Psalms in the New Testament

Peter quoted Psalm 110:1 in his sermon on Pentecost: "The Lord said unto my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

The book of Psalms had an immense influence on New Testament writers. They quote liberally from several Old Testament books, but none more so than from Psalms. From the Psalms, they drew on the wealth of material that God had inspired pertaining to Jesus Christ.

When Peter and John had been ordered (unsuccessfully) by the Sanhedrin not to preach Jesus Christ, the fledgling New Testament church prayed to God for the continuing boldness of the apostles. In their prayer, they quoted Psalm 2:1-2 and applied it as a prophecy of what had happened to Jesus Christ.

The psalm speaks about the nations conspiring and the people plotting vain things, and about kings and rulers gathering together against the Lord and his anointed. The church cried to God, "Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed" (Acts 4:27).

Those who had witnessed the life of Jesus and had been convicted of his teachings saw that the second psalm applied to Jesus as the anointed, the Messiah. The word Christ is a title meaning "anointed"; Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed One.

Viewing the second psalm in the light of Jesus’ life, the New Testament writers understood verse 7 as a reference to Jesus as the Son of God. In both Acts and Hebrews, the saying, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father," is applied to Jesus as the Son of God (Acts 13:33; Hebrews 5:5).

The followers of Jesus Christ noticed that several psalms prophesied events in Jesus' life. Such psalms became known as "messianic psalms."

Psalm 22 is a typical messianic psalm. Matthew and Mark record Christ’s agonizing plea from the cross: "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34). Yet these words were the beginning of one of David’s psalms (Psalm 22:1). The New Testament writers understood that David’s words concerning his own situation applied even more fully to Christ’s suffering. In addition to the direct quotations, there are numerous allusions to this psalm in the New Testament.

For example, David said: "All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: ‘He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him’" (verses 7-8). Matthew, Mark and Luke record the actions of Christ’s enemies: mocking him, shaking their heads at him and telling him to save himself, since he claimed to be the Son of God (Matthew 27:39-44; Mark 15:29-32; Luke 23:35-39).

One striking example of how David’s words applied to Jesus Christ is Psalm 22:18, which says, "They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing." The apostle John showed how this prophecy was fulfilled by the soldiers who divided Christ’s clothes into four parts and cast lots for his tunic (John 19:23-24).

Psalm 69 is another messianic psalm. Jesus Christ himself said he was hated without a cause, "but this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’" (John 15:25). Christ was referring to Psalm 69:4.

When one rereads this psalm in light of the events in Christ’s life, it is obvious that several other verses apply to Christ, even if not quoted in the New Testament. For example: "I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother’s sons" (verses 7-8).

When Jesus cast the money changers from the temple, saying, "How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!" (John 2:16), his disciples remembered the scripture (Psalm 69:9) where it was written, "Zeal for your house will consume me" (John 2:17).

Other messianic psalms include Psalms 110 and 118. These psalms, like many other parts of the Old Testament in which there are prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming, were used by the apostles and evangelists as they preached the gospel.