Chad Richard Bresson - Preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant

8/2/2019 Chad Richard Bresson - Preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant

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Title: Preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant - 1Text: Psalm 69

Title: Preaching the Psalms in the New CovenantText: The Psalms, especially Psalm 69Speaker: Chad Richard Bresson

Most of us are familiar with the pocket testaments that have been handed out by the millions at

schools all over the United States. Mention pocket testament and for many of us, we can stillenvision the Gideons workers and their boxes showing up at school and the buzz of getting

something for free. For some of us, the pocket testament from the Gideons was the first time

we owned our own Bible. Being a good church kid who was taught to recite the books of theBible at an early age, the pocket testament was a bit of curiosity for me. I always found it

curious that the Psalms (and sometimes Proverbs) was added to the end of the New Testament.

This practice dates back to at least 1557. John Knox and other Protestant scholars who had themeans fled England under the rule of Bloody Mary, the Catholic monarch who made life

difficult for those Englishmen trying to follow in the reforming footsteps of John Calvin and

Martin Luther. The English Protestants, with the help of Knox and Calvin, began work on an

English translation that was not tied to the throne. Their project is what we now know as theGeneva Bible. The Geneva Bible was completed and published in 1560. But before the

translation was published, three years prior, the Geneva New Testament had been published

along with a copy of the Psalms attached. This was no doubt because the English church usedthe Psalms in its worship and would benefit from having the Psalms released early in the

Geneva project. In fact, in some cases, the Psalters were printed separately specifically for use

in corporate worship.

The modern habit of adding Psalms to the New Testament was cemented in English literature

with the arrival of the pocket Testaments that were first distributed to Union and Confederate

soldiers in the Civil War. Again, use of the Psalter in worship was most likely a factor. But

with the advent of the Civil War, the Psalms also provided salve for the wounded soldier. ThePsalms took on a devotional dimension in a profound way.

This practice of placing the Psalms as an appendix (as Geerhardus Vos calls it1) served to

highlight the devotional nature of the Psalms. The serene pastures of green and the cool, still

waters of refreshment have been understood to provide comfort in times of difficulty andhardship. The pietistic quiet time with God in the solace of one's private space is thought to not

be complete without a meditation from the Psalter. The pocket New Testaments took on a

noticeable devotional tenor, almost exclusively so. And one wonders if the New Testament

itself didn't suffer from the privatization of Psalms for the devotional hour.

This isn't to say that many of the Psalms are not borne of the individual soul's delight in theCovenanting God and his revealed Word. But Vos points out an often missed element that is

resident in the pocket testament. The adjacency of the Psalms to Revelation's Apocalypse, aphenomenon more acutely felt during times of great upheaval, accentuates the Psalter's

eschatological character. Not only would this have been true during the American Civil war, it

was true years later in the War to End all Wars. Writing in the wake of World War 1, Vossays,

1 (Vos, 1920)

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The storm-ridden landscape of the Apocalypse has little enough in common with the

green pastures and still waters of which the Psalmist sings...It requires something morestrenuous than the even tenor of our devotional life to shake us out of this habit and force

us to take a look at the Psalter's second face...It has happened more than once in the

history of the Church, that some great conflict has carried the use of the Psalms out from

the prayer-closet into the open places of a tumultuous world. We...who are just emergingfrom a time of great world-upheaval, have perhaps discovered, that the Psalter adapted

itself to still other situations than we were accustomed to imagine. We have also found

that voices from the Psalter accompanied us, when forced into the open to face the world-tempest, and that they sprang to our lips on occasions when otherwise we should have had

to remain dumb in the presence of God's judgments. This experience sufficiently proves

that there is material in the Psalms which it requires the large impact of history to bring toour consciousness in its full significance. It goes without saying that what can be prayed

and sung now in theatro mundi(or the stage of human history) was never meant for

exclusive use in the oratory of the pious soul.2

If we have missed the accidental significance of the Psalms set in immediate proximity to

John's Apocalypse, it would seemingly obligate us to observe that the Psalms are inherently

eschatological. Because the Psalms are casting Israel's vision toward its climatic and glorious

end in both grand and stark language, the Psalms find their greatest meaning in the Messiah ofits meter and its greatest expression in the New Covenant of its strophe. It is the purpose of this

presentation to show that if we have not accounted for the New Covenant in our preaching of

the Psalms, we have missed the intention of the Psalmists themselves and ultimately the truemeaning of the Psalms to which we turn for comfort.

Contemporary Preaching of the PsalmsWhen was the last time you or I heard a sermon from the Psalms that was informed by this

eschatological character of the Psalms? When was the last time you or I heard a sermon from

the Psalms in which the ultimate subject of the Psalm being preached was Israels comingmessiah and the expected deliverance he brings? When was the last time that you heard a

sermon preached in which the New Covenant was presented as that Psalms end point? Otherthan Psalm 2 or Psalm 22?

Why does it seem that we tend to miss the forward-and-upward looking trajectory of the

Psalms? Why do our sermons on the Psalms typically sound as if they have not moved from theOld Covenant to the New? The dearth of preaching the Psalms in a manner that is in keeping

with their eschatological features is due to a number of things, which I will mention only

briefly here before making some points about preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant.

In fact, the purpose of the first part of my presentation is to lead us in calling to mind some ofthe interpretational and preaching principles in preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant.

Presentation1. Contemporary problems preaching Psalms2. Hermeneutics and homiletics of Psalms sermoncraft in the New Covenant3. ModelPsalm 69

2 (Vos, 1920)


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My first task will be to point out some of the contemporary problems in our preaching of the

Psalms. And then my next task in Part 1 of this presentation is to look at the hermeneuticsinvolved in the sermoncraft surrounding the Psalms. In Part 2 of this presentation, I will

attempt to model what we have discussed in preaching Psalm 69. I also pray that our

consideration of Psalm 69 will be a fitting conclusion to our time together this week.

5 contemporary problems regarding preaching from the Psalter

I have listed seven, very brief reasons that we tend to miss the New Covenant significance in

our preaching of the Psalms. These are all interrelated, so as I listed these it occurred to me thatsome might find these things arbitrary. But I want to put these in front of us as I thought about

them and maybe these will be of help to us as we consider preaching from the Psalter in light of

New Covenant Theology.

Devotional materialThe first reason we (evangelicals) dont tend to take the New Covenant into account when wepreach the Psalms is one weve already mentioned. Too often the Psalms are simply understood

and subsequently preached as devotional material. This isnt to say that the Psalms are notdevotional. The Psalms are intensely personal. We empathize with the real life grit that givesrise to both lament and praise. The Psalms are indeed messages of hope and comfort3 for the

New Covenant community. But when we simply leave it at that, we miss the upward and

forward view of the Psalms. We miss the Psalms bigger message.

IndividualismThe second reason is that we often preach the Psalms with the individual at the center of our

interpretation. Again, this isnt to say that the Psalms do not speak to the plight of the

individual in a world gone wrong. But I think we are not often aware in our preaching of the

Psalms, and indeed the Old Testament, how much our rugged American individualism iscoloring both our exegesis and our preaching.

Again, the Psalms are deeply personal. One cannot approach the Psalms, especially the Psalms

of Lament, without feeling a sense of kinship with the author and his plight. Many of the

Psalms are written in the first person, and many of those Psalms are the prayers of a person in

trouble.4Geerhardus Vos is correct when he says, Subjective responsiveness is the specific

quality of these songs.5

But sermons from the Psalms today too often fail to go beyond the personal plight of the

author, as if the personal crisis of the psalmist is an end to itself. Carl Bosma notes that the

"biographical-psychological approach to the Psalmsconcentrates its attention on the uniqueexperience of the individual authors".6That approach dominates the homiletical landscape.

3 (Larondelle, 1983), p. 14 (Mays, 1991)5 (Vos, 1920); the larger quote in VosThe Eschatology of the Psalter is this: "The deeper fundamental character

of the Psalter consists in this that it voices the subjective response to the objective doings of God for and among

his people. Subjective responsiveness is the specific quality of these songs. As prophecy is objective, being the

address of Jehovah to Israel in word and act, so the Psalter is subjective, being the answer of Israel to that divine

speech."6 (Bosma, 2008)


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Sermons from the Psalms reinforce the prayer closet as the place where we immerse ourselves

in the Psalms, looking for some kind of refuge and relief in our complex, busy, and difficultlives. In our psychologized, Oprafied Americana, the Psalms provide Divine Therapy during

our morning "me" time, selectively offering nearness to God through inner reflection. The

Psalms, then, are preached to the individual rather than the New Covenant community. We read

the plight of the Psalmist through the lens of our own plight, turning the pulpit into an accesspoint for self-help. What passes for sound advice from Oprah during the week (who may have

even used the Psalms as the source for her advice), on Sunday is Christianized by our personal

spiritual adviser in the pulpit.

