Messiah’s Songs: The Psalter’s Apex as Picture and Prophecy
Much of the skepticism over canonical interpretation of the Psalter may itself be rooted in the incongruity between Western Aristotelian category logic in interpreting the Psalms and the ancient Hebrew preference for picture logic in writing them (Langley).
My thesis is that Book V of the Psalter is a euphonic and pictographic rendition of the “Day of the Lord.” Most premillennial interpreters of the Psalms see at least some Messianic pictures in Book V (a battle in 110, enthronement in 132 or final warfare in 144). Furthermore, many scholars concur that a “variegated taxonomy,” (including internal imagery) must be employed to account for the linkage of psalm groups in Book V.
Most notably, Michael Snearly has argued the merits of seeing imagery within Psalm 119. This lexically isolated verbal portrait depicts a re-emergent Davidic ruler doing what this instantiated template (Reynolds) of the exemplary Torah student implies – meditating on and copying Torah (Dt 17:14-20). In essence, Psalm 119 becomes a pictorial hinge depicting Messiah fulfilling His kingly Torah responsibilities before being enthroned (Psalm 132).
I argue that Psalm 114 is likewise a pictorial hinge psalm. This “naked psalm” (Wilson, Waltke & Zaspel) compels many under the persuasion of category logic to view it as a “Hallel psalm” (Mitchell). None-the-less, it should be viewed as an editorially-inserted verbal portrait dividing two uniquely pictorial Hallel triads. This “descriptive praise psalm” (Ross), commemorating Israel’s Red Sea and Jordan River crossings, appears to depict this re-emergent Davidic ruler crossing the Jordan in his march from the battle at Bozrah to enthronement in Zion (Isa 63:1; Obad 21). The editors have embedded an instantiated Messianic (Moses/Joshua) template anticipating a global event (114:7). Like Moses, Messiah breaks out the imprisoned of Bozrah, and like Joshua crossing the Jordan, He brings them into the promised land (Chisholm Jr.).
This would make Messiah’s event and location progression (evident in Psalms 114 and 119) primary in demarcating the diverse psalm groups of Book V. The taxonomy argued for here is that this Messianic event/location variegation, seen throughout Book V, actually drives the narrative, but is still linked lexically, thematically, and authorially.
If this interpretive framework is correct, that of delineating verbal portraits which depict progressive literal events in Messiah’s eschatological future, then Book V is not only pictographic in nature, but can be characterized as Messiah’s Songs – songs that will either be sung by Him or to Him during Messiah’s “Day” (evening judgement and morning blessing; Rydelnik and Vanlaningham).
The criticism of “lazy subjectivism” (Wilson) in interpreting the canonical editors’ intent can be overcome if the resulting “picture map” of Messianic events and locations is moored to the Old Testament prophetic timeline. Anchored to the prophets, assertions about the succession of verbal depictions are falsifiable and, thus, verifiable. Psalms 107-148 lay out a pan-prophetic picture map of Messiah’s future journey, and Psalm 149-150 call us to live and praise Yahweh here and now, in anticipation of His Son’s glorious future.