The Book of Psalms Part 4

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The Book of Psalms Part 4

September 30, 2009 by Glenn McClure

Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

The Book of Psalms is a portrait of the life of Christ
The movement of lamentation to praise and suffering to glory is a portrait of the life of Jesus
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering (Is 53:3-4)
Jesus life moved from lamentation to praise—road to Emmaus—Luke 24:26—first to suffer and then to enter his glory
No one has ever known the abandonment, dark night of the soul as Jesus did when he was upon the cross
On the cross Jesus sang the psalms of lament like no one had ever sung them—on the cross he sang the lament recorded in Psalm 22 (Matt 27:46)
Though David felt abandoned by God, David had not truly been abandoned. Though you and I have felt abandoned by God—we have never truly been abandoned
But when Jesus was abandoned on the cross, it was because he was truly abandoned by His heavenly Father—Jesus experienced the agony of ultimate abandonment by God as nobody has ever known it
We have a high priest who can relate to us-no matter where we are—He understands—and Jesus heart is full of love and compassion and comfort for us
Jesus makes the shift—Psalm 22:22 –Hebrews 2:12 records—from lament to praise
What explains the remarkable shift—the resurrection from the dead!
Jesus suffered the agony of hellish separation from the Father and came out victorious on the other side singing the songs of praise! And he sings them in the presence of the congregation—he sings them for us as well!!
Rom 8:1-2—the power of the Spirit of life has set us free from the power of sin and death…Jesus sang the lament psalms for us and also sings the psalms of praise for us and with us. Because his life moved from lamentation to praise—our lives move in the very same way. The final song in our lives is not lamentation—the final song is the song of praise!!
Way of the cross is the way of transformation unto glory (2 Cor 3:18)
We have everything we need to have praise be the dominant note of our lives—Eph 1:3
Heavenly Praise—Revelation 5:6-13 (New song)