Book Review

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Jan 9, 2024

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Ardelia Butts OBST 660 Dr. Yates 27 November 2022 Belcher Book Review Part 1: Summary and Assessment After reading the text of The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from All the Psalms , it is easy to see that Belcher intends to make a connection between Christ and the psalms in every way possible. His Christological approach shows that Belcher believes that all of the Psalms are written and divinely connected to Christ in some way. His approach draws comparisons between what David pens in the Old Testament to the life and works of Jesus in the New Testament. If Jesus and God are one, according to Belcher, then the words and actions that are attributed to God in Psalms can also be attached to Christ. While this approach is novel, it is not without controversy. However, Belcher fully expresses himself in the text and supports his methods of placing Christ in the grand scheme of history. When Jesus is resurrected, He makes references to His Death and Resurrection being the fulfillment of the Old Testament writings, including those in the Psalms. Belcher comments on page 34, that all of the words and deeds of Christ are obvious when reading the Psalms which he believes paints the picture of who Christ really represents. Belcher uses this book to help the reader to understand the true nature of Christ and how the parallels should be easily drawn. He labels the Psalms are Messianic and then indirectly Messianic which promotes his idea that all of the writings are about Jesus or indirectly related to
Him. For example, Psalms 22 has words penned by David that Christ says from The Cross as He is crucified and that gives some strength to what Belcher is trying to prove (pg. 14). Belcher’s book makes references to similarities that can be found in the Old and New Testaments to show that Christ is being mentioned when David writes. There are many passages though that do not specify or imply that Jesus is being mentioned, so that gives pause to the intellectual reader in some cases. Overall, Belcher’s book is a strong indicator that Christ is being introduced in a matter of foreshadowing in some respects. When Belcher writes about how Christ is exemplified and His words being the same as words penned by David, I can accept his approach. While I do not always agree with his interpretations all of the time, I do understand that he is merely trying to include Jesus in every Psalm. From a historical standpoint, finding ways to introduce Jesus and His thoughts and ways is of significant importance to the believer. However, the liberal “blanket” application leaves a lot to be desired. Belcher sometimes makes a compelling case for the approach he takes because there are some instances that he acknowledges that David could only be talking about Jesus because David’s accounts do not match up with what David was experiencing. However, like in most cases, for every strength, there is a counter weakness there. Belcher uses his text to try and make the reader feel thar Jesus is the center of David’s writing and that the primary focus should be only on him. Belcher’s book is a great resource when searching for knowledge pertaining to Psalms and how they mirror what life is really like for the believer. However, some of the arguments made are weaker because most of what he writes is based on belief and interpretation. The flexibility of interpretation leaves a lot of room for doubt and misunderstanding. Belcher uses some liberal tactics to make all of the Psalms comparable to Jesus in some way and that is clearly just not the truth. Some of the Psalms are written by David to express himself in the tough times of his life,
not a means to introduce Jesus in any way. I find that his attempt to do this makes his Christological approach weak because not all of the Psalms are Messianic in my opinion. When he makes a case for some, I feel like he ruins the case for those that should really be considered. Part 2: Psalms 45 Psalms 45 is written in such a way that the reader can become easily confused when reading it due to the words and the interpretation of what is left unexplained. Psalms 45 presents God/Jesus as the Bridegroom and the Church as the pure bride and the perfect match. While David writes this to explain the relationship between God and His people, the idea that the bride is those who have been redeemed by the Blood is an overarching theme. Psalms 45 speaks of the emergence of the Messiah and His success with redeeming and loving the Church as a whole. In the grand scheme of things, it is clear in some respects that Jesus’ purpose was to be the Savior of the world and redeemer of all humanity. David presents the Church as the bride of Christ who has been redeemed and loved throughout the history of time. While this is a noble idea and fully represented by the current time, drawing the comparisons is dependent on who is asked. Whether or not I would use Psalms 45 to teach that the Church is the bride of Christ is somewhat questionable. Blankesteijn comments that the loose interpretations of Psalms 45 can leave one wondering who the actual King really is (2021 4). When I consider that the King could possibly have been a fleshly person, it gives me some pause when trying to tie this passage to Christ Himself. The usage of certain words also leads me to believe that there is no specific King defined in Psalms 45 which further leads me to refrain from wanting to use this as a reference for
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