There must be more to our preaching than individual self-actualization. As James Luther Mays

has noted, It will not do to employ them simply as a resource of counseling and therapy, a toolof catharsis7

MoralismThe third problem that shows up in our preaching of the Psalms is that, much like the rest of

our preaching of the Old Testament, we moralize the text by preaching the Psalms out of

context. Sermons from the Psalms today suffer from moralism that occurs when little or noregard is given to the intentions of the original author, the place of the Psalm in the Psalter, or

the place of the Psalm in redemptive history.

I am spending time on moralism as a problem not simply because it is a big problem, but also

because preaching any text from the vantage point of the New Covenant goes a long way in

tempering our moralizing tendencies in our sermonizing. Our preaching as New Covenanttheologians and pastors should be marked by a Christocentricity that functions as as a built-in

hedge against moralism. Properly understanding the relationship between Jesus, the New

Covenant and the recipients of our sermon is the antidote for an evangelical penchant for

moralizing the sermon. New Covenant preaching in its very essence, is Christocentric; finding

the timeless moral principle of any given text almost always tends to be anthropocentric orman-centered.8

What is meant by moralizing? According to Leander Keck, "moralizing" the text "means

drawing moral inferences, usually things to do or become."9 Moralism is drawing morals out of

the text (as if the biblical authors were Aesop) and holding them up as ideals or ethics to live up

to.

What is moralistic preaching? Moralistic preaching occurs when a passage is preached out of

context or a passage is preached without regard to the author's original intention. Moralisticpreaching, according to William Dennison, attempts to extract an eternal moral principle from

the text for successful living. Dennison refers to this principle as "a Biblical Aesop's

7 (Mays, 1991)8 Greidanus: "While exemplary theory may call for Christological, even Christocentric sermons, the sermons it

inspires are all too often anthropocentric -- anthropocentric in the sense that Moses, David, Peter, or Mary

becomes central." (Greidanus, 1988) p. 67. In the case of the Psalms, it is the Psalmist, or some nebulous

individual taking the place of the Psalmist in actualizing the Psalms, who becomes central.9 (Keck, 1978), p. 101


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principle".10 Leander Keck agrees, insisting that moralizing "has the effect of transforming the

Bible into an assortment of moral precepts and examples."11

Keck further points out that when evangelical preachers go to the Old Testament looking for --

and then preaching -- the key moral insight of a passage, "the Bible's own agenda is

replaced."12

In preaching an eternal moral principle in an Aesopian way, the preacher's ownmoralization of the text "usually fails to bring across the actual point and intention of the

text."13 This happens because, as Greidanus points out, moralizing tends to draw the moral

inference from isolated elements in the text."14

More than simply finding some kind of good or positive virtue for which we strive to become

(which is what we tend to do with the Old Testament narrative), in the case of the Psalms wetake comfort and encouragement from the ethical dilemmas, the crises of life, and the wide

range of emotional expression. But we must take such comfort from the text of the Psalter as

that text presents itself with its own expectations, its own conclusions, and its own context.

Each Psalm has its own purpose, its own context, its own story expressed in the beauty ofpoetry and song.

Ironically enough, even preachers who emphasize expository preaching and believe that

context is everything allow the context of the Psalms to go missing. Moralism in both exegesisand application affects our preaching of the Psalms all too frequently. Rather than preaching

what the Psalmist intended, and rather than preaching in a way for our audience to understand

the text in the same manner as the Israelites would have understood it, the Psalter is preached ina way that ignores the original intent.15

In the case of the Psalms, the Psalmist is held up as virtuous in the way he expresses towardGod the wide range of human emotions. Sermons on the Psalms attempt to extract a moral

principle from the Psalm, usually by calling the individual to the same kind of moral piety as

the Psalmist.

David becomes our exemplary tragic figure who inspires us to those pious virtues that attend

the prayer closet: meditation, prayer, closeness with God, solitude, and the list goes on and on.

Because David and the Psalmists have become the supreme examples of devotional piety,sermons take on a very distinct me-first approach both to the Psalms and theirvarious

applications in preaching timeless or even Biblical principles from the Psalms. To paraphrase

and adapt Kromminga, the Psalter has become a book primarily to be proclaimed asillustrative of human moral behavior.16

For example, in preaching Psalm 69, some preacher (who will remain nameless) pulled the

following timeless biblical principle out of the moral hat: give God your prayersWe have

not because we ask not. For that preacher and that congregation, the point of Psalm 69 is that

10 (Dennison, 2003), p. 136; In making a connection between Greek ethics, idealism, and evengalical preaching,

Dennison notes that Aesop was known for "his ability to extract an instructive moral principle from a fable." In

Old Testament preaching, the narrative and Psalm has replaced "fable".11 (Keck, 1978), p. 10212 (Keck, 1978), p. 10313 (Greidanus, 1988), p. 16414 (Greidanus, 1988), p. 16415 If the original intention isn't ignored outright, Kromminga suggests that the intention is allowed "to play only a

subsidiary role in the application of the message to life." (Kromminga, 1983) p. 3816 (Kromminga, 1983), p. 32


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when things dont go our way, we need to pray to God and keep on praying. Another preacher

found the biblical principle of thankfulness alive and well in Psalm 69 we need to livelives of thankfulness because Jesus supplies our needs. Another preacher decided that Psalm 69

is a good place to go to find out that God protects his people. While all pagan religions will

pass away, Gods people, the church will not pass away. Another preacher preached Psalm 69

as a call for Gods people to live lives of sacrifice in order to be Christlike.

Are these biblical principles? Yes. Are they to be found in Psalm 69. Maybe. Are they the point

of the Psalm? No. I would argue they are not. Psalm 69 has simply become a vehicle to preacha timeless biblical principle or a moral lesson, without regard to the context of Psalm 69, the

purpose of the Psalmist in writing Psalm 69, or the original situation of the Psalm. In order to

reach a simple moral lesson from the Psalm, whatever was intended by the original Psalmistgoes missing and becomes irrelevant.17

SystematizingThe fourth problem is related to the previous point. In fact, this and the next point are really

subsets of the problem of moralism, or preaching something other than the context of the

Psalm. This is the problem of systematic theology in our preaching. Systematic theology tendsto mute the poetry and liturgical nature of the Psalms.18 There is much to appreciate about the

Psalms and its presentation of God as transcendent and yet intimate. However, in studying and

preaching the Psalms highlighting many of these themes, we have tended to treat the Psalter asa theology book. As Leslie Allen says we must allow the Scripture to speak for itself, on its

own terms. And Allen points out, our tendency has been to either preach the Psalter

academically or to simply Christianize those parts that seem difficult to us.19

This isnt to say that the Psalms has nothing to inform our theology. James Luther Mays notes

that Paul uses Psalm 24:1 in giving instruction to the Corinthians about their dietary

practices.20

But the New Testament writers didnt make systematic theology or development

of doctrine their primary focus in their use of the Psalms. Too often, the Psalms function as atheological quarry from which relevant doctrinal gems are mined.

One example that comes immediately to mind is Psalm 139. This Psalm is preached once a year

in pulpits across the country. It is the basis for many a sermon on Sanctity of Human Life

Sunday. And for good reason. This Psalm provides one of the Scriptures clearest statements

about personhood in the womb. But is that really the point of Psalm 139? Most of us wouldreadily admit no.

I think one of the primary examples of systematic theology taking over the sermon is in thearea of divine sovereignty. The Psalms seem to be a favorite place to go in order to proof text

divine sovereignty. And indeed, given that many Psalms are given to personal crisis and aresolution of that crisis, divine sovereignty is a running theme through many of the Psalms.

There are some grand statements about Gods sovereignty in the Psalms. However, far too

17Kromminga is helpful: The broad structures of covenant, theocracy, and holy office, and the ethical

responsibilities which they imply, are usually sacrificed to the interpreter's urgent desire to find a limited

exemplary moral lesson (Kromminga, 1983) p. 3818 Futato reminds us, "The more you appreciate the poetry of the psalms, the more you will get their message...one

key to interpreting the Psalms is understanding and appreciating their poetic features." (Futato, 2007, p. 24)19 (Allen, 1977)20 (Mays, Preaching and Teaching the Psalms, 2006, p. 70)


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often, great theological truths such as Gods sovereignty eclipse the primary purposes of the

text and the intention of the Psalmist.

