Few books in the Bible are as beloved as the Psalms. Even if we have a long-term relationship with the book, including a familiarity through frequent reading and memorized verses, we can still grow to appreciate ways of interpreting the book as Christians.
During 2023 with our congregation—at Kosmosdale Baptist Church in Louisville—I have been preaching through Book 1 of the Psalter (Psalms 1–41). And over these many months, I have tried to model a way of reading the Psalms that can be described as three levels or senses.
The Historical Level
Engaging this historical level of interpretation means to consider what can be discerned from the psalm about the psalmist and the situation from which the psalm arises. What historical matters are noteworthy?
Is there a superscription indicating authorship, like in Psalm 40, “To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David”? Is there a superscription with any historical notes, like in Psalm 3, “A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son”?
The language in a psalm can describe lamentable circumstances. Is the psalmist going through suffering of some kind? Are there enemies who have arisen against him? Is there internal sin weighing him down? Is he experiencing divine chastisement of some sort? Is there physical sickness or nearness of death?
Maybe something is being celebrated in the psalm. Has the psalmist been delivered? Has Yahweh kept his covenant promises? Have the strategies of antagonists collapsed in a humiliating heap? Has sin been forgiven? Is there an outburst of joy and praise?
When we read a psalm, we should consider what the content suggests about the historical setting of the writer and what the writer was going through.
The Christological Level
The Lord made a covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7 that he would install a son of David on the throne forever. When David reigned and wrote, he did so as a king preparing the way for his greater son—the Christ.
Reading a psalm christologically means asking, “How does this psalm connect us to Jesus?” How would verses in the psalm sound on the lips of Christ? We know that the writer of Hebrews (in Heb. 10:5–7) heard the voice of Christ through Psalm 40:6–8. Or think about the scene of the cross where Jesus spoke the words of Psalm 22:1 (in Matt. 27:46). As we study a psalm, let’s consider the voice of Christ himself speaking the words. Meditate on what interpretive insights this consideration might bring.
You could read a psalm of David and ask, “How does the experience of David here anticipate the Son of David?” Is there earthly suffering that foreshadows Christ? Are there enemies or a betrayer? Are there false accusations and injustice? David experienced those things, and so did David’s greater son.
Are there specific hopes in the psalm that the promised Christ would fulfill? Is there a cry for salvation? Christ will accomplish it. Is there a longing for justice upon the wicked? The Lord Jesus will deliver it. Is there a hope for restoration and resurrection? Jesus will bring it. Is there a longing for the praise of God to rise from the nations and fill the earth? The second advent of Christ will fulfill it.
When reading a psalm, do you notice a pattern of suffering and deliverance? That pattern foreshadows what Jesus himself would undergo. He taught his disciples that the Son of Man would be rejected and suffer, that he would be killed and on the third day rise again. The pattern of humiliation and vindication in the Psalms finds its consummate embodiment in the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus.
The Ecclesiological Level
After considering what a psalm teaches us about the writer’s initial conditions and concerns, and after considering how a psalm connects us to Christ, we should also ask how the psalm addresses the Christian life and the church of Christ.
In union with the Son of David, our lives get nourishment from the Psalms. Is there a lament we can join? Is there jubilation we can echo? Is there comfort and assurance we can receive?
Does the psalm you’re studying give imperatives for the readers to obey? What would a proper response look like?
Is there something about God’s character that should be believed and remembered? Does the writer draw attention to God’s power, love, wrath, mercy, sovereignty, faithfulness, or worth? When reading a psalm, ask what it teaches you about the Lord. How does its content stir encouragement? How do its words resonate with the sorrow of affliction or persecution in a fallen world?
In Sum
Read the Psalms, and read them often. Rejoice in the fact that the Spirit has preserved these 150 songs for our edification and instruction. Reflect on how the words of a psalm clarify the writer’s circumstances, how the words connect to the foretold Messiah, and how the words instruct believers in their discipleship.