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Page history last edited by Andrew C Bain 17 years ago

 

All sects -- from Roman Catholics to Presbyterians -- assume that the Psalms are David's/Heman's/Asaph's private experiences.

 

But where does the Scripture say this??

 

Nowhere.

 

The Apostles never say that the Psalms describe David's private experiences. In fact, the Apostles apply and identify about 1/3 of the Psalms as speaking of Christ. The other 2/3rds are essentially the same in content, and must also be Messianic.

 

Yet, every Sunday "Pastors" around the world PRIVATELY interpret the Psalms . By "private interpretation" I mean the practice of taking passages from the Psalms and interpreting them as ya-feel-like-it.

 

For instance, it is often assumed that Psalm 69 is descriptive of David's own experience. People think that these verses describe David doubting his salvation….

 

 

Psalm 69:17,20,21: "And do not hide Your face from Your servant; for it is distressing to Me; answer Me quickly. draw near My soul; redeem it; ransom Me because of My enemies. Reproach has broken My heart, and I am faint; and I waited for one to show pity, but there was none; and for comforters, but I found none. They also gave Me gall in My food; and in My thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink."

 

Now, there's a problem with saying this is David's own experience. A big problem.

It's actually Christ speaking in this Psalm! Not David. In John 19:29, the Holy Spirit records the fact that Christ was offered vinegar to drink.

"Then a vessel full of vinegar was set, and having filled a sponge with vinegar, and putting hyssop around, they brought it to His mouth."

 

The Apostles never say that the Psalms are descriptive of David's private experiences. They limit David to the role of a mere secretary and prophet concerning Christ. "David being a prophet says...", "David in the Spirit says...", "God says in David...", "Christ says in David...", "The Holy Spirit spoke by the mouth of David...".

I challenge you to show me one -- just one! -- time in the New Testament when the Psalms are interpreted as being David's private experiences.

 

The Bible NOWHERE says that the Psalms refer to the experience of David, Asaph, Heman etc. The Apostles say, "David being a prophet says," "David in Spirit says," "God says in David," "Christ says in David," "The Holy Spirit says by the mouth of David." etc. But the Apostles NEVER say that the Psalms refer to David's experience. David was merely a prophet/mouthpiece/secretary for God.

 

Over and over again the Psalms are applied to CHRIST in the New Testament. Let's take a look at Psalm 6. Heaps of "preachers" would use this Psalm to "prove" that a believer can doubt their salvation. For instance, the words of Psalm 6:1 are " O Jehovah, do not rebuke me in Your anger; nor chasten me in the heat of Your fury." If this was the experience of David, this would definitely prove that David lost assurance of his justification. But this is NOT David's experience. It's Christ on the cross. This Psalm is applied to Christ in Luke 13:27. "And He will say, I tell you I do not know you, from where you are. "Stand back from Me all workers of unrighteousness!" Psa. 6:8" -- Because the whole of Psalm 6 is in one voice, if Christ is speaking in verse 8, he must be speaking in verse 1, too.

 

In fact, ALL those passages in the Psalms which people try to use to prove that believers can doubt their salvation are referring to Christ on the cross. Read Hebrews 5:7. Christ "in the days of His flesh was offering both petitions and entreaties to Him being able to save Him from death, with strong crying and tears, and being heard from His godly fear." Crying? Tears? Petitions? This was Christ being made a curse on the cross for the Elect. He cried, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" because he WAS made a curse. But believers are NEVER forsaken, because He was forsaken in their place on Calvary.

The Psalms are prophetic. We can only know their meaning by the infallible interpretations of the Apostles and Christ. And guess what? They speak only about Christ. Peter says, the prophets were " testifying beforehand of the sufferings belonging to CHRIST," (1 Peter 1:12).

 

Indeed, "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy" (Rev 19:10). The Psalms are not the testimony of David!!

 

I challenge you NOT to be a Jew. Stop reading the Psalms like the Jews.

Maybe you apply more Psalms to Christ than they do. But essentially, you both say the Psalms are David's. Something the Apostles never say.

For centuries Jews have read the Psalms. But almost all of them have died seeing only David in the Psalms. It's sad isn't it? As with all prophecy, the meaning of the passages MUST BE REVEALED. You can't just open a passage of the Psalms and go, "oh that's talking about David." Anymore, than you can open up Isaiah 53 (the chapter about the Suffering Servant) and say, "oh that's talking about the nation Israel". Prophecy -- by the Apostle Peter's definition -- cannot be privately interpreted. "No prophecy is of any private interpretation."

 

We can learn something from Christ's parables in the New Testament. The disciples simply couldn't work out what Christ was on about in his parables. They were flabbergasted. "And His disciples came to Him, saying, Explain to us the parable of the darnel of the field." (Mt 13:36). The Lord had to sit 'em down and explain the EXACT meaning of the parable of darnel of the field. It's the same with prophecy. You've got to sit down with the Apostles and they'll tell you the meaning. Otherwise, you'll be in the dark just like the disciples were before Christ interpreted the prophecy.