For example, from Psalm 45, Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your

kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. We

appeal to verses like this to extol not only Gods sovereign reign, but tend to ignore the context.In the instance of Psalm 45, this declaration of sovereignty is in the context of a royal wedding

song, in which the marriage of the king or prince will serve to extend the throne of David down

through the ages. Given this particular statement is quoted in Hebrews and applied to Jesus, thispassage ultimately isnt simply about marriage extending Davids posterity and sovereignty

over Israel, but about Christs marriage to his Bridegroom the church through which his

sovereignty is extended forever through his rule and his reign over all things.

How many sermons have we heard preached on the Psalms, where Gods sovereignty is

mentioned but little or no mention is made of the Sovereign heir to Davids throne who is

ruling and reigning in the heavenlies? The theme of Gods sovereignty in the book of Psalmscannot be preached without some kind of acknowledgment that the subject and object of the

poetry is King Jesus who rules and reigns in the heavens21. Yet too often, Gods sovereignty is

proof-texted from the Psalms with no regard to the original context or the ultimate fulfillment

to which the original context points. Systematic theology is helpful and valuable in its place.But while the Psalms do indeed inform our systematic categories, too many sermons are simply

a springboard to preach systematic theology in a devotional manner.

Psalm 139, which we mentioned moments ago, is a classic example of "springboard

preaching". Springboard preaching22, for the most part, is moralistic. Springboard preaching is

taking a kernel thought that may or may not be germane to the author's original intent in thepassage and developing a sermon from that thought in a way that is not consistent with the rest

of the passage. In our reformed circles, the theology of springboard preaching is not necessarily

unbiblical it's just that it does not have much, if anything, to do with the text at hand. And the

Psalms tend to be a place where a lot of springboard preaching occurs.

So, for instance, the question naturally arises, can the value of human life in the womb be found

in Psalm 139? Does Psalm 139 speak of the value of an unborn child? Yes, it does. Is that thepoint of the passage? No, it isn't. And we do further violence to the text when a passage such as

Psalm 139 is not brought through the cross and resurrection. At the very least, if we are going

to springboard into a sermon about the sanctity of human life out of Psalm 139, at least such asanctity should be understood in light of The Christ Event and the New Covenant in which we

are situated.

Lack of biblical theologyThat leads us to the fifth problem, which is, again, a subset of moralism. It is also closely

related to the problem of systematic theology. There is a lack of biblical theology in ourpreaching of the Psalms. Theres more to say on this in a few moments, but I bring it up here

for the simple reason if taking passages out of context is a problem in preaching the Psalms,

necessarily, preaching passages in their context, especially in terms of redemptive history, is aproblem in preaching the Psalms. Preaching the Psalms too often gives little regard for how it

21 I agree with James Luther Mays who suggests that the primary organizing metaphor for the theology of the

Psalms is the reign of God. (Mays, Preaching and Teaching the Psalms, 2006, p. 71)22John T. Jeffery has suggested another term: Cape Canaveral (Launch Pad) preaching


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presents itself on its own terms. Little regard is given for how the Psalmists understand

themselves within Israels history. Preaching the Psalms too often ignores the place of thePsalter in redemptive history. The Psalmists, including David, stand on behalf of the people and

give voice to the people in their communication to God. Their personal experience becomes the

experience of the people. This is why the Psalter resonates with us. But it is beyond any one

individual. The Psalter is the response of Gods people to Gods great acts in history on theirbehalf.23David Jackman is right when he says in the Psalms and their divine inspiration, we

have Gods authoritative model of the variety of ways in which we may rightly respond to him,

corporately and individually, in praise and in prayer(the Psalms) give us language by whichwe can answer Gods initiating speech.24

The songs are response to Gods activity in redemptive history and are part of the progressionof revelation from Genesis to Revelation. This means we must first study the Psalms as

intended by the original Psalmists. We must hear the Psalms in their original context, or as

Leslie Allen says, hearing them over Israels shoulder.25

We will have more to say on this in

a moment.

Old CovenantalismThere are two other problems we should mention briefly here, but will be unpacked further inthe next section. Because theres a lack of preaching the Psalms without regard to biblical

theology and the place of the Psalter in redemptive history, sermons from the Psalms manytimes are infected with Old Covenantalism. Too many sermons from the Psalms could be

preached in a synagogue with nary an objection from the audience.26 The Psalms are poetical

expressions of Torah. Many, if not, most of them arise from the divine providence that placedDavid on Israels throne as the enactor and enforcer of the theocracy, whereby God rules over

His people through His king, a king with whom he has covenanted to established his throne

forever. Those covenants are obsolete, having been fulfilled in Christ. The Psalms cannot be

simply extracted from their place in redemptive history, especially in their dominant contexts of

both the Mosaic and Davidic Covenants, and plopped down into the New Covenant andpreached with no regard to the development of redemptive history. And it should not be lost on

anyone here in this room, if the Psalms are being preached as if this is the Old Covenant, thenthe New Covenant and all of its implications are missing from the sermon.

Lack of ChristocentricityAnd that brings us to the last problem we will mention, and again, this is a problem inherent to

the problem of preaching the Psalms out of their context in their moralization. The preaching ofthe Psalms today lacks Christocentricity. Just as little regard is paid to the context of the

Psalms in the storyline of redemption in the Bible, little regard is paid to the idea of Messiah

that permeates the Psalms. The Psalter is thorough Messianic in its outlook and trajectory. This

is because the entire Old Testament is permeated with the expectation of the Messiah. But theMessiah has gone missing from too much of our preaching of the Psalms. The Psalms, too

23 Vos: The deeper fundamental character of the Psalter consists in this that it voices the subjective response to

the objective doings of God for and among his people. (Vos, 1920)24 (Jackman, 2003, pp. 127-128)25 (Allen, 1977)26John Piper has called this the synagogue test. If a sermon can be preached to a religiously Jewish audience,

such as one would find in a synagogue, with little or no objection to the way an Old Testament passage is being

interpreted, the sermon is not a Christian sermon. Sermons from the Old Testament must fundamentally account

for the Christ Event (Christs life, death, resurrection, and ascension) and Christs fulfillment of any given

passage in the Old Testament.


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often, are neither interpreted or preached through the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of

Jesus (what many theologians call "The Christ Event").

This happens because the Messiah does not figure prominently enough in our exegesis of the

Old Testament. This habit is at the very least one hundred years old. Geerhardus Vos noted in

1920, Belief in "typically-Messianic" Psalms has practically disappeared from contemporarycritical exegesis.27 On the one hand, the promise of the Messiah as a big part of the makeup of

the Old Testament is decidedly evangelical; on the other hand, the messiah does not figure

prominently into the exegetical enterprise of the Old Testament. If we preach the Psalms asprimarily oriented around my prayers and my response in the prayer closet of my private

devotions, messiah will not figure prominently in the way we understand the meaning and

purposes of the Psalms.

And if the messiah is missing from our preaching of the Psalms, then (again) the coming of the

New Covenants Messiah will be missing from our preaching of the Psalms. These are all tied

together the problems of Old Covenantalism, a lack of Christocentricity, and a lack of theNew Covenant perspective. Between the problem of Old Covenantalism showing up in our

sermons, and our sermons having a lack of Christocentricity, the Psalter as it is to be

understood in the New Covenant by New Covenant people goes missing from the sermon.

There is a failure to account for the arrival of the New Covenant in our preaching of thePsalms.

And that brings us to the next part of our discussion. Whats the answer for these kinds ofproblems? How do we ensure that our preaching does not moralize the text, make Jesus the

priority and properly account for the New Covenant? How are the Psalms to be preached on

this side of Christs life, death, resurrection and exaltation? What are the distinguishing marksof New Covenant Theologys sermoncraft from the Psalter?

13 Basic Principles of Psalms, hermeneutics, and homileticsIf we don't get these right, we have no chance of properly presenting the Psalms to ourcongregations. Ive come up with 13 points. There may be more that you may be able to thinkof, and there could be less if you think some of these points are repetitive.

But in the interest of time, my specific task this morning does not involve a full development of

each of these points. I simply present them here, because as the preacher begins to consider aparticular Psalm in his preaching, these 13 points must help shape and form the sermon (each

of these would warrant more than a few paragraphs to unpack). These 13 points are

fundamental to the proper exegesis of the Psalms.

1. The Psalms are Poetry2. The Psalms are Song3. The Psalms are Prayers4. The Psalms are Human5. The Psalms are Subjective6. The Psalms are Corporate7. The Psalms are Structured: The Structure gives up the meaning8. The Psalms are Genre-oriented (Examples: Lament, Imprecation, Hallel, etc. Psalm 69:

Lament)

27 (Vos, 1920)


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9. The Psalms are Covenantal10.The Psalms are Messianic11.The Psalms are Typological12.The Psalms are Soteriological13.The Psalms are Eschatological

New Covenant Theology considerationsAs valuable these thirteen principles are to making sure we preach the Psalms rightly and donot moralize the text, a lot of sermons on the Psalms never make it to the New Covenant simply

based on these thirteen principles alone. If left to themselves, these thirteen principles, thoughnecessary, are not enough. Theoretically, one could employ all thirteen principles in the study,

and yet develop a sermon that would not pass the synagogue test.

