Jesus Engages the Psalms

The Old Testament Psalms edify and inspire--but also disturb, sometimes deeply. Their amazing compassion and grace often join with breathtaking hate and condemnation in ways that demand a response from followers of Jesus.

This book uniquely faces this challenge with aid from Jesus as interpretive guide to the Psalms, including their theological and moral value. It explains the central ideas of many influential psalms and assesses them in light of the life and teaching of Jesus.

An introductory chapter explains how to approach the Psalms in the wake of Jesus, with attention to their value for biblical theology and spirituality. Part 1 offers five chapters that identify the agreement of some influential psalms with the teachings of Jesus. Part 2 presents five chapters that reevaluate and reframe some noteworthy psalms that run afoul of his teachings; it also highlights how we ourselves share some of the shortcomings of the psalmists in relation to Jesus. A concluding chapter distills the books lessons for appropriating the Psalms today in reflection, teaching, and worship.

The book applies to its selected psalms the question "What would Jesus say?" as equivalent to "How would Jesus respond to this psalm?" One result is unmatched illumination of the Psalms without neglecting the positions of either the psalmists or Jesus. Another result is an identifiable basis in Jesus for setting aside fear of reading the Psalms due to their frequent harshness and condemnation. The needed illumination from Jesus as a guiding interpreter curbs such fear. Jesus thus emerges as a needed guide to the Psalms in a way absent from previous literature and as a real gift to the individuals and communities who invoke his name and his teachings today.