Fellowcitizens with the Saints in Israel

Many Christians today put little effort into learning the Old Testament Scriptures. They think that they are not for Christians but for a different time and a different people. They may use the the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings for historical background research to learn about where Christianity has came from, and as a contrast against which to teach “what Christianity is not”—e.g. how we are not under the law but under grace; how we are not justified by works but justified by faith. But they think that Christians should not get their personal religion from them, except for those parts that are repeated in the New Testament Scriptures.

This failure to embrace the Old Testament Scriptures is large part of the reason why many Christians have set aside the Psalms. In our study of the subject of singing the Psalms in the worship of God, we must address this neglect and rejection.

Christ Is in the Old Testament Scriptures

Firstly, if we understand the Old Testament Scriptures correctly, we will see our Lord Jesus Christ in them everywhere.

The one true God is the same throughout all ages (Deuteronomy 6:4; 2 Kings 19:19; Matthew 12:29; 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6) because God is unchangeable (Psalm 102:27; Malachi 3:6; James 1:17; Hebrews 1:12). Therefore, we should know that it is wrong to think of the “God of the Old Testament” and the “God of the New Testament” as though they are different gods, different conceptions of God, or different personalities of God. And God is, as always and ever will be, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (a few examples of where this doctrine is taught thorughout the Scriptures: Genesis 1:1-2; 26-27; Exodus 31:3; Numbers 27:18; Job 33:4; Psalm 2; 51:11; 110:1; Isaiah 9:7; 11:1-2; 42:1; 49:6; 53; Joel 2:28-29; John 8:56–58; Hebrews 11:26; 2 Peter 1:21).

Neither the Old nor the New Testament Scriptures are corrupted or contradictory, but they are one inerrant and consistent whole, kept pure in all ages by God’s singular care and providence.¹ Therefore, we too must have the same high regard of the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus himself has, and that the apostles have, and as both Israelite and Gentile Christians in the New Testament church have been taught to do.

The way that Christ and the apostles interpret the Old Testament Scriptures is the correct way to interpret them. As Jesus told the Pharisees: “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). We must see him in these same Holy Scriptures. And when Jesus taught his disciples after his resurrection: “And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures” (Luke 24:44; see also 24:25-27).

Consider also, that when the rabbi Nicodemus came to Jesus one evening for a private conference, he insisted that Nicodemus should have known certain truths about the new birth (John 3-8). “Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?” (3:10). He implied that this quintessential salvation doctrine is revealed in, and therefore knowable from, a proper understanding of the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. As a master-teacher of these Scripures Nicodemus had no excuse; he should have known about the necessity of being born again.

And not only this one doctrine, nor only a few, but very many truths we believe and confess as Christians come from the Old Testament Scriptures (and that includes the Psalms). How can you be a Christian, and not know these things?

There Is Only One People of God

Secondly, the truth is that there is, and there has only ever been, one people of God.

It is wrong to think of the “Old Testament people of God” and the “New Testament people of God” as two separate peoples. All the Lord’s people, whether Jew or Gentile, whether under the Old Covenant or the New Covenant, have been adopted by God into one family of God, all reconciled to him by Christ’s death on the cross. It is vital that we understand this: God did not make Gentile converts to the Messiah into another people, separate from his people in Israel, but he joined them to his one people.

The New Testament Church came to understand this truth very early on, and it is a great shame that many churches of our day reject it. At what we sometimes refer to as the Jerusalem Council, the first great meeting of the leaders of Christian Church, the apostle James referred to the apostle Peter’s report on how the Lord first led him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles, and how Gentiles were now being converted because God was now also taking out of them “a people for his name” (Acts 15:1-14). James then ensured that all the leaders and members of the Christian Church understand two things:

1. Neither the Old Covenant sign of circumcision, nor the keeping of any other part of the Law of Moses, saves us from our sins. As James says: “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we [Christ-believing Jews] shall be saved, even as they [Christ-believing Gentiles]” (v.11; see vv.1-2, 5-11, 23-29; Romans 3:28-30; 4:9-12; Galatians 5:1-6; 6:12-16).
2. If Jews and Gentiles are both saved the same way, through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, then Christ-believing Gentiles come into the one and the same people of God—even into the “tabernacle of David” that is being lifted up by the Son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. As James also says: “And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15.15-17).

And so agreed all the first Church Council.

The apostle Paul is also very clear on this matter in his epistle to the Romans. In Jesus Christ’s one sacrificial death on the cross, he saves both Jews and Gentiles: “Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision² for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers [of Israel]: And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name. And again he saith, Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with his people. And again, Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people. And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse [David’s father], and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust” (Romans 15:8-12).