So the questions remain: how is the New Covenant community to see itself in the Psalms? Isthere a one-to-one correlation between the church and the original worshipping community of

Israel? We would answer no, just as if we were considering the Law, the Ten

Commandments, and the Sinaitic Covenant. How does the church participate in the Psalms?

Keep in mind, that the context of the Bunyan conference provides the framework of our

discussion at hand. We want to know what New Covenant Theology brings to the table in

preaching the Psalms. There is much that could be said about the proper exegesis of the Psalms,but our task at hand is to consider the Psalms in light of the New Covenant. I have briefly

highlighted some of the more egregious problems in our preaching of the Psalms; I will leave

many of the rest of the exegetical questions to others. I also recognize that many of you sittinghere have much more knowledge and understanding of the Psalms. My aim is to simply

encourage you in what you already know and are already doing.

It would take us all day to unpack all the tasks of a New Covenant preacher in his study.

Because the Psalms are often preached out of context, there is something to be said forrevisiting not only what it means to preach the Psalms in their context, but how that kind of

preaching moves from exegesis and hermeneutics to the actual sermon and homiletics. In theinterest of time, Ive identified those things that are characteristic of New Covenant Theology,

and I trust our time together will be profitable along those lines. The following points are all

inter-related. So it may seem a bit arbitrary to distinguish them. But I think it is helpful to speak

of the parts in order to understand the whole.28

The Storyline of the BibleThe first thing is that New Covenant Theology will insist that the Psalms be preached in light

of the entire storyline of the Bible. The Bible has one storyline about, centered on, and infused

with the person and work of Jesus Christ. This story, progressively unfolded over 3 or 4millenia, begins in Genesis and moves toward the Apocalypse of John. This revelation shows

us that God, from the very beginning of time, has been orchestrating history and revealing

himself to his creatures in both act and word form in a manner that gives us the story of Jesus.

28It is also a working presupposition of this presentation that expository preaching is the proper method of

preaching the text. Expository preaching attempts to present and apply the truths of a specific biblical passage.

(Chapell, 2005, p. 30) Expository preaching best helps explain the text according to the authors intent. So

Chapell: An expository sermon may be defined as a message whose structure and thought are derived from a

biblical text, that covers the scope of the text, and that explains the features and context of the text (Chapell,

2005, p. 31)


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Douglas Moo says it this way: God had so ordered Old Testament history that it prefigures

and anticipates His climactic redemptive acts and that the New Testament is the inspired recordof those redemptive acts.29

The Bible begins with a garden and ends with a garden, proclaiming what God has done for His

people through the Son Incarnate.30

New Covenant Theology agrees with David Jackman whenhe says that the message of the Biblecenters on Jesus Christ. The Old Testament predates

his coming, preparing the way and explaining the focus of Gods purposes for all humanity in

the Messiah, Gods specially appointed and unique revealer, ruler, and rescuer. The Newdescribes and explains his life, death, (and resurrection) Jesus Christ is the center and focus

of the entire Bible.31

The storyline of the Bible progressively unfolds, in ever greater detail and increasing intensity,

the Person and work of Jesus Christ. The story moves, in an eschatological trajectory, from

Adam to Jesus as the culmination of all things in the New Heaven and New Earth. This places

eschatology as a main consideration of the preacher in the study of the Psalms, or any scripturalpassage in his sermon preparation. Stephen Wellum comments, "eschatology, properly

understood, is nothing more than a thorough study of Gods great act of redemption in Jesus.

Eschatology, then, not only presents us with the Bibles metanarrative, it also unpacks how that

grand story is centered in Jesus. How our Lord was not only anticipated and predicted in theOT, but how, in our Lords coming he has literally ushered in and inaugurated the last

days.32 These last days are the New Covenant age in which the New Covenant community

resides (more on this below).

The Bibles authors are tracing this storyline from the beginning of Genesis to the end of

Revelation, with each book of the Bible intersecting that storyline in its own unique way. Thestoryline, which is unfolding the redemptive plan of God, can be traced through the Old

Testament Scriptures and finds its end in Jesus.33 In his recent book on New Testament Biblical

Theology, G.K. Beale says, the main elements of the OT plotline become the basis for the

formulation of the NT storyline. 34But this doesnt mean that the Old Testament interpretationtakes precedent over the New Testament (more on that in a moment). By the time we get to the

New Testament, the NT storyline will be a transformation of the OT one in the light of how

the NT is seen to be an unfolding of the OT, especially through fulfillment of the OT.35

The New Covenant preachers sermon from any given Psalm must reflect the Psalms place in

that unfolding storyline. The Psalter is part of that progressive revelation as it unfolds in theOld Testament. In poetry and song, the grand themes of Gods sovereignty and faithfulness

through covenant and redemption are expressed by a needy and grateful people who are given a

voice through the Psalmists. The Messiah who was promised in Genesis 3 and anticipated in

the rest of the Old Testament is anticipated in the Psalms, with the poetry and song expressing

expectation of a coming greater than David. This Old Testament storyline of an anticipatedJesus has a messianic songbook reflecting that messianic storyline.

29 (Moo, The Problem of Sensus Plenior, 1986, p. 198)30Tom Wells: the history of this revelation has its apex in Jesus Christ. (Wells, 2005) p. 931 (Jackman, 2003, p. 29)32 (Wellum, 2010, p. 3)33Douglas Moo: New Testament exegesis proceeds on the assumption that Jesus Christ is the culmination of

Gods plan and that all the law and the prophets ultimately point to Him. (Moo, 1986, p. 194)34 (Beale, 2011, p. 6); Doug Moo concurs, The two Testaments are bound together by their common witness to

the unfolding revelation of Gods character, purpose, and plan. (Moo, 1986, p. 196)35 (Beale, 2011, p. 6)


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Our preaching must reflect the progressive nature of the revelation found in the Psalter. Eachsong intersects the storyline in some way, especially as it comes to us in the mystery and

incomplete revelation of the Old Testament. One of the running themes through this incomplete

revelation is the incompleteness of its shadows, types, characters, and institutions. As

Goldsworthy notes, A characteristic of the salvation historical narrative is that the humaninvolvement in the outworking of Godsplans is never without blemishes.36

This reality of imperfection and fallenness shows up in the Psalter. One of the characteristics ofthe Psalmists, especially David, is a recognition that David and his royal posterity are fallen,

imperfect, incomplete and in need of a New David to come and intervene. In the instance of

David and his sin with Bathsheba, and Solomons polygamy and idolatry, divine interventionresulted even in the intermediary. The progress of salvation history is not without the

occasional serious interruption due to the waywardness and rebelliousness of the people of

God. These setbacks serve only to demonstrate why history needs to be salvation history.37

These imperfections and incompleteness anticipate the perfect fulfillment in Jesus. Christ,

Beale says, is the final, climactic expression of all God ideally intended through (the events,

people and institutions) in the Old Testament (e.g., the law, the temple cultus, the commissions

of prophets, judges, priests, and kings). Everything which these things lacked by way ofimperfections was prophetically filled up by Christ, so that even what was imperfect in the

Old Testament pointed beyond itself to Jesus.38 Among those institutions and persons marked

by (serious) imperfections are Israels leaders, especially those occupying Jerusalems earthlythrone of heavens rule and those leading and serving in the temple.

David and Solomon are irreparably flawed. It would be this New David anticipated in thePsalter who would right all things. Psalm 89 anticipates a kingdom and throne greater than

Davids: You have said, I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David

my servant: I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations

My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. I willestablish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. In light of what has

already been poetically stated in Psalm 2, these kinds of references to the Davidic covenant and

its imperfect recipient, there is forward momentum in Davidic passages such as Psalm 89.

The Psalter and its themes are anticipatory of a coming glory in the redemption and rescue of

Gods people through another David. Our preaching should reflect that. Now that the newDavid has come and is now sitting on a throne, an event anticipated in the Psalter, we must

preach the Psalms in light of the coming of the New David who fills up the meaning and brings

flesh to the shadows of the coming David in the Psalter.39King Jesus is on Davids throne

36 (Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles, 2012, p. 123)37 (Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles, 2012, p. 123)38 (Beale G. K., Positive Answer to the Question: Did Jesus and His Followers Preach the Right Doctrine from the

Wrong Texts?, 1994, p. 396)39 Douglas Moo is helpful: it is best to think that the use of the psalm is based on an underlying typological

relationship: Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of the experience and feelings that David undergoes in this

passage. It is not clear that David would always have been aware of the ultimate significance of his language;

but God could have so ordered his experiences and his recordings of them in Scripture that they become

anticipatory of the sufferings ofDavids greater son. It is this fundamental identification of Christ with David

in a typological relationship, not chance verbal similarities, that undergird the extensive use of this psalm .

