Quote:
Originally Posted by InOmnibusCaritas
I hope that we will stick to Psalms on this thread. ... I want to listen more about Psalms.
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I'll try to summarize: the apostle Paul twice mentioned singing Psalms in his epistles, calling them the "word of Christ" in Colossians and "the infilling Spirit" in Ephesians. But WL had a kind of allergic reaction when he covered the Psalms, because they prominently have the word "law". WL said "nobody can keep the law; salvation is by grace". Yes, but the standard NT interpretation was that Jesus the Nazarene was foretold in scripture. In the OT writers' declarations of fealty and obedience they typified the coming Messiah. And this is prominently featured in the Psalms. Jesus wasn't called the "Son of David" for nothing. See e.g. Luke 18:38 "He called out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'" and Matthew 21:9 "The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Hosanna in the highest heaven!'"
So we know that Jesus didn't circumvent the law but kept and fulfilled it, and that now we the formerly lawless ones have hope, because we can believe into the Obedient Son and be saved. And yes "being saved" involves obeying Him (in hearing, recognizing, and cooperating with the sent Spirit of Life) just as He obeyed the Father. The OT writers, including David, were indeed sinners, but in their struggles to obey God they gave and outline, or framework, for the One who was to follow.
When the psalmist said, "Oh God, you've saved me because I obey You and do your will", WL said, in effect, "No God didn't save him. He saved himself". I reject this interpretation. The psalmist's poem, or song, was a picture of the Obedient Son, and the Father's raising Him from death. This is clearly outlined in the initial speech in Acts 2, by Peter, on the day of Pentecost. David had indeed failed, but being a prophet he foreknew, and spoke about, the promise of God to his seed.
Second, the writer to Hebrews quotes the Psalms something like 8 or 10 times in the first section, then says, "we see Jesus" (2:9). Some of those quotations wouldn't seem like the humble Nazarene at first glance. "Your throne, O God, is forever", etc. Wow! That was Jesus?!? What a revelation! So there's an open invitation in the NT usage to explore the OT text for revelation of Jesus. (Of course there are limits - our revelation should be tempered by reason, precedence, and fellowship).
Third, when John quoted Psalm 69, "And His disciples remembered where it was written, 'Zeal of Thy house has eaten Me up"', John was presupposing familiarity with the cited text. But in the evangelical, fundamentalist thought-world we take for granted the NT authority as intrinsic to itself, and typically downplay or even ignore the source text. How many Christians really have deep familiarity with Psalm 69, in toto? Did just that one single verse convey information about the coming Christ, or was John supposing that the reader, familiar with the source text, would continue the study?
That brings me to my last point: is there any place in the myriad citations in the NT where the author says, in effect, "Only use this citation. The rest of the Psalms are natural, and written according to fallen human concepts. They aren't revelatory of Jesus Christ"? Where's the accompanying warning in the NT usage to ignore the "natural" chaff? I don't see it; "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God."
WL ran his "God's economy" bulldozer through the text and the results were not pretty. Imagine if the Ethiopian had asked, "Did he write this about himself, or someone else?" and Philip had said, "No, you can ignore that verse. That was just a natural man trying to save himself by keeping his mouth shut. Eventually everyone opens their mouth and reveals their fallen nature. All men are sinners."
No, there was One Man who overcame. We would do well to heed this Man, and live. And He is revealed for us in the words of scripture.