The Psalms and Coronavirus
by Daniel Friery
Last week, several friends and I, from 8 different countries, joined ‘virtually’ to enjoy an evening singing Psalms together. It seems in the light of Coronavirus that the Psalms have particular poignancy. The honesty with which the Psalmists express the whole emotional spectrum experienced by the believer and wrestle with trust in God, often in the light of various trials and judgements, perhaps particularly reflect our experience during the Coronavirus pandemic. In so doing they provide a pattern for how our faith is strengthened.
Along those same lines last week, our minister, Andy, led a Bible Study on Mark 14:26-31, which takes place immediately after the institution of the Lord’s Supper. He asked this important question: how is it that Jesus was able to exercise such poise in the light of his imminent arrest? One answer was Christ’s knowledge and use of the Scriptures. Jesus quotes from Zechariah 13:7, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered’. In so doing Jesus does not simply anticipate the fulfilment of some one-line abstract prophecy, but demonstrates Jesus’ knowledge of how these things relate to the redemptive purposes of God. Christ strengthened himself by knowing that this scattering would result in the ‘fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness’ (Zechariah 13:1) and would necessarily be followed by the refining of a third of whom He could say, ‘They are my people’ (Zechariah 13:9). Such knowledge of God’s redemptive purposes in Scripture, and trust that they would be fulfilled, strengthened Christ as the man of faith.
With these two themes in my mind it struck me how often in the Passion narrative Christ used the Psalms as the man of faith, and as such fulfilled them. From Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem, to the upper room Passover meal (where it was customary to sing a series of Psalms), to the words of Jesus on the cross itself; the narrative is peppered with references to the Psalms which Christ claimed as his own. So in the middle of this crisis I thought it would be worth reflecting upon how Christ used the Psalms as the man of faith and how we can therefore strengthen one another in him ‘singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.’ (Colossians 3:16) Here are four thoughts of how Christ used the Psalms on his way to the cross:
They demonstrate Jesus’ command over events
Although much was to happen throughout the week leading up to his crucifixion, Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem for the Passover feast often marks the beginning of our Easter meditations. As we read the narrative we see that Jesus was welcomed into Jerusalem with none other than the words of Psalm 118: ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!’ (Psalm 118:26; Matthew 21:9) The people did not realise quite how fitting these words were to the occasion, but they certainly did not pass Christ by. Indeed, he had orchestrated the whole event. As the people cried out ‘Hosanna’ - Lord come save us - how blind they were to the means of their rescue. The following verse of Psalm 118 reads: ‘Bind the festal sacrifice with cords, up to the horns of the altar’- a reference to the Passover sacrifice. Yet now passing before them, riding on a donkey, was the Passover Sacrifice, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). He was riding up to the horns of the altar- to the cross on which he would die. In the detail, we see how Christ was in total command of all events, doing all things so that the Psalms (and the rest of Scripture), which spoke of him, may be fulfilled.
They provide resurrection comfort to Jesus
It was the Passover and Jesus and his disciples were gathered in the upper room. What is his posture? Despite knowing that his death was imminent, Jesus was still purposed on praising God. In line with Jewish tradition, Jesus and his disciples joined in a hymn of praise before going out into the garden (Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26), most likely a series of Psalms known as the Hallel Psalms (the root of the word ‘hallelujah’, meaning praise). These are Psalms 113-118. With death encircling Christ sang of God’s unfailing steadfast love to his people, a theme of all these Psalms. He invoked praise to God for the first Exodus (Psalm 114), as he was about to enter his own Exodus. And he called on all nations of the earth to praise God for his faithfulness (Psalm 117). How well Christ resisted the temptation that was put to Job amid his trials, ‘Curse God and die’ (Job 2:9).
What a comfort it must also have been to Christ to sing of the resurrection hope contained in these Psalms. As he sang Jesus was able to set his eyes towards the joy that was set before him (Hebrews 12:2) and could thus endure the cross. How wonderful to sing in Psalm 116 of a time when the Psalmist came very close to death and yet the Lord delivered him, and to know: ‘Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.’ (Psalm 116:15) How much more would the Father deliver from death his own beloved Son. Psalm 115 anticipates the resurrection for God’s covenant people, of which Christ as head would be first. ‘The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down in silence. But we will bless the LORD from this time forth and forevermore.’ (Psalm 115:17-18) Psalm 118 is even more explicit: ‘I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.’ (Psalm 118:17) Peter would later relate this Psalm directly to the resurrection: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.’ (Psalm 118:22; 1 Peter 2:7) Surely this comfort strengthened Christ’s faith knowing that although the time of his rejection was at hand, resurrection exaltation awaited.
