The Poetic Books
Having already highlighted some of the most fascinating features of Genesis through Esther, the poetic books now become the focus of our attention. Job is the oldest book in existence that deals with the ever-popular and interesting question of, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Job’s friends tried to convince him that the loss of all his wealth, as well as the deterioration of his health, came upon him because of the sins he had committed. They erred in their conclusions concerning Job, although the principle itself was valid. Many people do suffer because of their own sinful behavior. Smoking has brought cancer upon people, just as drinking results in liver disease. Engaging in promiscuous sexual behavior can bring about a number of diseases. Many human beings choose to harm their physical bodies. Sometimes bad attitudes can also bring harm to someone, affecting their daily situations and circumstances.
God also could be punishing us for the sins we have committed. Solomon wrote that God’s followers should “not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction; for whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights” (Pr. 3:11-12). We must recognize that, besides experiencing the natural consequences of sinful actions, we may also be punished for sins that we have committed—things that no one else might know about. God’s chastisement might cause us to ask why we are undergoing a particular trial and may then serve to cause us to correct things wrong in our relationship with God.
But not all adversity results from the choices we make or as punishment for our sins. Sometimes, as in the case of Job, the affliction results from what Satan has chosen to bring upon us. Job did not know that Satan was responsible for his loss of wealth or his suffering. Many people attribute their problems to God, but Job neither sinned nor charged God with wrong. He did not know that the Lord restricted Satan by not allowing him to take his life. Although God does not give Satan free reign over the lives of people, He gives him enough latitude to tempt human beings and to affect us adversely. However, he shall have no power to touch anyone in any way in the heavenly realm.
The book of Job is amazing because the patriarch remains faithful even when there is no material gain. In fact, Job says, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him” (Job 13:15a). How could Job say such things in the absence of health and wealth? The answer is that he knew that the spiritual was more important than the physical: “I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food” (23:12b). He also knew that his Redeemer lived and that, after his skin was destroyed, he would see God in his flesh (19:25-27).
The book of Job addresses this question of suffering that people continue to deal with on a daily basis, but it does more than that. It makes scientific statements that no one could have known nearly 4,000 years ago. Most of us have seen pictures sent back from the moon or beyond, showing the earth just sitting in space. We know the truth of what Job wrote when he said that God “hangs the earth on nothing” (26:7). But how did Job know that? He could not have viewed it. Did he deduce it from the circular shapes of the sun and the moon? (If so, he might have been wrong; some cultures had some wild theories on this subject). Or was he taught it, and if so by whom, if not the Lord?
Later, God mentions “the springs of the sea,” something that Job could not have known through observation or deduction. Some things can be known only because God has revealed them. Many books deal with prophecies that will later be fulfilled, but equally wondrous are the truths concerning this world that man had as yet no means to discern.
Psalms
Many find comfort in the Psalms, such as the 23rd. Many enjoy the spiritual truths they contain, such as: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (1:1-2). What wisdom is communicated in just a few words! Many readers glory in the extended praise of the Word of God itself (119). A shorter version is found in Psalm 19.
Like Job, the book contains some scientific statements that are remarkable. Psalm 8:8 talks about the fish that pass through the paths of the seas. Matthew Fontaine Maury, recognized as the Father of Oceanography, believed in those paths of the sea and discovered how they worked, enabling ships to cross the ocean in much timelier fashion. Psalm 8:8 is inscribed on his monument. How did David, writing 3,000 years ago know about those “paths” except through Divine revelation?
Much could be written about the spiritual value of the psalms and their applications to our lives, but the most amazing aspect of it is that it records prophecies that are fulfilled in Jesus. After His resurrection, Christ explained to His disciples the things concerning Himself that had to be fulfilled from “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms…” (Luke 24:44). Psalms was a Jewish division of the Old Testament that included other books as well. Many of its verses declare both general and specific things about Jesus.
