03-01-2008, 05:21 PM
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Robert McWatty Russell, "Christ in the Psalms," in John McNaugher, ed., The Psalms in Worship, pp. 216-217: Quote:
Much has been said about the absence of Christ from the Psalms, and the need, therefore, of songs presenting Him. There is much that is tender and seemingly commendable in this desire for fuller statement as to Christ's person and work in our songs; but when we find that in our Saviour's time the failure to see Christ in the Old Testament Scriptures was because of blindness, we may ask whether modern failure to find Him in the Psalms may not be attributable to the same cause. Our Lord certainly found the Psalms filled with references to Himself. He quotes David's words from the Psalter to show that David called Him Lord, and that therefore He was more than David's Son. In the quiet of the Upper Room with His disciples, in those precious hours after His resurrection, He emphasized His place in the thought of the whole Old Testament, saying, "These are My words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must needs be fulfilled which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Me." There follows the declaration, "Then opened He their minds, that they might understand the Scriptures; and He said unto them, 'Thus it is written that Christ should suffer, and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name unto all nations.'"
That Spirit-anointed eyes will find Christ in the Psalter is revealed by the testimony of New Testament writers. When Paul writes to the Colossians, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God," and immediately adds, "And whatsoever ye do, in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him," he affirmed the close relation of Christ's word and Christly deeds with the Songs of the Psalter.
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Andrew
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