Richard P. Belcher incorporates a Christ centered approach to interpreting each Psalm in
his book, “The Messiah and The Psalms”. Throughout the book he examines key complexities in
understanding the original meaning and messianic connection to each Psalm while expressing the
importance of understanding each not only from a historical or original context but incorporating
a prophetic connection to the anticipation of the coming Messiah. His stance adopts that each
Psalm is based on the person and the works of Christ.
Through emphasis on key concepts, themes, literary and historical settings Belcher
develops messianic implications and advances the concept that the Psalms cannot be fully
grasped without each having a foundation rooted in the message and person of the Christ. This
relationship is explored through several examples and exegesis of individual Psalms not
originally thought of as Messianic. He does stress the importance of understanding each Psalm
not only from its original historical grammatical context but expands this approach to reading in
the context of themes such as hope, suffering, deliverance, and royalty each pointing to the
works and person of Messiah. He stresses that in using the Historical Grammatical approach the
Christological approach allows for acknowledgement of the Psalms divinely inspired author
rather than just the human author. “It is important to understand a particular psalm in its
historical and literary context, and then to think how the psalm relates to the person and or work
of Christ.” 1 Belcher lays out a strong methodology and step by step method of teaching the
Psalms from a Christological center by examination of the Psalm, use of commentaries, then
reflection of how the text relates to the relationship of the message, works and concepts of Christ
in his humanity, redemption, royalty, prophet, teachings and priesthood.
1 Belcher, Richard P. 2006. The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms. Ross-shire, Scotland:
Mentor
There are many strengths in Belcher’s approach. A Christological stance in understanding
the Psalms allows for one to include unity in scripture, have a deeper understanding of the divine
authorship of scripture throughout both the Old and the New Testament, and allows one to not
only recognize but reinforce the message of fulfillment of prophecy. In understanding the Psalms
from this point of view one can appreciate the dichotomy of traditional historical-critical, literary
critical, and historical grammatical approaches in a manner that brings each of their differences
into a harmonic understanding that each approach points to the fulfillment of scripture through
the life and testament of Christ. This is vital to appreciating the theological and prophetic theme
of each Psalm.
While strengths outnumber the weaknesses of a Christological approach one should take
into consideration that challenges may come in the form of misinterpretation of original meaning
or overshadowing of the original intent of the work. Interpretation from a Christ alone standpoint
can often neglect other methods which could lead to misrepresentation of important themes, and
insights to the cultural and historical intricacies thus limiting the scope of application. One
should also point out that theological conflicts might lead to different interpretation thus leading
to division in the body of Christ. Consequently, it is useful to approach the Psalms with a
balanced approach considering traditional methods as well as a Christological standpoint.
Psalm 45
The Royal Psalm 45 honors a king and his bride celebrating their wedding. This poetic
praise expresses key themes such as majesty, marriage, beauty, convent, anointing, praise and the
underlying message of the eventual Messiah’s kingship. This Psalm is about God’s institution of
his royal reign over the kingdom of the earth and to celebrate his glory. While one may think that
this writing pertains to David or to Solomon many of the statements are incapable of describing
their reign. The language of eternal sovereignty, the divine and the mighty one riding in majesty
for the cause of truth and righteousness point to specific messianic attributes found in messiah.
The exact wording of “Your throne, O God” directly pinpoints that the king is God rather than a
mortal being. Calling the king the “mighty one” ascribes to Him an important divine messianic
title.2
This prophetic Psalm declares the line of David’s descendants to be God’s sons (2 Samuel
7:14) thus reflecting the relationship between God and the appointed king of being so entwined
that symbolic language illustrates David’s sons would be addressed as “king” or “God”, and that
his use of the scepter would raise in justice and righteousness.3 The illustration of the scepter
brings together both the historical use of Jacob’s blessing of the tribe of Judah with the promise
of the scepter (Genesis 49:8-12) and the New Testament description of God’s son in Hebrew’s
1:8. The marriage imagery emphasizes the harmonization of scripture through bridging the
representation of the bride in Ophir’s gold, the historical standard of perfection, to the holy
blemish less bride of Ephesians 5:26.
Further imagery connects the bridegroom and the bride through bridging together the
bride and groom leaving their mother and father to love and respect one another. (Psalm 45:10-
2 Rydelnik, Michael, and Michael G Vanlaningham. 2014. The Moody Bible Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers.
3 Carson, D.A., ed. 2015. NV Zondervan Study Bible. 2015 ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
11) (Psalm 45:16) (Ephesians 5:31-33) Further evidence of the validity of explaining Psalm 45 as
reference to the church as the bride of Christ is demonstrated in verse 6 when the divine ruler is
designated as “O God” and designated as righteous. Verse 7 describes the king as a divine
anointed ruler over the eternal kingdom.
These theological elements when penned together not only validate the Psalm as being
one of the Messianic genre but substantiate the teaching of the covenant wedding of Christ and
his church.
Psalm 22
Psalm 22 can be described as a multi genre writing based in including prophecy, lament
and messianic themes. This overarching lament is broken into sections. This anguish described
by David was written 1000 years before the crucifixion of Christ, but clearly points to the future
scene of this historical event.4 (Section one verses 1-10 display the suffering and pain of the
Messiah. Verses 11-21 bring the messiah’s petition to the ears of God.5 The final section, verses
22-31, places exaltation on God for his deliverance of his people. The scripture is overflowing in
the foretelling prophetic imagery of Christ on the cross. Foreshadowing of Christ’s verbatim
words are echoed in Matthew 27:46, highlighting Christ’s intimate knowledge of not only
scripture, but of his devotion to God’s ultimate provision of the sacrifice.
Imagery of Christ’s physical suffering is displayed in vivid descriptions of his time on the
cross. The Psalm vividly creates the picture of Messiah being mocked in verses 7-8 tying the
image of Christ in Matthew 27:39-43. Verse 15 is poignant with the cry of Christ’s thirst which is
directly addressed in John 19:28. Verse 17 continues the imagery of the wounds created through
the piercing of the nails attaching messiah to the cross. Verse 18 describes the prediction of the
division of his garments as in John 17:23-24. Though the Psalm depicts the pain and suffering of
Christ on the cross the conclusion is in tune with other lamenting structure in that praise is
exalted to God in that he has answered prayer, and that God has indeed heard the cry of his
people. This final element develops the triumph of Christ as he is finally exalted in his
righteousness and his reign over all nations and dominions.
4 Halley, Henry H. 2007. Halley’s Bible Handbook with the New International Version. Grand Rapids, Mich.:
Zondervan.
5 Rydelnik, Michael, and Michael G Vanlaningham. 2014. The Moody Bible Commentary. Chicago, IL: Moody
Publishers.
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