And in the Book of Revelation, our Lord still speaks of himself as the successor of David—the promised King forever on the throne of David: “I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star” (Revelation 1:16).

Writing to Gentiles in Ephesus who had become Christians, Paul draws special attention to the Gentiles’ equal fellowship with the Jews in God’s covenant of grace, in the mystery that is now revealed: “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel” (Ephesians 3:1-6).

“Fellowheirs” of what? The promised salvation by the Saviour. What “same body” is that? The Church of Christ, comprised of both Jews and Gentiles. What “promise in Christ by the gospel” is that, of which Gentiles are now also “partakers”? God had promised the Jews in so many prophesies of the Old Testament Scriptures that multitudes would come in to join them from the Gentiles—this was the “mystery” that would one day be fulfilled (e.g. Genesis 18:18; Isaiah 2:2; 9:6-7; Daniel 2:44; 7:3-14; John 3:10). Outside of the Jews, the “sons of men” had been in darkness for thousands of years, but God promised that light was going to break forth and shine upon them—even the “Light of the world” himself (John 8:12). And now with the incarnation, sacrificial death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the great commission to go out “into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15) the great promise in these prophesies is now being fulfilled in the revelation of this mystery to the Gentiles. The Gentiles are now coming into the one people of God.

Jesus is the Christ

Thirdly, the Lord Jesus is the Messiah [the Christ]³ who was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.

As Jesus confirmed, he himself was prophesied of “in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms”⁴ (Luke 24:44). The truth is as he said: “The scriptures…testify of me” (John 5:39). Clearly, these “scriptures” that Christ pointed to are the Hebrew Bible—the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings—or what we now call the Old Testament Scriptures.

In our Saviour’s Great Commission to the New Testament Church, he sent his people out to preach the one gospel to both Jews and Gentiles (Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47; Acts 1:8). “And [Jesus] said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:46-47; see also Acts 1:8).

Paul loved this one gospel, and he proclaimed it everywhere he went: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16). An example of the apostle Paul’s preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews from the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings can be found in his sermon in the synagogue of Antioch in Pisidia. Paul preached on the Greater Son of David: “Of this man’s [David’s] seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus…Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent…And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers, God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. Wherefore he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption…Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren [of Israel], that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:14-41).

And in his epistle to the church at Rome, in which he taught the same gospel of the same Saviour to both Jews and Gentiles, he began by introducing himself as “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures)” (Romans 1:1-2). Yes, the gospel of God was prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures.

Paul also lovingly embraces Gentiles who came to the Lord Jesus Christ. He includes them with himself as the “we” whom God has “predestinated…unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself” in the great covenant family of God, and as all obtainers of the very same “inheritance” (Ephesians 1:5, 11). Gentile believers have been brought near, or “made nigh” to God by the “blood of Christ”, and they are now incorporated into the “commonwealth of Israel”, so that they are no longer strangers from the covenants of promise, no longer without hope, and no longer without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12-13).

The New Covenant Is Inaugrated and Fulfilled by Christ

Fourthly, the New Covenant that God promised to Israel is inaugrated and fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ.

God had promised a new covenant to Israel through the prophet Jeremiah: “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

According to the epistle to the Hebrews, this very same New Covenant has been inaugrated by the Lord Jesus Christ. The author⁵ of the epistle first takes his original intended readers (Hebrew Christians, i.e. Israelites who had received their Messiah) through several proofs that Jesus is indeed the promised Anointed High Priest that should come, the Fulfiller of the types⁶ and the prophecies. Then he says, “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (8:1-2). He that should come has come. The Old Testament high priests, the ceremonial sacrifices for sin, the Temple and its furnishings, the prophecies of the “Son” of God (1:5; 4:14; 5:5) to come and the eternal and unchangeable high priest “after the order of Melchisedec” (5:6; 6:20; 7:17)—all pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then, in Hebrews 8:6-12 the author quotes at length the prophecy of the New Covenant in Jeremiah chapter 31 (see above) before affirming, “In that he [God] saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away” (Hebrews 8:13)—because the New Covenant has now come in.

Pay attention to how the Lord Jesus himself foretold what he was about to do, when he introduced the New Testament sacrament of the bread and wine at his last Passover (Seder) meal with his disciples. He was about to inaugrate the new covenant with his people, and he taught them in advance about what would soon take place: “And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament⁷ in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:19-20).

