Lead:
How should we understand references to kings in Psalms?
Intro:
How should we understand references to kings in Psalms?
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New covenant:
Passage: Acts 8
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 40
Words: ~932
Wisdom:
Passage: Psalm 38
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 22
Words: ~361
Old covenant:
Passage: Ruth 3-4
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 40
Words: ~1090
Commentary:
Christ in the Psalms
One of the most controversial questions facing interpreters of the Book of Psalms is how to understand the many references to the “king” or “anointed one” (Hebrew Messiah). Do these references speak of a human king of ancient Israel or point ahead to Jesus as the ideal King and Messiah?
The biblical writers wrote of real-life persons and situations. The king played a most prominent role in ancient Israel’s national life. Over sixty references in the Psalms highlight the king’s prestige. The original readers of the psalms naturally understood that these references spoke of the human king, whose role was so very important in their day-to-day existence. Because the basic meaning of any text is what the author intended the original audience to understand, “king” in the Psalms refers primarily to a human king of ancient Israel.
It may be possible for references to the “king” or “anointed one” to speak of both a human king and point ahead to Jesus as the ideal One.
The only clear passage that describes a human king in its OT context who is seen as the ideal messianic King in a subsequent text is Psalm 2. (Hebrews 1:5 treats this psalm as explicitly messianic.) Thus the human king in Psalm 2 functioned as a type, that is, one who had significance in his own historical setting but who also served as a divinely ordained foreshadowing of someone in later biblical revelation.
Generally speaking, references to the king in Psalms speak of the human king in the biblical writer’s time. Occasionally, reference to the king was originally understood as a human king but later applied to the ideal Messiah. In one psalm (Ps 110) the king can mean none other than the ideal messianic King of kings.
The superscription of Psalm 110 portrays it as Davidic. Surprisingly, the first verse speaks of David’s successor as his lord. In ancient Israel this was inconceivable. David was the greatest king, the standard by which his successors were measured. Early in Israel’s history this passage was understood as a prophecy of the coming Messiah. Jesus interpreted Psalm 110:1 in this way in a dispute with the Pharisees (Matt 22:41–45; Mark 12:35–37; Luke 20:41–44). Jesus’ riddle—If “David himself calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”—captures the mystery of the incarnation. Jesus is the Son of David but also more than David’s son (Rom 1:3–4).(1)
Love you!
-Roger
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Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
Sources and resources:
(1) David S. Dockery, ed., Holman Bible Handbook (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 1992), 340.