The second psalm is quoted by at least three writers of the New Testament. “Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and His Anointed…” (Psalm 2:1-2). Admittedly, these two verses could possibly be applied in some other way, but they sound as though they were written particularly about Jesus, which they were. Luke quotes them in Acts 4:25-26 and then explains how that Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles, and the Jews all stood against Him at the crucifixion (Acts 4:27-28, cf. Mark 3:6). Jesus is the “Anointed One,” which is the Hebrew word, Messiah (John 1:41).
Psalm 2:7 contains yet another verse that is well-known in the New Testament: “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’” Not only is this verse quoted in Hebrews 1:5 and 5:5, it is also found in Acts 13:33, where it refers to Jesus being raised from the dead. While it is true that Jesus was begotten of Mary by the Holy Spirit, He was also begotten from the dead—to a new and incorruptible life. Paul compares the Lord’s being begotten from the dead to the Christian who has died to sin and been begotten a second time (in other words, the new birth) in Romans 6:1-11. The Christian is begotten “again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Another Resurrection Passage
On the Day of Pentecost, the apostles had a major task—to prove to the multitude that the crucified Jesus had arisen from the dead. Of course, they were all eyewitnesses, and they also had just spoken in languages which Galileans would not normally know. But an important ingredient in convincing the people that day that Jesus is the Messiah was Peter’s appeal to Psalm 16:8-11—particularly the portion which says: “Moreover my flesh will also rest in hope, because You will not leave my soul in Hades, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption” (Acts 3:26-b-27a). It is obvious that the writer of these words, David, was dead and buried in a tomb that remained until that day. He was therefore speaking of the resurrection of someone else, which Peter affirmed was, in fact, Jesus. Some of the very ones who crucified Jesus could see that Psalm 16:8-11 was a prophecy of the resurrected Christ, and some 3,000 obeyed the gospel (Acts 2:41). They understood that the passage was quoted accurately and applied correctly.
The Crucifixion
The 22nd psalm begins with the words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” No doubt many have experienced the same sentiment, but Jesus uttered these words on the cross (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15:34). The significance of Jesus saying those words cannot be lost on any honest person, but there is more of Psalm 22 that concerns that day. Do these words also sound familiar? “All those who see Me laugh Me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, ‘He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him, since He delights in Him” (see Matt. 27:39, 42-43; Mark 15:29-31; Luke 23:35).
What about the description of His bones being out of joint and being able to count all of them (Ps. 22:14, 17)? Could such words describe the crucifixion? They also pierced His hands and His feet (Ps. 22:16), which is the method used in crucifixion (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:27; Luke 23:33; John 19:18). Later, Jesus invited Thomas to put his finger into those places where His hands had been pierced (John 20:27).
David also writes: “They divide My garments among them, and for My clothing they cast lots” (Ps. 22:18). All four writers mention this event (Matt. 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34; John 19:24). Clearly, this is a specific fulfillment of that which is associated with the crucifixion (His piercing).
One final prophetic verse from Psalm 22 is verse 22: “I will declare Your name to My brethren; in the midst of the congregation I will praise You.” The writer of Hebrews quotes this verse to show that Jesus is not ashamed to call His followers His brethren. He who sanctifies (Jesus) and those who are being sanctified (Christians) are all of One (speaking of the human origin of Jesus). He was begotten of God, and Christians are begotten of God, also.
Various Matters in Psalm 69
Another psalm with several references to Jesus is the 69th. Part of verse 4 is quoted in John 15:25, which contains the last lengthy conversation that Jesus had with His disciples on the night He was betrayed. Much of the subject matter for John 15:18-25 deals with the hatred that the world has toward the righteous in general—but particularly toward Jesus. Our Lord says: “But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause’” (v. 25). Of course, David could have been talking about any righteous person, but Jesus applied it to Himself.
Psalm 69:9 is quoted in two separate places in the New Testament. The first half of the verse refers to Jesus’ concern for the temple of God in Jerusalem: “Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up.” John says that the Lord’s disciples remembered this verse after Jesus had made a whip of cords and drove out of the temple the moneychangers and those who sold oxen and sheep and doves (John 2:14-17). The second half of Psalm 69:9 mentions that “the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me,” which Paul cites in Romans 15:3. Psalm 69:7 also mentions these reproaches.
