Psalms of Christ

The book of Psalms is a treasure trove of teaching about Jesus Christ. While the church has traditionally recognized only about fifteen psalms as ""messianic,"" anticipating God's promised Messiah, the issue is how Christians should understand the other 135 psalms of the Hebrew Psalter. Psalms of Christ applies the New Testament conviction that the whole book of Psalms speaks prophetically about Christ to select ""non-messianic"" psalms. Following the New Testament as the guide for how to read the Old in light of the gospel, Psalms of Christ proposes fresh readings of so-called non-messianic psalms by illustrating their christological character, and exploring how they testify to the gospel by evoking Jesus's person, purpose, and passion. ""Dr. Fletcher is a thoughtful, careful scholar whose commitment to the biblical text shines through on every page of Psalms of Christ. Starting from the conviction that 'the New Testament reads the Old Testament from a post-resurrection perspective, ' Dr. Fletcher consistently applies that hermeneutical understanding throughout his treatment of twelve 'non-messianic' psalms that span the five books of the Psalter. This is an excellent book, one that I recommend highly."" --Dr. Paul L. Watson, Professor of Bible, Amridge University ""Standing in the same line as Athanasius and Bonhoeffer, Daniel Fletcher suggests we read the Psalms not only to form, comfort, and express our hearts but, more importantly, to encounter the Christ whose life embodies the life of the Psalter. The story of Jesus recalls and evokes its praises (Ps 148), laments (Ps 88), and even imprecations (Ps 137) because Jesus not only breathed the air of the Psalms and voiced them in his own practices, but those Psalms point to Christ and shape our theological understanding of his person, purpose, and passion. Daniel has recovered the rich Christological story within the Psalms beyond those Psalms that are typically and historically called 'Messianic.'"" --John Hicks, Professor of Theology, Lipscomb University Daniel H. Fletcher is Associate Professor of New Testament in the Turner School of Theology, Amridge University. He earned his PhD in Biblical Interpretation from Westminster Theological Seminary, and is the author of Signs in the Wilderness: Intertextuality and the Testing of Nicodemus (2014).