(Moo, 1986, p. 197) What is true about Psalm 22 in this instance is true of the rest of the Psalter, not in the sense

that each Psalm is as obvious in its employment of typology, but that David functions, as the chief Psalter, in a


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having redeemed his people from the curses of the covenant and the threat of destruction.

Psalm 121: From where does my help come from? My help comes from Jesus who madeheaven and earth. Psalm 46: Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the

nations, I will be exalted in the earth!And how is that happening in the New Covenant? The

LORD of hosts, Jesus himself, is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.40

Even use of the

word son in Psalm 2, most likely a reference to David, or Solomon or any number of thosewho followed David to Israels throne, is applied to Jesus in the New Testament. This kind of

fulfillment language must be accounted for when we open up the Psalter for use in a sermon.

David has become more than simply David the Psalmist. He is prefiguring something beyondhimself. In seeing how these Psalter personages take on added significance in the coming of

Jesus, one begins to get a sense of how the New Testament writers are handling the Old

Testament. The Old Testament stories, characters, institutions, ideas, and events are loadedwith anticipation of what is yet to come in Jesus.

Because all of revelation has been progressively unfolded with this sense of anticipation, the

New Covenant preacher who takes up the Psalms for his people will make note of where thePsalms are in redemptive history, the Old Testament, and interpret and then preach the Psalm in

light of its fulfillment in Jesus. The New Covenant preachers people live and breathe and have

become a new creation in the New Covenant era. The use of and the preaching of an Old

Testament Psalm in worship and preaching must reflect this reality. The Psalms have beenenergized and infused with the Christ Event (Christs life, death, resurrection, and

ascension/exaltation). As Christian scripture for the New Covenant congregation, the Psalms

anticipation of a coming New David takes on greater and richer significance in our NewCovenant part of the storyline of the text. The community participating in the Psalter is no

longer an Old Covenant community, singing and lamenting under threat of losing everything

due to disobedience to the covenant. The community and its preacher are members of the NewCovenant and therefore sing and preach the Psalter as a fulfilled song and prayer book.

The Priority of JesusThe second idea we should note about preaching the Psalter in the New Covenant is what TomWells has called The Priority of Jesus. (If you havent run into the same guy mentioned at thebeginning of Tom Wells book, then you havent been articulating New Covenant Theology

very well. The objection is thatNew Covenant Theology says too much about Christ and too

little about God.) It is not the task of this presentation to unpack all of the reasons why Jesus

takes priority in Scripture. Theologians such as Tom Wells and Graeme Goldsworthy andGeerhardus Vos have done that elsewhere. Wells provides an apt summary: To the writers of

typological manner for the entire Psalter. Conversely, Christs use of the Old Testament, including the Psalms,

shows he understood the Psalms to be eschatologically prefiguring the Christ Event. This is how I approachedPsalm 69 (see Modeling).

40 There are numerous instances in the New Testament in which the writers, especially Paul, apply texts about

YAHWEH, and/or Jehovah to Jesus. So Douglas Moo: Romans 10:13, for instance, applies to faith in Jesus the

words of Joel 2:32 (MT; LXX 3:5): Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Moo, The

Problem of Sensus Plenior, 1986, p. 200) Moo points out there are numerous other places in the New Testament

where YAHWEH is applied to Jesus: John 1:1,18, 20:28, Romans 9:5, Titus 2:13, Hebrews 1:8, 2 Peter 1:1. But

he notes that its in Romans 10:13 where Paul therefore almost unobtrusively associates Jesus with Yahweh (or

Jehovah) of the Old Testament. (Moo, Encountering the Book of Romans: A Theological Survey, 2002, p. 159)

Christopher Wright also notes that the word kyrios was the standard technical term for YAHWEH, and says

that Paul uses kyrios 275 times, most of which are speaking of Jesus. (Wright, 2006, pp. 106-126) Not only is

this remarkable (Jehovah was exclusively reserved for God in the Old Testament), this has significant

implications for understanding Christ in the Psalms, and indeed the entire Old Testament.


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the New Testament, the New Covenant era and the priority of the Lord Jesus are two truths that

belong together, each complementing the other.41

But it stands to reason that if Jesus is the One taking center stage in history on behalf of the

Godhead, Jesus is the One who spoke all things into existence, Jesus is the One who is the final

agent of Gods self-revelation42

, Jesus is the One whose person and work is the centerpieceof Gods revealed word, and Jesus is the One through whom His redeemed people have

fellowship with God, then that reality must permeate our preaching of the Psalms. Why?

Before the coming of Jesus, scripture remains, so to speak, empty; Jesus is the reality that fillsthe words of scripture.43 Jesus has filled up the meaning of the Psalms, providing the Psalms

with a referent in reality corresponding to all of the words of the Psalms.

Some may think this is a no-brainer and need no repetition: if the Psalms are thoroughly

Messianic, then the Psalms are thoroughly Christocentric. Christ is the Messiah of the Old

Testament. Commenting on Romans 1:1-4, Goldsworthy says, the Son of God is also the son

of David, and is demonstrably so through his resurrection from the dead.44

Christ, the son ofDavid, is the David-Messiah of the Psalms.

While some Psalms (such as 2, 22, 110) are obviously Messianic, given the way that the New

Testament quotes from all over the Psalms and applies them to Jesus, all of the Psalms at somepoint and in some way intersect with the idea of the Messiah, and therefore, Jesus. Garrett

points out that any kind of psalm (individual psalm of lament or royal psalm for instance)

can have a messianic aspectThus the preacher should not assume there is a single category ofmessianic psalms but be prepared for messianic significance in all kinds of psalmsthese

psalms function as pointers to the New Testament.45And its in the New Testament where the

messianism of the Psalms lands on Jesus.

From the principles outlined above, if the Psalms are Messianic, typological, and

eschatological, the Psalms will find their highest meaning in the Jesus Christ of the New

Testament. Dennis Johnson suggests all of the Psalms point to Jesus saying, All 150 Psalmsshould be viewed as messianic and read in the light of Jesus fulfillment of the psalmists

varied experiences of suffering and vindication, inasmuch as David and his fellow Israelite

poets composed their prayers and praises under the inspiration of the Spirit of Christ and inrelation to their typological theocratic offices.46The Psalms, according to Jackman, anticipate

the fulfillment of Gods purposes which the Messiah will bring.47 Like the rest of the Old

Testament, the Psalms even in its poetic and musical form, is prophetic in the sense that it is

41 (Wells, 2005), p. 117; this, of course, is not to say that the Father and the Holy Spirit are unimportant in the

exegesis, interpretation, and storyline of the Bible. Carson and Beale note, it is very common for NT writers to

apply an OT passage that refers to YHWH (commonly rendered LORD in English Bibles) to Jesus. Thisarises from the theological conviction that it is entirely appropriate to do so since, granted Jesus identity, what

is predicated of God can be predicated no less of him. In other passages, however, God sends the Messiah or the

Davidic king, and Jesus himself is that Davidic king, thus establishing a distinction between God and Jesus.

(Beale G. K., 2007, pp. xxv-xxvi). While there are times in which there is a definite distinction between The

Father and Jesus, and Jesus and the Spirit, the main focus of the entire storyline is Jesus as he himself said to

Philip (John 14:8-11) and as Paul stated to Timothy (1 Timothy 2:5; also Hebrews 1:1-3).42Tom Wells: Jesus Christ supersedes all the rest of Gods agents in revelation. (Wells, 2005) p. 3943 (Menken, 2004, p. 81)44 (Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles, 2012, p. 161)45 (Garrett, 2006, pp. 113-114)46 (Johnson, 2007, p. 315)47 (Jackman, 2003, p. 129)


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forward looking and anticipating something (or Someone) beyond the Psalm, the Psalmist, and

the community. Christ is the fulfillment of the Psalms.

So, Moo says of Psalm 22, taking David to be the author of the psalm, we must remember that

he is much more than an individual righteous sufferer. The promises given to him and to his

progeny and his status as Israels king give to many of his psalms a corporate and eveneschatological significance.48 Moo sees Psalm 22 as typology wedded to the eschatology of

Psalms. Even as the text anticipates what is to come, its form is decidedly intentional in the

way the Psalmist gives voice to the entire community.