The New Testament in the Messiah’s blood is a “better covenant” (Hebrews 8:6)—better in that it was the true of which the Old Covenant was the prophetic figure; and better in that it can and does take away sins, whereas the blood of animal sacrifices never could (10:1-18). It is a new and “better testament” (7:22) because it has been established by the “surety”, Christ himself, by his shed blood.

The New Covenant is the culminating,⁸ fulfilling covenant that the Old Covenant prophesied, in which the true and only Redeemer of God’s elect⁹ saves his people from their sins (Matthew 1:21). It is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who establishes the New Covenant (New Testament). And it is he alone who, as the “surety” of the New Covenant, takes the penalty of death by the substitution of himself in the place of his people in the covenant—fulfilling the covenant by redeeming his people (Hebrews 9:12-28). As we saw above, Paul preached to the Jews: “Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man [Jesus Christ] is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses” (Acts 13:38-39).

The epistle to the Hebrews makes very clear how our Saviour, our great High Priest, shed the blood of the New Testament before God—his own blood, in the sacrifice of himself: “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament [the new covenant prophesied in Jeremiah 31], that by means of [his] death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:11-15, 26).

Christ Reconciles Jews and Gentiles to God, and to Each Other

Fifthly, the Lord Jesus Christ reconciles both Jews and Gentiles to God, and to each other.

In a great Trinitarian statement with the gospel at its core, the apostle Paul explains: “And that he [Christ] might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: And came and preached peace to you which were afar off [Gentiles], and to them that were nigh [Jews]. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father” (Ephesians 2:16-18). There is only one people of God, in which both Jews and Gentiles have peace with God—through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, unto the Father.

What Christ came to do, he has done. So Paul immediately rephrases this wonderful Trinitatian statement, effectively repeating it for emphasis: “Now therefore ye [Gentile Christians] are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints [of Israel], and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (vv.19-22).

Paul is very clear about this, and he multiple-emphasises this wonderful truth by so many ways of saying the same thing: both Jews and Gentiles are reconciled to God in one body by the death of the Lord Jesus Christ on cross. Both saved Jews and saved Gentiles are one “in Christ Jesus”. Through him we both together have access by one Spirit unto the Father. All are fellowcitizens in this one commonwealth of Israel, this one building being fitly framed together, growing into one temple in the Lord. Fellowcitizens and fellowheirs (as we saw earlier in Ephesians 3:6, Gentile believers are fellowheirs with Jewish believers of God’s gospel promise in Christ). We are all are children equally adopted into the one family of God together by his New Covenant.

There is only one people of God. There is only one Church of God, and it has existed from the beginning of the Creation, and it will continue forever with the Lord when he has made all things new (Revelation 21:1-5; see also 2 Peter 3:13; 2 Corinthians 5:17).

The one people of God is one body of Christ. “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:12-13). All enmity between God and the members of this body, and all enmity between the members of this body, has been removed (Ephesians 2:14-18; see also Galatians 3:28; Colossians 3:11).

The apostle Paul also sets before us the incontrovertible truth that true Jews are regenerate, born again, same as Gentiles are who have become true Christians. “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God” (Romans 2:28-29 see also 9:6-8). This inward “circumcision…of the heart” is not by man but it is a work of God’s grace alone, by the Holy Spirit.

Paul describes the conversion of Gentile Christians in the same way, for this same way of Spirit-applied salvation is symbolised in both circumcision and baptism: “In whom also ye [Christians, including Gentile Christians] are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ [i.e. his being cut off in his sacrificial death for his people]: Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead. And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:11-12).

The Christian Church Does Not Replace Israel

Sixthly, the Christian Church does not replace Israel. Gentile Christians are not children of Israel according to the flesh (Romans 9:3-4; 1 Corinthians 10:18), but they are joined to the true Israel in Christ as fellowcitizens, fellowheirs, one building fitly joined together, one temple, one habitation of God through the Spirit, one body of Christ, one tabernacle of David raised up by the Son of David.

Besides the above ways of describing the one people of God, Paul also illustrates this as Gentile Christians being grafted into the same one “olive tree”, alongside those who are Jews inwardly, who have the circumcision of the heart—who from the First Century onwards believe that “Jesus is the Christ”, their Messiah (Romans 11:17; see Acts 2:36-47, 4:4, 6:1, 7; etc.).

The apostle teaches us that, same as there was before Christ came, there will always be “his people whom he foreknew” in the nation of Israel, even though for a time the number may be a small “remnant according to the election of grace”. The elect of Israel are not “cast away”, but they continue to obtain salvation even today. The descendants of Israel are still the “beloved [of God] for the fathers’ sakes” (the “fathers” being Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and so on), because “the gifts and calling of God is without repentance” (Romans 11:1, 5, 7, 28-29; see also John 1:10-13).

