4.

               Psalm 110 is critical to Hebrews chapters 5 and 7.

               Psalm 45 is central to Hebrews Chapter 10.

               Psalm 118 is quoted in Hebrews Chapter 13.

               The author of Hebrews could assume that his readers knew Psalms, knew the context and content of the passages he referenced. Again I ask, can today’s pastor assume the same? If we don’t know Psalms how can we know the New Testament?

               When the New Testament writers and speakers, including our Lord Jesus Christ, quote Psalms (indeed when they quote what we term the Old Testament), they are doing more than quoting a verse – they are invoking the entire passage, the entire psalm.

               This is the same as when we hear someone say, “Four score and seven years ago,” or “When in the course of human events,” or “Ask not what your country can do for you,” or “Yesterday, December 7, 1941 - a date which will live in infamy”; we hopefully know the substance of what follows and we know the context of what follows (well…at least we used to).

               This means that there is so much more to Jesus crying, “My God, My God!” on the Cross than those words being a fulfillment of Psalm 22. The entire psalm is being fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in us; it is a psalm of rejection, crucifixion, resurrection, and of the Body of Christ (which is why it is invoked in Hebrews 2:13). We have the same principle in Psalm 118, another psalm of trial, suffering, rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection – which is why Jesus invokes it in Matthew 21:42. If we only see the verse that Jesus quotes, and not the passage He invokes, we miss the import of His message.

               We limit ourselves and the Holy Spirit when we reduce verses to evidence of prophetic fulfillment, we belittle the evidence, we reduce it to a verse when it ought to be the entire glorious passage, a passage which reveals Christ and which invites us into koinonia with Him and with one another.

               Most of us enjoy some form of music, popular or classical. All we need to do is to hear a bar or two of music we like to be transported into the entire piece. We can all play the game, “Name that Tune,” to one degree or another. A few seconds of music can bring back a song we haven’t heard or thought of for decades…we hear a few beats and all of a sudden the music and lyrics are back in our heads and we are dancing or tapping our toes or being transported into classical heavens.

               O my friends, this is the way Psalms ought to be to us, it is the way the Bible ought to be to us. This is one reason why it is so important to read Psalms daily, to reclaim our birthright, to obtain our inheritance, to “see” Christ and the New Testament as never before.