If the representative of the Old Covenant community, the Chief Psalmist, is David, then it is the

New David who provides the ultimate context for understanding the meaning of the Psalms andthen preaching the Psalms to His people. Davids psalms have been fulfilled in Jesus

biography.49If the David of the Psalms anticipates a Messiah Royale who will establish

Davids throne forever in bringing salvation and judgment, then it is The Christ of the New

Testament who has brought this expectation to its intended fulfillment. To speak of David, tospeak of Messiah, is to speak of Christ. Vos reminds us, the Messiah comes, from Genesis to

Revelation. This is the import of the message in which ultimately the eschatological hope

embodies itself.50 The storyline of the Old Testament is embodied in the Messiah figure who

is, as Vos says, the central figure of that hope in the Old Testament, including the Psalms.There is no hope in the Psalms outside of this Messianic David figure who, the New Testament

authors believe, is now on full display at Jesus the Messiah.

Having grounded the sermon in its original context, the sermon (along with redemptive history)

moves toward the fulfillment and conclusion of the Psalm in the One who is the ultimate

subject and object of the Psalm. The New Testament writers interpret the Psalms as moving inboth a horizontal and vertical way, giving voice to subjective, earthly concerns but on a

trajectory that points forward and upward to another King and a greater throne who provides

the ultimate refuge for his people and is worthy of all praise. The New Testament writers

interpreted Psalms this way because Jesus himself interpreted Psalms this way (more on this ina moment).

If we are following along in the storyline of the Psalms, what begins as a description of the TheBlessed Man and a Son who will Reign, moves through crisis and lament, and ends in sublime

praise. Again Vos says of Psalm 150 bringing the Psalter to its conclusion: When He is

contemplated in the overpowering majesty of his final appearance, then a super-certaintyresults that all the earth will be flooded with the knowledge of his glory.51 In pointing to this

great David figure, the Psalms are pointing to the One whom God has made the New David

both Lord and Christ (Acts 2:36).

This is the kind of Messianic actualization that is found in the Psalmist of Psalm 69, when thePsalmist says you know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. Such a statement is

reflective of Davids plight as an enemy of those who are opposed to the plans and purposes of

God, his covenant, and his people. But the dishonor does not end with David. Such adishonor is understood by the New Testament authors to be speaking above and beyond David

toward One who would suffer dishonor in bringing about the salvation of Zion.

48 (Moo, 1986, p. 197)49 (Doble, 2004, p. 87)50 (Vos, 1920)51 (Vos, 1920)


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Andreas Kostenberger notes that the New Testament writers see in the Psalmist of Psalm 69 atype of Christ.52 When the New Testament writers note that Christ was offered wine mixed

with gall and given sour wine, they see in Jesus not simply fulfillment of the Psalmists words,

but they see in Jesus the ultimate purpose and meaning of Psalm 69. For the New Testament

authors, by applying the language of the righteous sufferer in Psalm 69 to Jesus, they areproviding us with a glimpse as to how they are interpreting the Old Testament in light of Christ.

For Christ and these New Testament authors, who view the righteous sufferer of Psalm 69 as a

type of Christ, Christ has become the hermeneutical lens by through which the Psalms areinterpreted.53 Christ has brought all of the Messianic, and Davidic, and Kingly expectations of

the Psalms to their fullest realization.

Our sermons should reflect that reality. If our sermons are preaching the Psalms rightly, they

will not only reflect the due diligence necessary for understanding the Psalm the way the

original audience would have understood it, but also unpack the realized expectations found in

Jesus, the New David.

The New Testament interprets the Old TestamentAnd this brings us to ourthird propositionabout New Covenant Theologys preaching of thePsalms. The New Testament interprets the Old Testament. In fact, the New Testament is the

definitive interpretation of the Old Testament. Goldsworthy says it this way: The NewTestament authors regard Jesus as the fulfiller of the Old Testament promises and

expectations the New Testament is an interpretation, or series of interpretations, of the Old

Testament in light of the person and work of Jesus of Nazareth.54

Too often, the NewTestament is not consulted in the exegetical process that produces the sermon. Its not simply a

matter of showing how the New Testament fulfills the Old Testament. Its us allowing the New

Testaments interpretation of any given passage to shape our own interpretation of any given

passage.

This idea that the New Testament interprets the Old Testament lies at the heart of New

Covenant Theology.55

And it must lie at the heart of our preaching. New Covenant theologianBlake White says in his bookWhat is New Covenant Theology?, The Old Testament should be

interpreted in light of the New Testamentthe Old Testament must be read and interpreted in

light of its fulfillment in Jesus Christ and the new covenant.56

G. K. Beale is also helpful when

he says, later biblical quotations of and allusions to earlier Scripture unpack the *meaning*(emphasis mine) of that earlier Scripture, and yet the earlier passage also sheds light on the

later passage.57

52 (Kostenberger, 2007, p. 42) Kostenberger posits Psalm 69 and Psalm 22 as sharing Davidic typology.

53R. T. France, unpacking Christs use of the Psalms, says Christ saw in the Psalms righteous sufferer, aprefiguration of his experience (France, 1971, pp. 56-59). France attributes this prefigurement to an unnamed

Psalmist and the nation of Israel in the Psalms. One could just as easily understand the source of the

prefiguration to be David himself.54 (Goldsworthy, Christ-Centered Biblical Theology: Hermeneutical Foundations and Principles, 2012, p. 130)55 While some in Covenant Theology and a few in Dispensational Theology affirm this hermeneutical principle,

only New Covenant Theology follows this principle consistently.56 (White, What is New Covenant Theology? An Introduction, 2012, p. 9) ; see also John Reisingers similar

comments in Continuity and Discontinuity: We must interpret the Old Testament Scriptures through the lens

of the New Testament Scriptures. p. 25; also Tom Wells, from The Priority of Jesus Christ: A Study in New

Covenant Theology: We must read the Old in light of the New so that the Jesus has the first and last word. p.

7157 (Beale, 2011, p. 3)


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New Covenant Theologys hermeneutic rides on this foundational principle because it is thefoundational hermeneutical principle employed by the apostles. New Covenant Theologys

John Reisinger says it this way, New Covenant Theology grounds its interpretive principles in

the way in which Christ and the writers of the New Testament understood and used the Old

Testament.58

Those New Testament writers are interpreting the Old Testament in light of theChrist event (Christs life, death, resurrection, and exaltation). Again, Beale is also helpful:

NT writers interpret the OT in the light of the later events of Christs coming and work.59

Blake White is short and to the point: We read all of the Scriptures with Christian lenses on.Jesus is our hermeneutical filter.60Richard Hays puts the same thought in verb form: Gods

act in Jesus illuminates.61

If the New Testament is the definitive interpretation of the Old Testament (and I believe it is),

there is a direct bearing on the pastors study of the Scripture and the sermon that arises from

that study. The New Testament must be consulted in order to understand and then preach any

given Old Testament passage, including the Psalms. White encourages us, We must strive toread the Old Testament storyline in the same way that the apostles did.62 Another New

Covenant Theology author, Gary George, puts it this way: Sound exegesis harmonizes the Old

Testament with the greater light of the New Testamentto be definite about the teaching of an

Old Testament text, New Covenant Theology relies on the commentary of the New Testamentas authoritative and final.63

If we are to preach the Psalms rightly, once we have studied and understood any given Psalm inits own Davidic, Israelite, and tabernacle/temple context, we must then consult the New

Testament for its view and perspective on the Psalms. This is the pattern advocated by Graeme

Goldsworthy in Preaching the Whole Bible as Christian Scripture. Goldsworthy says,Preaching the Psalms involves the same basic hermeneutical principles that we should employ

in preaching any other part of the Old Testament. In the process of exegesis we will seek to

understand the unique features of the individual psalms and their significance in their canonical

and historical context. Exegesis of the passage leads us to relate it to the immediate theologicalhorizon. Then we need to relate the text to the overall pattern of redemptive history as it finds

its fulfillment in Christ.64

Regardless of the Psalm that is being preached or taught, New Covenant Theology wants to

know, What New Testament passage sheds light on this Psalm? How does the New

Testament interpret this passage?In what way may the New Testament writer beinginterpreting this Psalm differently than how I am interpreting this Psalm? How should

Christs or the New Testament writers interpretation of this Psalm shape my own

58 (Reisinger, 2012, p. 1); Reisinger further states in the introduction to Georges book that New Covenant

Theology uses a redemptive-historical approach derived from the New Testament writers interpretation of theOld Testament.

