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PSALMS
PSALMS
Ps 69. It might seem surprising that a psalm marked by so vindictive a spirit as Ps 69 should ever have been interpreted Messianically, but several of its verses are even in the NT brought into relation with Christ. In his usual manner .St. John (IQ-*^'^") sees in the ottering of vinegar to Jesus on the cross a fullilment of scripture, that is, of Ps 69--^<'-'i (of. Mk i5^^ Lk 23^«), while St. Matthew (2734. 4bj^ ^y],Q parallels the language of the psalm still more closely by spe<aking of the gall, does not explicitly connect the incident with the psalm, though doubtless it was in his mind. The zeal with which Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple, is said in Jn 2''^ to have reminded the disciples of v.^**'^' of the psalm ; and Ro 15^, where the second half of this verse is quoted, shows that St. Paul interpreted the psalm Messianically (but cf. Ro 11«- with Ps 6923f- ('•^•^'•)). In Ac l^o, Ps 69-« i-^) and 109* are regarded as inspired predictions of the fate of Judas (Ac 1'"). Two difficulties, however, stand in the way of interpreting this psalm Messi- anically : (1) It plainly reflects a contemporary historical situation ; it is the product of a time when Judah is in misery and her cities are in ruins (6936(35)). j^nd (2) its herce vindictive tone (cf. v.--') is altogether unlike the spirit of Him who said, ' Father, forgive them.' The similarity of inci- dents in the life of Jesus to certain features of the psalm may have led to its Messianic application ; but it has nothing like the claims to such a dis- tinction which Ps 22 has.
Ps 72. The NT lends hardly any support to the Messianic interpretation of this psalm, though this interpretation has found much favour with Chris- tian expositors. The description of the gifts of gold that Avere brought to the infant Jesus (Mt 2^^) perhaps recalls, in part, the language of the psalm, cf. vv.^^f-i^; but in spite of the extravagant lan- guage of vv.^'ii (which are possibly, as some hold, a later insertion, added after the psalm began to be interpreted Messianically), it was, in all jirob- ability, originally only a prayer for some historic king. V.15, in which prayer is to be continually ottered for the royal subject of the psalm, shows that the Messianic interpretation is hardly ad- missible.
Ps 110. No psalm is so frequently laid under contribution in the NT as Ps 110. V.^ e.g., is re- ferred to, directly or allusively, in Mt 22-" 26*''*, Mk 1236 1462 igi9^ Lk 20^2'- 226», Ac 2^^- 5^1 l"^^-, Ro d?\ I Co 152s, Eph 12«, Col 31, 1 P 322, He P- 1^ 8^ lO^^'- 122; ajid v.^ in He 5« G^o 7ii-i7-2i etc. The first verse is interpreted of Jesus, who, as the Messiah, is bidden by the Lord {Jehovah in the Hebrew) to sit at His right hand till He has vanquished all His enemies ; while, according to the Ep. to the Heb., He is also the priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Other priesthoods were transi- tory. His is eternal and inalienable (T^**- ^). The use of the psalm made bj' Christ, together with the very deliberate, if not solemn words in which He introduces the citation, certainly raise a strong presumption that He regarded the psalm as Mes- sianic. But in this connexion two things have to be remembered : (1) that this allusion springs from an atmosphere of controversy, and (2) that the esfir.ntinl meaning of Christ is independent of the Messianic view of the psalm. (1) As against the Pharisees, the citation had a peculiar relevance and propriety. Christ desires them to feel that they have not carefully considered the conse- quences of their views regarding the Messiah. (2) Tlie real intention of Christ is to suggest the indefeasible superiority of the spiritual to the material. Starting from the conception of sonship, the Pharisees ended in thoughts of a material and political kingdom like David's, whereas, had they considered the sense in which the Messiah was
David's Lord, they would have found themselves in a spiritual sphere.
It is certaiiilj' very difficult to resist the impression that the psalm is Maccabaian. Without laj'ing too much stress upon the siiig'ular fact that the initial letters of each verse from ^^ to *, [yCii", spell the word Simon, the historical implications of the psalm point very powerfullj' to the Maccabaean period. It im- plies that the king- celebrated also bore the title of priest, and not till that period could this have been appropriately said of any ruler. The language of the opening verse, which, in the Ilelsrew, runs 'Oracle of Jehovah to my lord,' most naturally suggests that the psalm is composed by a poet in honour of his king, whoiu he calls ' my lord,' and for whom he foretells victory. But the vigorous language of x.u hardly seems com- patible with the idea that its theme is Christ.
The use made of the psalm by St. Peter in Ac 2^*^'- is thoroughly analogous to his use of Ps 16. Immediately after arguing that Ps 16, with its seeming prophecy of the resurrection, could not refer to David because he ' both died and was buried,' the Apostle goes on to argue that Ps 110 must also be referred to some other than David, because ' he did not ascend into the heavens. ' But in truth the sitting at the right hand of God is simply a pictorial way of suggesting an idea similar to that of Ps 2^, where a historical king is called the son of God. The grandeur of the phrase ' sit- ting at the right hand of God,' the contemplated completeness of the king's victory, the union in his person of the offices of priest and king, and the mysteriousness that gathered rovrnd the person and the priesthood of Melchizedek, all combined to make the Messianic interpretation easy and all but inevitable.