All the Psalms celebrate Christ in one way or another. Athanasius, commented regarding the Psalms, “While the entire Holy Scripture is a teacher of virtues and of the truths of faith, the book of Psalms possesses somehow the perfect image of the soul’s course of life.[1]”
There is no doubt that the New Testament makes extensive use of the Psalms, as an indication that both testaments testify of the same things, and especially of the same person – Jesus Christ. For example, Peter, during his Pentecost sermon, quoted two Psalms and went on to preach to the people gathered in Jerusalem “God has made this Jesus whom you crucified both Lord and Christ” (Act 2:36). On the other hand, Paul, reasoning from the Scriptures of the Old Testament, demonstrated that the Christ had to suffer and rise again, saying, “This Jesus, whom I preach to you, is the Christ” (Act 17:2-3). The book of Hebrews may be regarded as sermon drawn from Psalm 110. It is knit together through the Psalms showing us that Jesus is the “son of man” of Psalm 8 who was made “for a little while lower than the angels” through the incarnation but now has been crowned “with glory and honor” through his resurrection and ascension (Heb 2:5-9)
In a nutshell, the Messianic Psalms brings much to bear on Christ. Consider the table below that provides this data as well as show where these psalms are quoted in the New Testament:
Table 2 Messianic Psalms quoted in the New Testament
Passage in Psalm | Quotation in the New Testament |
2:1-2 | Acts 4:25-28 |
2:7 | Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5 |
2:9 | Revelation 2:26-27; 12:5; 19:15 |
8:2 | Matthew 21:16 |
8:4-6 | 1Corinthians 15:25-28; Hebrews 2:5-10 |
16:8-11 | Acts 2:25-32; 13:34-37 |
22:1 | Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34 |
22:7-8 | Matthew 27:39,43; Luke 23:35 |
22:18 | Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:23-24 |
22:22 | Hebrews 2:11-12 |
40:6-8 | Hebrews 10:5-10 |
41:9 | John 13:18 |
45:6-7 | Hebrews 1:8-9 |
68:18 | Ephesians 4:8 |
69:4 | John 15:25 |
69:9 | John 2:17; Romans 15:3 |
69:21 | Matthew 27:34; John 19:28-29 |
69:22-23 | Romans 11:9-10 |
69:25 | Acts 1:20 |
78:2 | Matthew 13:35 |
78:24 | John 6:31 |
97:7 | Hebrews 1:6 |
102:25-27 | Hebrews 1:10-12 |
110:1 | Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42; Acts 2:34; Hebrews 1:13 |
110:4 | Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:17,21 |
118:6 | Hebrews 13:6 |
118:22-23 | Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10-11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; Ephesians2:20; 1Peter 2:7 |
118:26 | Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35, Luke 19:38; John 12:13 |
Throughout the New Testament, you notice that the Psalms were very useful in the life of the early church. Matthew’s gospel unveils the Psalms as the key that Jesus used often. Beginning with Satan’s quotation of Psalm 91to Jesus, upon the cross of agony, going through his suffering through the sieve of Psalm 22: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” All these beautifully demonstrate Christ’s own use of the Psalms. Christ’s own ministry shows that Psalms had a big place in his heart as he spoke of himself from Psalm 118:22, as “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”
In conclusion, there is not enough space to relate how 11 Psalms celebrate the person and work of the coming Messiah. He would be rejected (Ps 118), and betrayed (Ps 69, 109), die and be resurrected (Ps 22, 16), he would come as conqueror and enthroned Ruler (Ps 2, 110), as planner and groom (Ps 40, 45), and as the triumphant King (Ps 68, 72).
[1] Nick Batzig, “Discovering Christ in the Old Testament,” The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals: The Christward Collective, July 18, 2017, Accessed November 28, 2018, http://www.alliancenet.org/christward/discovering-christ-in-the-psalms#.XCM-21wzbIV
