Seeing Jesus in the Psalms

  Psalm 57 I have only one rock, only one unchangeable, sure, safe place, and that is my God. I see the wonderful works of my God everywhere I look. And I see His loving hand of mercy and care over my path when I look back and in faith as I look ahead. I know that there is nothing I will encounter that God has not intended for my good. I have seen the complaints and the requests for vindication and retribution from David and the Psalmist in these first 57 chapters. But what I also see, soaring above the cries for help and frustrations, is our God . And daily I hardly have to scratch the surface to see a link between the Psalm and Jesus. Today I see Jesus being hounded just like David. As King of all the universe, Jesus and His Father in Heaven with the Spirit had all the power and authority to do things any way or anywhere They wished to have done things; They could have changed things so the enemies never surrounded or threatened David or Jesus. God is unlimited in His power and l...

  Psalm 56 “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?”   Psalm 56:4b & 11 Jesus echoes the words of David spoken here twice in Psalm 56 verse 4 and verse 11 when He is warning people about the Pharisees in Luke 12:4-5.  4 “Dear friends, don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot do any more to you after that. 5 But I’ll tell you whom to fear. Fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, he’s the one to fear.”  Luke 12:4-5 The context is also similar. David according to the Psalm notes is writing in response to a time his enemies had captured him, and Jesus is responding to a great conflict He has had with the Pharisees. 53 As Jesus was leaving, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees became hostile and tried to provoke him with many questions. 54 They wanted to trap him into saying something they could use against him.  Luke 11:53-54 MAIN POINT: When facing great con...

  Psalm 55 How could I read Psalm 55 and not relate? I was struck first by the vivid description of fear. As I copied over the words, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove; then I would fly away and rest! I would fly far away to the quiet of the wilderness” (vv.6-7), I remembered several times feeling the same way, even recently. The monster of betrayal , the spectre of fear , or the haunting ghost of wanting-to-escape , can be the close companions of many a Christian servant. These very same evil spirits hounded Jesus, the son of God, until  His death on the cross.  12 It is not an enemy who taunts me— I could bear that. It is not my foes who so arrogantly insult me— I could have hidden from them. 13 Instead, it is you —my equal, my companion and close friend. 14 What good fellowship we once enjoyed as we walked together to the house of God . MAINPOINT: God can help you carry your burdens. Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the go...

  Psalm 54 The background to this Psalm is found in 1 Samuel 23:19-20 .  David’s life is filled with problems from his childhood through to his death. Can you recount the challenges that David faced in his life? David saw great triumphs, but these did not lead to the peace, prosperity, relative ease and rest that you might imagine. David had those moments in his life, but more often than not, we read of enemies attacking him: from wild animals, to brothers, to mighty warriors, to the king, to foreign armies, to his own sons and on it goes. According to the notes above Psalm 54 and 63, we read David’s prayer to God. And according to the more historical book of first and second Samuel, we read of the events leading up to the prayers and the events following the prayers. David was delivered in a fashion. He still was a fugitive, he still was not yet recognised as King, Saul and the Ziphites were still living and not conquered or destroyed. David escaped, and you could see that i...