And we look forward to that time when, as Paul prophesies in accordance with the prophets of old: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins” (Romans 11:25-27; quoting Isaiah 59:20; see also Jeremiah 31:31; Isaiah 27:9; Psalm 14:7; Ezekiel 37). This Deliverer, the Lord Jesus, the Messiah himself, is still the one Hope of Israel (Acts 28:20). Even today there is a portion of Israel that is not blind but sees and embraces their Lord Jesus Christ, whom they lovingly call Adonai Yeshuah HaMashiach in the Hebrew tongue.

Paul also teaches us that Gentile Christians have become “children of Abraham” by faith, because in Christ, the Seed of Abraham, the Abrahamic covenant is fulfilled: “Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith [of any nation] are blessed with faithful Abraham” (Galatians 3:8-9; see also Genesis 12:1-3; 15:5-6; Romans 4:9-17).

Yes, the gospel was preached to Abraham. All believers in Jesus Christ are blessed with faithful Abraham, and are counted as children of Abraham—whether they are Jews or Gentiles by birth. “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Galatians 3:11-14).

Later in this same chapter, the apostle writes about a collection of money that some Gentile Christians in Macedonia and Achaia had taken up for the support of their fellow Israelite Christians who were suffering persecution—“a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem”. He says that to do this, “It hath pleased them [Gentile Christians] verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things” (vv.25-27). This too speaks of the loving, spiritual, and practical union of all believers in Christ, whether they are Jew or Gentile.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the Lamb who “wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation”—here, “every” definitely includes both the Jews and the Gentiles (Revelation 5:6-9; see also John 1:29; 3:16). This great multitude (Revelation 7:9-10; 19:6-8), the Lamb-saved people of God, is “the bride, the Lamb’s wife”, named none other than “holy Jerusalem”, and it has the “twelve apostles of the Lamb” named as its foundations, and the “twelve tribes of the children of Israel” named as its gates through which the world comes in: “And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it”—what is this light?—“the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof (v.23)—“and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life” (Revelation 21:9-27).

Will you still say that the Psalms are not for Christians (and especially not for Gentile Christians) to sing to the Lord, because they were not written for us but for a different people? Or will you recognise that we are all fellowcitizens and fellowheirs—for we are grafted in among the true Jews, so that we all partake of the root and fatness of the one olive tree—and we are all brought near to God by the blood of Christ, the one and only Saviour?

There is only one people of God. And the Psalms were written for the one people of God—they were written for Christians too. When we sing the Psalms, we testify that we have joined the true Israel and are one people with them, and their God is our God, in the New Covenant. We have not appropriated the Psalms. Rather, the God of the Psalms has appropriated us.

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Appendix

David Dixon, Truth’s Victory Over Error, the first commentary on the Westminster Confession of Faith. Chapter 7: Of God’s Covenant with Man, Question 2.

Quest. II. “Was the administration of the covenant under the Old Testament, sufficient for the time, and efficacious through the operation of the Spirit, to instruct and build up the elect, in the faith of the promised Messiah; by whom they had a full remission of sins, and eternal salvation?”

Yes; 1 Corinthians 10:1, 3, 4; Hebrews 11:13; John 8:56.

Well then, do not the Socinians err, who maintain, That life eternal, under the Old Testament, was never promised to the believers of that time, neither had they any promise to expect it from God?

Yes.

By what reasons are they confuted?

1st, Because there are promises extant in the Old Testament of life eternal, Isaiah 45:17, where it is said, Israel shall be saved with an everlasting salvation; see Daniel 12:2.

2nd, Because the fathers under the Old Testament, believed and expected life eternal, as Job 19:25, 26; David, Psalm 17:15. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, all of these waited for eternal life, Hebrews 11:9, 10.

3rd, Because some at that time were put into actual possession of it, as Enoch, Hebrews 11:5; so was Elijah taken up into heaven and put into actual possession likewise, 2 Kings 2:11.

4th, Because the Scriptures of the Old Testament pointeth forth the way to eternal life, as Christ witnesseth, John 5:39; and Paul, 2 Timothy 3:15.

5th, Because believers under the Old Testament were most happy, Psalm 144:19.

6th, Because temporal good things were to them pledges of spiritual good things, and life eternal, Heb. 11:8, 9.

David Dixon, A Brief Explication of the First Fifty Psalms (volume 1 of his commentary on the Psalms). From the first three verses of the 23rd Psalm.