59 (Beale, 2011, p. 4)60 (White, The Law of Christ: A Theological Proposal, 2010, p. 127) White further says that Jesus and the new

covenant Scriptures are our hermeneutical filter. p. 141. White also quotes Craig Blomberg in this regard:

none of (the Old Testament) can rightly be interpreted until one understands how it has been fulfilled in

Christ. Every Old Testament text must be viewed in light of Jesus person and ministry and the chang es

introduced by the new covenant he inaugurated. p. 127 (Blomberg, Matthew, New American Commentary,

1992, p. 104)61 (Hays, 1989, p. 157)62 (White, What is New Covenant Theology? An Introduction, 2012, p. 9)63 (George, 2012, p. 20)64 (Goldsworthy, 2000, p. 201)


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interpretation and subsequent preaching of this Psalm? Given that the Psalms are quoted

more often than any other book in the New Testament65

, locating the take of the NewTestament on any given Psalm is not all that difficult. The New Testament must reshape how

we think about these texts.

For example, Psalm 69:9 is quoted by John the Apostle in bearing witness to Christsoverthrow of the moneychangers in the temple. In our preaching of this passage, we must take

into account that John has applied the words of Psalm 69:9 to Jesus in a very direct way. The

Psalmist says, zeal for your house has consumed me. Whatever is taking place in thePsalmists life, zeal for the tabernacle or temple, Gods dwelling place with Israel, is

consuming him, and in the context of the Psalm, his life is apparently threatened because of it.

This statement in its original context flows from the voice of the Psalmist, David the King, whois so zealous for the tabernacle and all that it means that his enemies are about to take his life

because of it.

Fast forward hundreds of years later, when Jesus clears out the temple of those who have madea mockery of the symbol of Gods dwelling place on earth. John cites Psalm 69:9 in explaining

Christs motivation behind his statement, Do not make my Fathers house a houseof trade.

Between Christs physical actions of driving out the traders and pouring out the traders money

AND his verbal warning against the trade business, Christs disciples discern that Christ isliving out the words of Psalm 69:9. Kostenberger, again, is helpful here: Jesus clearing of the

temple stirred in his disciples the memory of the righteous sufferer of Ps. 69:9.66Davids

words have found their ultimate meaning in Jesus, who has brought those words into theirfullest actualization.

But Johns words have implication for our homiletical endeavor. Because Jesus has fulfilled thewords of the Psalmist in Psalm 69, we are forced to move from John back to the Psalm to re-

evaluate the original interpretation in light of Christs words and his use of the Old Testament.

Is Psalm 69:9 about Davids zeal or Christs zeal? When I preach this text, do I preach it as it

relates to David or Jesus? The answer is both. It would be a hermeneutical (and exegetical)error to ignore the original context of Psalm 69 as it relates to David and the circumstances in

his life that gave rise to the Psalm (as much as we can determine). But we are post-cross, post-

resurrection in the New Covenant age of the now/not yet. Because of the Christ Event, ourinterpretational axiom must be this: the New Testament interprets the Old Testament, and Jesus

is the interpretive key.

In preaching the Psalms this way, the New Covenant preacher is patterning both his exegesis

and his sermon after the interpretational grid of Jesus and the New Testament writers. So

Longman: Paul read the Psalms from a Christian perspective and saw Jesus. In this, he was

following the lead already set by Jesus. Jesus himself was conscious that the Psalms anticipate

his work.67

This means Johns words in John 2 become my interpretational control for Psalm 69:9. Christ is

interpreting Psalm 69:9 in the light of his own incarnation, life, and circumstance. Christ didntsimply inspire the Psalms, but lived out the Psalms. In noting that Christ sings the Psalms with

the New Covenant community, Edmund Clowney says this: Jesus can sing the we Psalms

65 (Longman, 1988, p. 65) Longman notes that one-fifth of Pauls citations from the Old Testament come from the

Psalms, which is significant considering the role of the Old Testament in Pauls view of redemptive history 66 (Kostenberger, 2007, p. 432)67 (Longman, 1988, pp. 66-67)


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with us because he sings the I Psalms for us as our Savior.68 Christ and the New Testament

authors interpretation of the Psalms is grounded in what Christ has done for the community inhis life, cross-work, and resurrection.69 When we read John 2 and notice that Christ is

interpreting Psalm 69:9 in light of himself, then the New Covenant preacher is obliged to

follow suit in his own preaching of Psalm 69.

Further reflection on how Christ (and John, the author of the gospel) is understanding and

preaching the Old Testament in light of himself also gives us an added insight into our

hermeneutical and homiletical endeavor. Because this passage was intentionally applied toJesus by John, AND because the 9thverse isnt the only occasion this Psalm is quoted or

alluded to in the New Testament, we are also forced to conclude that the entire Psalm is to be

interpreted in light of the revelation of the New Testament (where we find the Christ EventChrists life, death, resurrection, and ascension/exaltation understood as the fulfillment of Old

Testament revelation). Bruce Waltke notes (in quoting Dodd) that the apostolic community

selected certain large sections of the Old Testament and understood them as testimonies to

Jesus Christ.70

When it comes to the Psalms, Jesus, Jackman says, applied the messianicpredictions to himself and the apostles extended an ever wider range of references to Christ.71

As Christ and the New Testament authors quoted the Old Testament they were invoking the

larger passages and contexts surrounding the Old Testament quote.72

These kinds of hermeneutical pointers73 employed by Christ and the New Testament authors

show us that they understood the Person and work of Jesus to be the end goal of Old Testament

revelation. Rather than simply using the Old Testament arbitrarily to make a theological orhistorical point, and beyond simply seeing some Old Testament passages as predictive of some

event in Christs life, Christ fills up the meaning of those Old Testament passages, including

the Psalms. The Psalter, its context, and the Old Testament and its various contexts are retainedbut now has their full significance in Jesus. Moo is right when he says, Rightly exegeted, with

due attention given to the informing theology, the OT texts that NT authors quote are in

complete harmony with the meanings the NT authors give them.74 In this way, the entire Old

Testament canon, including the Psalms, is prophetic, anticipating what was to come in Jesus.

Its important to point out here that this prophetic phenomenon of the Psalms isnt simply

relegated to those obvious messianic texts, such as Psalm 2, 22, and 110 (Psalm 69 also belongs

68 (Clowney, 1979, p. 40)69Notes Clowney: Jesus, after His resurrection, explained the Psalms to show His disciples that He must suffer

these things and enter into His glory (Luke 24:26, 44) (Clowney, 1979, p. 40)70 (Waltke, 2007, p. 136)71 (Jackman, 2003, p. 129)72C.H. Dodd develops this thought in According to Scriptures, where his s tudy of large sections of Scripture

(which he calls testimonia testimonies about Jesus Christ) brings him to conclude that these sections were

understood as wholes, and particular verses or sentences were quote from them rather as pointers to the wholecontext. At the same time, detached sentences from other parts of the old Testament could be adduced to

illustrate or elucidate the meaning of the main section under consideration. But in the fundamental passages it is

the total contextthat is in view, and is the basis of the argument. (italics his) (Dodd, 1952, p. 126) Dodds

testimonia includes the Psalms. Richard Hays agrees with Dodd, Though the quotations appear eclectic and

scattered, the usually must be understood as allusive recollections of the wider narrative setting from which they

are taken. (Hays, 1989, p. 158) Also John T. Willis: New Testament quotations of and references to Old

Testament texts are intended to call the hearers or readers attention to whole Old Testament contexts in which

those quotations or references appear and not to those quotations or references in isolation from their Old

Testament contexts. (Willis, 1997, p. 339) See also (Lindars, 1961, pp. 16-17)73Richard Hays uses this term regarding Pauls use of the Old Testament in his writing, but I think the term has

general application to the whole of New Testament revelation.74(Moo, Pauls Universalizing Hermeneutic in Romans, 2007, p. 80)


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to the more blatant examples of messianic language in the Psalms). The entire Psalter should be

interpreted and preached this way. Why? Because David and Israels royal expectations sit inthe backdrop of the Psalter, the entire Psalter is messianic. Gerald Wilson points out that the

royal psalms (2, 72, 89, and 144) shift the figure of the Davidic king into a new interpretive

role75

, and that the David of the headings and royal psalmsprovide a radical messianic

hope for Israels future.76

The New Testament authors attribute this royal messianism of the Psalms to Jesus, fulfiller of

the Davidic Covenant, and ruler on Davids throne. David Jackman notes, Clearly no king ofIsrael began to fulfill these divine qualities (found in various Psalms), so that the psalms were

increasingly attributed to the coming great King, great Davids greater Son, the Messiah. It was

on these terms that Jesus taught his disciples to see that he was spoken of.77

Psalms 1 and 2 long have been understood as both a summary of the entire Psalter and a key to

understanding the Psalms interpretation. If Psalms 1 and 2 are the hermeneutical key for

understanding the entire Psalter, and the Psalmist David is to be understood in the Psalter as atype of Christ, then we must conclude along with Vos and others, that the entire Psalter is

messianic. Each and every Psalm is intersecting with some salient point along the Messianic

storyline.78 To be this emphatic about the Psalter being comprehensively Messianic is to stand

alongside the New Testament writers who were interpreting the Psalms in light of the life,death, resurrection, and (especially) the exaltation of Christ.79