They reflect Jesus’ consciousness
What was on Jesus’ mind when he was on the cross? There are many answers that could be given. But one certain answer is the Psalms. At least three of the sayings of Jesus on the cross were taken from the Psalms. They provide an experiential picture of Christ in his sufferings. Well has it been said if you want to see the emotional life of Christ go to the Psalms! Christ’s cry ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me’ is taken from the beginning of Psalm 22. These words lift the lid on the experience and utter horror of what Christ faced on the cross for us, although the depths of this we will never plumb. However, this was not an utter expression of despair, but rather as John Calvin wrote: ‘Though the perception of the flesh would have led him to dread destruction, still in his heart faith remained firm, by which he beheld the presence of God, of whose absence he complains.’ This becomes apparent as Jesus made another cry on the cross: ‘It is finished.’ (John 19:30) The single Aramaic word being the equivalent of the final word of Psalm 22. In other words, Christ’s experience on the cross is summarised in the entirety of Psalm 22 (in fact other words of the Psalm are quoted by the scoffers, and referenced by the Gospel writers). Yet, this Psalm contains a remarkable turning point. From verse 19 we see the Psalmist speak of the praise and worship that would result from God’s deliverance. Jesus, even on the cross, anticipated the great glory and worship of God. What was ‘finished’ (or ‘done’ as the ESV renders it) but this: ‘Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation: they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn…’ (Psalm 22:30-31)
They prove Jesus’ perfect obedience as the conqueror
What of the third saying from the Psalms?
John Murray summarised Christ’s accomplishment of redemption in one word: obedience. This theme is particularly prominent in Luke’s Gospel, where Christ is presented as the second Adam who fought and defeated the Devil where the first Adam failed. As soon as Luke has presented his genealogy going back to Adam, Christ takes on the Devil in the wilderness and in his failure ‘[the devil] departed from him until an opportune time.’ (Luke 4:13) That opportune time was ultimately the cross. For years I pondered the question, that was often debated in the medieval church, did Satan want Jesus to go to the cross? Whilst the Devil tempted Jesus towards other routes (which, of course, did not exist) than representing his people on the cross; he also knew that the cross would also be the ultimate test for Jesus in his obedience to his Father. If there were any circumstances under which the Devil could get Jesus to disobey surely it was this. The contrast with the paradise of Eden where Adam succumbed is immense. Christ’s obedience through the extraordinarily horrific conditions of the cross, would become the means whereby he would conquer the Devil. Luke records this conquest of obedience by choosing the words of a Centurion ‘Certainly this man was innocent!’ (Luke 23:47- notice the deliberate difference in choice to Mark 15:39).
In this light the final words of Jesus before his death, taken from Psalm 31, take on a new significance. ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ (Luke 23:46) In Psalm 31 David is wrestling with the weight of enemies who had come round about him. He speaks about how he is ‘in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and body also.’ (Psalm 31:9) Yet amid this he is determined to place his entire trust in the Lord and ‘hate those who pay regard to worthless idols’ (Psalm 31:6). In selecting these final words of Jesus, Luke is therefore showing the defiance with which Jesus continued to trust the Lord and be obedient even to the very moment of death. He would not allow the enemy to come in and crush his spirits so that he turned from the Lord. Instead, Luke reveals Christ’s attitude to be that of the Psalmist, who remembered the goodness of the fatherly love of God: ‘But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God”’ (Psalm 31:14); ‘Oh, how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you.’ (Psalm 31:19). As the Psalmist before him Christ’s perfect submission secured, in the ultimate sense, victory over the Devil, ‘The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.’ (Psalm 31:23) Christ showed himself to be the man of faith.
Daniel Friery is an MTh (Research) student with Edinburgh Theological Seminary and an intern at Oxford Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
