Which psalms predict the coming of Jesus Christ?

Besides those quoted in the New Testament, there are other Psalms that tell of the coming of the Lord, and of His sufferings and glories. Psalm 69 brings much before us of the coming suffering Messiah, and the Spirit of Christ enters into the sufferings of the remnant of His people in Psalm 88. The coming glories of the Lord and the Lord coming in His glory are found in such well-known Psalms as 24, 72 and 89.

In this Psalm the birth of the Lord is foretold, where the Holy Spirit says, "I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten Thee" (verse 7). This is quoted in Hebrews 1:5, where the glory of the Son of God is brought before God's ancient people. If the leaders of Israel and the kings of the earth reject God's Son, Jehovah will set Him as King on His holy hill of Zion, and He shall have the heathen for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession. From these verses it is plain that both the first and the second coming of the Lord are before the mind of the Spirit in this prophetic Psalm. When the Lord returns to reign in glory, He will assuredly break the opposers with a "rod of iron" (verse 9), just as the seer tells us in Revelation 12:5. See also Paul's quotation in Acts 13:33.

The prophetic message concerning the Messiah, His humiliation and His exaltation. There are more prophetic statements on this theme of all themes in the Psalms, than in the book of Isaiah or in any of the other prophetic books. As already stated in the paragraph of this introduction relating to the Lord Jesus and the Psalms, we have in many of them the prewritten prayers of our Lord, as well as the expressions of His sorrow and grief. The story of His life of loneliness down here, the hatred which He met, the rejection from the side of the nation; the betrayal and other features of His humiliation are found over and over again in the Psalms. While the chosen instruments passed through experiences of sorrow and trial, the Spirit of God pictures in them Him who could say "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow which is done unto me" (Lamentations 1:12). But the application of these Psalms to the person of our Lord needs great caution. Some teachers have erred grievously in this matter. We heard several years ago of a Bible teacher applying Psalm 38:7 to our Lord: "For my lions are filled with a loathsome disease, and there is no soundness in my flesh." And this teacher declared that the Lord suffered thus because He took upon Himself our sickness and diseases. Such teaching must be severely condemned for it is positively false. Nor must other similar expressions be put into the mouth of our Lord. He had no need to complain of sins for He had no sin. He had no need to use the Fifty-first Psalm.

The sufferings of the cross are prophetically revealed in the twenty-second Psalm and in others as well. Then the glory which is to follow, the kingship of Christ, His kingdom is wonderfully predicted in many Psalms. His first coming in humiliation, to be rejected and to die; His second coming to be accepted and to reign over the earth, these are the two great prophetic messages of the Psalms. It is of much interest to note the order of the four great Messianic Psalms which we find in the first section of the book. The Spirit of God calls our attention to them in the New Testament. The Second Psalm is the first; here the divine sonship of our Lord is made known. The Eighth Psalm is next quoted; there He is the Son of Man. In Psalm 16 we see Him as the Obedient One and in Psalm 22 obedient unto death, the death of the cross. Son of God--Son of Man, obedient, obedient unto death, the death of the cross. And with each of these Psalms His glory is connected.

It will be seen from the consideration of these Psalms that Christ's coming is very clearly foretold. There are the presentations of His perfections as Man; His divine and creatorial glories, His sufferings, His resurrection and the results of His death are all to be seen; His mediatorial and eternal kingdoms are brought out by the Spirit of God; and He is portrayed in His royal and priestly glories, the Son of Man and the Son of God.

Three Outstanding messianic Psalms

Many Psalms give glimpses of Jehovah's Anointed One Who was to come, but three of them are conspicuous among the rest by the vivid details of His sufferings which they make known beforehand. Besides Psalm 22, there are Psalm 69 and Psalm 102. All three foretell in words of song the amazing pathway of the Hope of Israel laughed to scorn by all who saw Him and the Saviour of men without a place to lay His head. Each of the three Psalms presents its own particular phase of the sufferings of Christ followed by its appropriate sequel, but the one which touches our affection and devotion most deeply is Psalm 22.

Three Outstanding Messianic Psalms

Many Psalms give glimpses of Jehovah's Anointed One Who was to come, but three of them are conspicuous among the rest by the vivid details of His sufferings which they make known beforehand. Besides Psalm 22, there are Psalm 69 and Psalm 102. All three foretell in words of song the amazing pathway of the Hope of Israel laughed to scorn by all who saw Him and the Saviour of men without a place to lay His head. Each of the three Psalms presents its own particular phase of the sufferings of Christ followed by its appropriate sequel, but the one which touches our affection and devotion most deeply is Psalm 22.

Psalm 2 has two wonderful intimations of the coming Christ. “Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee” (v. 7). “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and ye perish from the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little” (v. 12).

The whole of this Psalm speaks of the Son of God, and the Lord uses it to confound His foes, who would have refused Him His divine glory (See Matt. 22:44). This incident is found in each of the three Synoptic Gospels; and the first verse is also referred to in Hebrews 1:13 and Hebrews 10:13. Following His rejection at His first coming, David's Lord is invited to take His place on high at God's right hand till His enemies are put under His feet.

There was also the promise concerning Solomon, who would sit upon David’s throne, a promise that went far beyond Solomon, even to the Christ of God, as is seen in Hebrews 1:5. By the Spirit of God, David, in such psalms as 45, 72 and 110, enters into the glory that would belong to Messiah, as answering to and fulfilling the promises God made to him.

Psalm 2:7 - "Thou art my Son: this day have I begotten thee" (Acts 13.33) Psalm 8:6 - "Thou hast put all things under his feet" (Heb. 2:6-10) Psalm 41:9 - "Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me." (John 13:18) Psalm 45:6 - "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever." (Heb. 1:8) Psalm 110:1 - "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand."(Mat. 22:44)