But this also works in the other direction, and this also should inform our sermoncraft. Just asthe New Testament is interpreting the Old Testament, the Old Testament is informing the New

Testament. The Psalms inform us about Jesus. If we did not have the voice of the Psalmist

speaking on behalf of Israels congregation about her own history and salvation, there would beinformation about Jesus that goes missing. Because the Psalms are thoroughly Messianic, they

inform us about the Person and work of Jesus in ways the New Testament doesnt. One Psalter

theologian, James Luther Mays, points out that the Messiah of the Psalms informs us about

Jesus: "Jesus is not known as Christ apart from the knowledge of the Christ/Messiah of the OldTestamentThe Old Testament provides a description of the person and role of the Christ that

is personified by Jesus in an enactment that revises and transcends the description. But it is

from the Old Testament that we know the description that is revised and transcended.80

The necessity of Biblical TheologyBecause the New Testament interprets the Old Testament, and because Christ is the priority of

the revelation of Scripture, New Covenant Theologys sermoncraft will be marked by biblical

theology. This is our fourth consideration. When we preach the Psalms, ultimately the entirecanon has been consulted in the interpretation of the Psalm we are preaching. Each and every

Psalm not only intersects with the storyline of the Psalter (and yes, the Psalter has its own

75 (Wilson, Psalms, Volume 1: NIVAC, 2002, p. 124)76 (Wilson, Psalms, Volume 1: NIVAC, 2002, p. 125)77 (Jackman, 2003, p. 130)78 This does not mean that every little point made by the Psalmist has a one-to-one correlation to Jesus on every

point. The nature of typology is such that the relationship between the type and anti-type is specific enough so

that the type can be seen in the antitype (and vise versa) and general enough that the original type exists in its

historical and literary context in its own right.79 We should not underestimate the importance of the relationship between Christs exaltation to his throne in the

heavens and the Psalms. The New Testament writers believed that when Christ ascended in exaltation (see Acts

1-2), he was fulfilling the promises made to David regarding Davids throne. 80 (Mays, "In a Vision": The Portrayal of the Messiah in the Psalms, 1991, p. 1)


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storyline), but also the storyline of the Bible. Again, this is especially true if Psalms 1 and 2

function as the summary statements of the Psalter. Psalms 1 and 2 point us forward and upwardto the New Humanity, the New David, and the Messiah-King who not only rules all things, but

is worthy of all honor and praise because he rules all things.

The necessity of biblical theology to New Covenant Theologys sermoncraft of Psalms cannotbe underestimated. Of all of the so-called theological systems or movements, New Covenant

Theology is primarily identified by its Christocentricity. But that Christocentricity cannot be

simply a tack on to the end of a sermon. It cannot be simply an acknowledgement of theimportance of Jesus to the sermon subject. We must be showing our people a Christocentricity

that is tied to the text itself. Our Christocentricity is wedded to biblical theology and its

exegetical principles. Blake White notes, New Covenant Theology does justice to theprogressive nature of Scripture by seeking to let biblical theology inform systematic

theology.81 Or in the case of the New Covenant pastor in his study, biblical theology informs

the exegetical and homiletical process.

We allow the text to place Christ on display for our people. We who would find our identity in

the Christ of the New Covenant feed our people Christ as we preach a text from which Christ

arises as the central figure. A sermon informed by New Covenant Theology preaches the One

who brings to pass and obeys Gods plan from the ages, and saves His people from their sins.This isnt about finding Jesus under every rock.82 This is simply operating with a homiletical

and hermeneutical assumption that Christs story will preach itself from the text, because the

text itself is about Jesus. It is about presuming that Christs story is the reason we haverevelation to begin with,83 so that when we preach the text we are preaching something about

the Person and work of Jesus.

The Obsolescence PrincipleOur fifth point on the preaching of the Psalms in the New Covenant is a natural outflow from

allowing biblical theology to shape ourpreaching. Its what I call the obsolescence principle.We must always be aware in our preaching that the Psalms are the response of Gods people to

His Person and work on their behalf *in the Old Covenant*. Too many sermons preached onthe Psalms do notpass the synagogue test. If we preach a sermon from the Psalms in which a

Jewish congregation in a synagogue would be comfortable and in agreement with our

interpretation of the Old Testament text, we have not rightly preached that text in the New

Covenant. Our preaching must reflect the radical dynamic of the New Covenant. For those ofus in New Covenant Theololgy, this would seem like a no-brainer. But this is simply a

reminder that our exegesis in the study must be an exercise that bears the marks of the New

Covenant. The inauguration of the New Covenant has a profound impact on our interpretation

81 (White, The Newness of the New Covenant, 2008, p. 57)82Richard Belcher is helpful here: It is appropriate to analyze the meaning of a psalm in light of the coming of

Christ, not because Christ is to be found in every verse of the Old Testament, but because Christ is the goal

toward which the Old Testament moves. (Belcher, 2006, p. 19) He also notes that because Christ invokes the

threefold sections of the Old Testament in Luke 24:27,44, the comprehensive nature of Jesus reference to the

Old Testament is meant to demonstrate that all of the Old Testament speaks of Jesus in some way. (Belcher,

2006, p. 32) This includes all of the Psalms.83So Gaffin, who says redemption is the raison dtre of revelation. (Gaffin, 1987, p. 22) Gaffin also says, God

reveals himself both in redemption and in revelation, in what he does as well as in what he saysrevelation

never stands by itself, but is always concerned either explicitly or implicitly with redemptive

actionsrevelation is either authentication or interpretation of Gods redemptive action. p. 22 Lindars sounds a

similar note: the events of redemption are the regulative factor, and provide the key to the meaning of

Scripture. (Lindars, 1961, p. 17)


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of the Old Testament. We can say this because of the way that Christ and the New Testament

authors are interpreting the Old Testament.

How does the obsolescence principle work in hermeneutics and homiletics? Its quite simple,

but the implications may be complex and difficult, depending on the text under consideration.

When we approach the Old Testament text, we must ask ourselves, what is obsolete, now thatChrist is exalted and the New Covenant is inaugurated? And then we must ask ourselves,

how does that obsolescence affect my exegesis and homiletic of this passage (based on

biblical theology or the context of the entire Scriptures)? From the Psalms, we can think of anumber of things: the community is obsolete, the tabernacle/temple is obsolete, Old Zion is

obsolete (Galatians 4), the covenants (especially the Mosaic and Davidic) are obsolete, the law

is obsolete, and many of the old expectations are obsolete. In these cases of obsolescence,Christ has fulfilled what was former, what was prior, what was imperfect, what was shadow,

what was type, and what was fading. Christ fulfills the Old Testament and its shadows and

types. This means when we preach an Old Testament text, we must be cognizant of the

obsolescence of the type or shadow in the New Covenant. This isnt unique to New CovenantTheology. This obsolescence principle is found in Christ and the New Testament writers use

of the Old Testament, and mimicked by the New Covenant preacher in his handling of the

Psalms.84

The implications for some of these Psalms are quite significant. Do we preach I was glad

when they said to me, let us go to the house of the Lord. Are we preaching about a church

building? Further, is this some transcendent Lord that has never been seen? When we patternour exegesis after the way Jesus and the New Testament authors are interpreting the Psalms,

when we preach house in bringing the passage into the New Covenant, we are not simply

talking about a church building. The New Covenant community that gathers together is thehouse. Christ is the Lord. This house of Psalm 122 is the church in whom Christ dwells

through his Spirit. The church body is the temple-tabernacle where Christ dwells. It is the

house of the Lord. That verse is the opening verse of the Psalm the rest of the Psalm will

follow the same kind of New Covenant interpretive principles.

Preaching imprecations and the law in the New CovenantWhere this gets controversial and I do not plan to unpack all of the implications of these

things in this particular presentation is in 1) the preaching of the imprecatory passages in the

Psalms, and 2) the preaching of the law in the Psalms. To be brief, the imprecatory passages arespecifically tied to the covenants in which they exist. While I do think there are a couple of

examples of Paul invoking imprecation against his enemies in the New Testament, I do not

believe those examples warrant pulling in the imprecation prayers into the New Covenant as ifthe cross hasnt fundamentally change the imprecation paradigm, especially since

Chad Richard Bresson - Preaching the Psalms in the New Covenant

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