The verse in between these two, however, is interesting in that an appropriate and accurate application can be made from it: “I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children” (Ps. 69:8). In John 7:1-4, Jesus’ brothers appear to be taunting Him. Although the Jews were seeking to kill Him in Judea (after His healing of the lame man and the ensuing conversation in which He claimed God was His Father, thereby “making Himself equal with God”) (John 5:1-18), His brothers encouraged Him to go back to Judea to participate in the Feast of Tabernacles. They added that He wanted to be known openly and that therefore He should show Himself to the world. Were they being a bit snarky in this matter? Perhaps, they were because verse 5 adds: “For even his brothers did not believe in Him.”
The Lord’s brothers are identified in Matthew 13:55 as James, Joses, Simon, and Judas. James and Jude (and perhaps the other two, also, although they are not mentioned) went on to become believers and even wrote books that are part of the New Testament. The Catholic Church teaches that these were actually Jesus’ cousins rather than his brothers because of their doctrine that Mary was a perpetual virgin. However, Psalm 69:8 shows that the Catholic claim is false because of a Hebrew parallelism. In Hebrew poetic writing (which can also occur in non-poetic texts), one idea is often repeated—only in different words. This is one of those occasions. Stranger and alien are synonyms, and the two descriptions that follow are also equal: my brothers and my mother’s children. Those who were speaking to Jesus in John 7 were not his cousins—they were His mother’s children. The Bible has answers for all false teachings that men devise.
Two more verses of significance are found in Psalm 69—one concerning the events at the crucifixion and one concerning Jesus’ betrayer. The first of these is verse 21: “They also gave me gall for my food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” It was the custom to give the one about to be crucified something that would temporarily deaden the pain, but Jesus refused the sour wine mingled with gall, as recorded in Matthew 27:34. Later, they gave Jesus a sponge filled with sour wine (Matt. 27:48; Mark 15:36). Psalm 69:25 refers to Judas losing the work that he had been entrusted with before he betrayed Jesus. His habitation would now be desolate (Acts 1:20). This latter verse also cites Psalm 109:8: “Let another take his office.” Also connected with these is Psalm 41:9: “Even my own familiar friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.” Jesus quoted this verse in John 13:18, but the actual betrayal is described elsewhere (Luke 22:47, Acts 1:16).
Psalm 118
Two important prophecies are written in Psalm 118. The first declares the “stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (vv. 22-23). Matthew and Mark quote the passage in its entirety (Matt. 21:42; Mark 20:10); Luke records only verse 22. Peter alludes to it in Acts 4:11. Psalm 118:26 exclaims: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” These words are spoken by the multitude in Matthew 21:9 and used by Jesus in Matthew 23:39. They referred to His triumphant entrance into Jerusalem.
Other Sundry Passages
That none of Jesus’ bones would be broken is prophesied in Psalm 34:20 (cf. John 19:36). Since Jesus is our Passover (1 Cor. 5:7), it was necessary that none of the bones of the Passover lamb (the type of Jesus to come) should be broken, either, and instructions were given to that effect (Ex. 12:46).
The fact that false witnesses would be brought in to testify of Jesus is foretold in Psalm 27:12 and fulfilled in Matthew 26:60-61 (see also Mark 14:57-58).
Psalm 68:18 is quoted in the New Testament: “You ascended on high, you have led captivity captive.” First, we know that Jesus literally ascended into the heavens since it is described in Acts 1:9-11. The verse, however, is quoted and explained in Ephesians 4:8-10. After His ascension, He gave spiritual gifts to men, which was also a part of the prophecy.
So much has been cited concerning Jesus, His trial and crucifixion that these fulfilled prophecies, taken collectively, are truly amazing. And these are only from one book of the Old Testament. Many more are found in Isaiah and the other prophets. However, there is still an important concept to consider from the Psalms concerning Jesus; Psalm 68:18 provided a hint, but no consideration of Christ from Psalms could conclude without it.
THE AMAZING ASPECTS OF THE BIBLE (PART 6)