Comparing Belcher's 'Psalm 22 And The Messiah'

Psalm 22 and the Messiah Belcher describes Psalm 22 as “an individual lament (vv.1-21) with an expanded section of praise and thanksgiving for God’s answer of the lament (vv. 22-31).” Psalm 22 is a unique Psalm because of its strong connection to the final passion week of Christ’s life. James Luther Mays in “Prayer and Christology: Psalm 22 as Perspective on the Passion” states how strong the connection is: “There are thirteen (perhaps seventeen) Old Testament texts that appear in the passion narrative of the Gospels . . . Of the thirteen, nine come from the Psalms. Five come from Psalm 22 . . .” Psalm 22 was written by David but are the experiences David describes, experiences he lived or do the experiences also refer to Christ? This author believes the experiences refer to both David and Christ. Most commentators believe the experiences of Psalm 22 that David describes are historic; however, no specific historic event as the source for the Psalm can be firmly …show more content…
Based on the hermeneutic Jesus provides in these verses, the Christological Approach proposes that Christ can be preached from all the Old Testament including all the Psalms. Belchers Christological Approach is sound in that it recommends establishing the historical-grammatical meaning of the Psalm prior to reflecting on the Psalm’s relation to the person and work of Christ. Some caution needs to be taken to not apply the Christological Approach to the extremes in relating a passage to Jesus. Psalm 45 was a song to be sung for a king’s wedding in his court. The royal wedding of the king to his bride serves as a type of the relationship between Christ the king and his bride, the church. Psalm 22 is an historic reflection of experiences in David’s life, a prophetic statement regarding the coming Christ, and a typological prefiguring of events in Christ life that transcends David’s