 

Sadly, most Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists privately interprete the Psalms. By that, I mean they interprete the Psalms according to their own fancies. This is incredible. Are they wiser than God? I'm not kidding. This is a question all you doubting Calvinists out there should consider. God says over and over again that the Psalms are about Christ. And He also says David was merely "a prophet" and that "the Holy Spirit spoke before THROUGH DAVID'S MOUTH" (Acts 1:15) and that "David himself said BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Mk 12:36). Yet, you doubting Calvinists think your interpretation of the Psalms is better than God's. You apply them to David. Something God never does, and he continually warns us that it was the "Holy spirit speaking by the mouth of David."

 

David was merely God's secretary. As Peter says, "...the patriarch David ... BEING A PROPHET, ... spoke about the resurrection of the Christ." (Acts 2:29-31). And what do prophets write about? Do they write about their own personal experiences? No. Peter says, the prophets were "testifying beforehand of the sufferings belonging to Christ" (1 Pet 1:11).

 

Paul says, -- "eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered the heart of man." Indeed, God revealed the meaning of prophecy only to the Apostles, "But God revealed them TO US by His Spirit" (1 Cor 2:10).

 

Two facts need to be understood:

1) David was a prophet.

and

2) Prophets do not write about their own experiences.

Christians listen to the Apostles! Only they know the meaning of prophecy! They alone can reveal to you the meaning of the Psalms! These Divine Ambassadors say, "We are of God; the one knowing God hears us. Whoever is not of God does not hear us. FROM THIS WE KNOW THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH AND THE SPIRIT OF ERROR."

 

Don't be like the authors of the Westminster Confession, who twisted many of the Psalms. Boy, they tried desperately to find a Biblical example of a believer doubting their salvation.

 

For example, see Chapter 18 Part III of the Confession. Here the "Divines" wrote that, "... infallible assurance does not so belong to the essence of faith, but that a true believer may wait long, and conflict with many difficulties, before he be partaker of it."

 

If you check the footnote on this page of the Confession you'll see that as "proof texts" Psalm 88 and 77 are used. In other words, the Westminster "Divines" thought that in Psalm 88 Heman is doubting his salvation and in Psalm 77 Asaph is doubting his salvation. They thought this proved believers could doubt their salvation.

 

But weren't Heman and Asaph prophets? And do prophets speak of their own experiences? Peter says, the prophets were "testifying beforehand of the sufferings belonging to CHRIST," (1 Peter 1:12). Hmmm....

 

In fact, Psalm 88 contains the lament: "why do You hide Your face from me?". This lament is commonly used by Christ throughout the Psalms. Psalm 69, for example, contains this lament. And the New Testament says that Psalm 69 is about Christ. Paul in Romans 15:3 applies Psalm 69 to Christ. And Christ applies this Psalm to himself in John 2:17, John 15:25, John 19:29 etc etc.

 

So, you should realise that Christ himself claimed the prophecy was speaking about Himself. But you say the Psalms are about David. You are not better than a blaspheming Jew, Whit! Maybe you apply less of the Psalms to David than they do. But, at the end of the day, you are not looking at what the Apostles have to say. You are privately interpreting the Psalms according to your own fancies. But Peter said that, "NO PROPHECY OF SCRIPTURE IS OF ANY PRIVATE INTERPRETATION." Look to the New Testament, and find that the Psalms speak of Christ, and the Church. Not David, who was a prophet.

 

Hey... and remember that there is NOT a single New Testament passage saying the Psalms are about David.

 

OBJECTION: WHAT ABOUT PSALM 51

 

God says that Psalm 51 is about Christ. Read Hebrews 10:5-6.

 

"5 For this reason, coming into the world, He [Jesus Christ] says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. 6 You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins.

 

"Here we see that it is JESUS CHRIST who says: "YOU DO NOT DELIGHT IN BURNT OFFERINGS".

 

These are the words of the God-man Jesus Christ. Will you steal the words of His mouth and give them to David?

 

Because in Psalm 51 these EXACT words are found!! Read verse 16. "For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering."

 

Clearly, it is Christ who says "YOU DO NOT DELIGHT IN BURNT OFFERING". Psalm 51 are the words of Jesus Christ to His Father. It is was Christ "says", according to Hebrews 10:6.

 

Regarding this Psalm, Jeremy wrote me, === "I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. (Psalm 51:1-5) .... Do enlighten me as to how this applies to our Savior who "in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin"===

 

In response: Jeremy, do you really believe the sins of the elect were imputed to Christ on the cross? The New Testament says, "HE WAS MADE A CURSE" and "He who knew no sin WAS MADE SIN FOR US". Yes, Christ was a lamb without blemish. He was perfect. He never sinned. He was never stained within.

