Notes On The Messiah And The Psalms By Richard P. Belcher Jr.

Introduction This forum post presents the Christological Approach to the Psalms and then describes the five major categories of Psalms relating to Jesus the Messiah: the (1) Royal Psalms, (2) Typological – Prophetic Psalms, (3) Prophetic – Typological Psalms, (4) Prophetic – Messianic Psalms, and (5) Eschatological Psalms. Christological Approach to the Psalms The Christological Approach to the Psalms is presented and described by Richard P. Belcher Jr. in his book The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from all the Psalms. The Christological Approach to the Psalms is based on the hermeneutical principle Jesus taught in Luke 24:26-27, 44-47. Jesus, following his resurrection, was walking with two disciples and explained to them â€Å"These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled† (Luke 24:44). The principle is that all the Old Testament can be viewed as relating to Jesus not just those passages that directly address Jesus as Messiah. Given the Christological Approach to the Psalms, the five categories of the Psalms can be discerned. The information on the five categories of Psalms is summarized from materials presented by Dr. Gary Yates. Royal Psalms A Royal Psalm is about the historical king of that day but these Psalms also point to Jesus the Messiah. As a result, Royal Psalms are indirectly Messianic. According C. Hassell Bullock