 

But when the sins of the elect were imputed, Christ TOOK THE DEBT upon himself. Let me explain. Suppose you owe your parents $50. Kindly, a friend of yours takes the debt from you, so that your friend is now in debt to your parents for $50. Of course, your friend never accumulated the debt himself.

 

In the same way, Christ never sinned. But He did take the debt/sins of the elect to be his own. In other words, He "owned" their sins, so to speak, whilst on the cross. Thus, he can refer to them as "my iniquities" because the sins were in His account.

 

A FINAL CHALLENGE

 

I challenge you NOT to be a Jew. Stop reading the Psalms like the Jews. Maybe you apply more Psalms to Christ than they do. But essentially, you both say the Psalms are David's. Something the Apostles never say.

 

 

Here's some objections from a few doubting Calvinists I had to answer.

Jeremy writes, "I also do not think that all of the Psalms are about Jesus."

 

My response: How do you know this? Where does the New Testament say any of the Psalms are about David's own experience? Let's assume for a moment that some of the Psalms are actually David's experiences. How would we know which ones they are? It's not obvious. Could you ever say you are *certain* about which Psalms are David's experiences? Anyways, you're simply not using the New Testament at all. You might as well be living 2100 years ago, before we had the Apostles. After all, you think they're useless.

 

You won't listen to a thing the Apostles have to say about the Psalms. I mean, aren't you *privately* interpreting the Psalms? Aren't you trying to make yourself into an Apostle? Isn't it the Apostle's job alone, to interprete prophecy?

 

Next up....

 

Travis writes,

"Unless ... the spirit of God possessed someone in a zombie-like fashion to hammer out the psalms with no other factors, that seems like the only way your theory holds up. "

My response: Yes, David was merely a secretary. That's what the Apostle Peter says in Acts 1:15. "the Holy Spirit spoke before THROUGH DAVID'S MOUTH". Also, God spoke "THROUGH THE MOUTH of Your servant David" (Acts 4:25), God was "saying in David" (Heb 4:7), "David IN SPIRIT [calls]" (Mt 22:43), "David himself said BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Mk 13:36).

I wouldn't call David a "zombie". But he was merely a mouth-piece of God.

Christie asks, "What about Psalm 51?"

 

G'day Christie!

I'm going to paste two verses of Scripture. And you're going to notice something interesting...

 

Hebrews 10:5-6, "coming into the world, He [Jesus Christ] says, "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but You prepared a body for Me. You did not delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices concerning sins."

 

Psalm 51:16 "For you do not desire sacrifice, or I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering."

 

That strange!! These verses are almost exactly the same! It this a coincidence?? Why, of course not. The author to the Hebrews is making something very clear -- Psalm 51 is about Christ.

For a quick illustration -- If someone 2000 years ago had asked the author to the Hebrews, "Mr Apostle. Who was the famous person who said, " You did not delight in burnt offerings."??" The author to the Hebrews would have answered, "Jesus Christ.... Those are His Words".

 

And since these words are found in Psalm 51, then Psalm 51 is about Christ. Christ says, "You did not delight in burnt offering". The Psalmist says, "You do not delight in burnt offering." Therefore, Christ is the Psalmist!! By that I mean, Christ was speaking through the mouth of David.

David was merely a secretary. That's what the Apostle Peter says in Acts 1:15. "the Holy Spirit spoke before THROUGH DAVID'S MOUTH". Also, God spoke "THROUGH THE MOUTH of Your servant David" (Acts 4:25), God was "saying in David" (Heb 4:7), "David IN SPIRIT [calls]" (Mt 22:43), "David himself said BY THE HOLY SPIRIT" (Mk 13:36).

 

OBJECTION: Was Christ a sinner?

Now, here's comes the tricky bit. What about Psalm 51:3?? It says, "For I know my transgressions; and my sin is ever before me.

Could Christ say, "I know MY transgressions"?? Maybe He's not talking about sin He himself committed but IMPUTED sin (the sins of His people).

 

Hmmmm ... Do you really believe the sins of the elect were imputed to Christ on the cross? The New Testament says, "HE WAS MADE A CURSE" and "He who knew no sin WAS MADE SIN FOR US". Yes, Christ was a lamb without blemish. He was perfect. He never sinned. He was never stained within.

 

But when the sins of the elect were imputed, Christ TOOK THE DEBT upon himself. Let me explain. Suppose you owe your parents $50. Kindly, a friend of yours takes the debt from you, so that your friend is now in debt to your parents for $50. Of course, your friend never accumulated the debt himself.

 

In the same way, Christ never sinned. But He did take the debt/sins of the elect to be his own. In other words, He "owned" their sins, so to speak, whilst on the cross. Thus, he can refer to them as "my iniquities" because the sins were in His account.

 

Hope that helps!

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