Verse 1. The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

He layeth down for a ground his relation to God, and thence confirmeth his assurance to have the fruits thereof. Whence learn, 1. The Lord is content to demit himself to be compared unto any thing which may import his love, and respect and care of his own. As here for our comfort he is pleased to be called a Shepherd. 2. The grounds of our faith in God, making us to have right unto him by covenant, should be solidly laid, and these being firmly laid, then comfortable conclusions may, and should be drawn from thence, as here the Prophet doth. 3. In special, whatsoever sweet relation the believer standeth in with God, he may assure himself of all the fruits, and good, which that relation can import. As here having said, The Lord is my Shepherd, he assureth himself then, he shall not want; to wit, what such a Shepherd seeth necessary for such a sheep.

Ver. 2. He maketh me to lie down ingreen pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters.

Ver. 3. He restoreth my Soul: be leadeth me in the paths of righteosness, for his Name’s sake.

He goeth on numbring the benefits following from the fore-said relation, party showing what experience he bath had, partly assuring himself what further to find. Whence learn, 1. As the Shepherd provideth good and wholesome pasturage for his sheep, and a place of safety and rest, with the commodity of all needful refreshment of calm running waters: So doth the Lord furnish the food of life to the believer with quiet rest, and satisfaction of timous [timely] consolation, by his word and Spirit: He maketh me lie down in green pastures, etc. 2. It is possible through the evil that is in us, we fall in decay of graces, in sicknesses of diverse sorts; yea, and that we wander away from the Shepherd, and society of the flock sometime. In which case we should perish, if our careful Lord did not apply himfelf to our necessities, to relieve us; for it is he that restoreth our soul. It is he that reclaimeth us from our wandrings: it is he that directeth us, and keepeth us from going on still in by-paths. He leadeth me, saith he, in the paths of rigbteousness. 3. It is not for any good we deserve, or have done, or can do, for which he taketh such care of his weak and foolish children. It is for the glory of his free-grace, constant love, and sworn covenant, even for his own Name’s sake.

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1. Here I borrow phrases from the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 1 section 8: “The Old Testament in Hebrew (which was the native language of the people of God of old), and the New Testament in Greek (which at the time of the writing of it was most generally known to the nations), being immediately inspired by God, and by his singular care and providence kept pure in all ages, are therefore authentical; so as in all controversies of religion the Church is finally to appeal unto them. But because these original tongues are not known to all the people of God who have right unto, and interest in the Scriptures, and are commanded, in the fear of God, to read and search them, therefore they are to be translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come, that the Word of God dwelling plentifully in all, they may worship him in an acceptable manner, and, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, may have hope.” ↩︎

2. “The circumcision” was a name for the Jews (see Acts 10:45; 11:2; Romans 3:30; 4:9; Galatians 2:7-9). ↩︎

3. The Hebrew word Messiah and the Greek word Christ both mean “anointed” (Strong’s Concordance, Hebrew Dictionary number 4899; Greek 5547). This word refers to the Old Testament ceremonial practice of ordaining prophets, priests and kings to their office by anointing, or pouring a special oil upon their head (Exodus 30:22-25; 30-31; 1 Samuel 16:11-13; 1 Kings 19:16). The Lord Jesus Christ is the Prophet of prophets (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19; John 1.1-3; Hebrews 1:1-2), Priest of priests (Hebrews 4:14-15; 5:5-10; 8:1-2; 9:24-28; 10:19-22), and King of kings (Psalm 2; Philippians 2:9-11; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:11-16). This holy anointing was a symbol of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Anointed One (1 Samuel 16:13; see also Matthew 3:16-17; John 3:34). ↩︎

4. In Jesus’s reference to the “Psalms” (in Luke 24:44), he likely includes all the Wisdom Writings of the Hebrew Bible (referring to them collectively by their most prominent Book). See footnote 1 on a previous article in this series, The Word of Christ. Nonetheless, Christ meant to emphasise the Book of Psalms as containing prophecies that he has fulfilled. ↩︎

5. The epistle to the Hebrews does not begin with the apostle Paul’s usual manner of introduction in his epistles. Therefore, its authorship is open to question. I am of the opinion that Paul is the author of Hebrews, and I have explained why I think this elsewhere, in footnote 1 of a previous post, Evidence of Things Not Seen.) But it is enough for us here to point out how all Christians agree that this epistle has been “given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16) and has a rightful place in the New Testament canon. ↩︎

6. The Biblical doctrine we call typology identifies persons, events, or institutions in the Old Testament that prefigure and teach us concerning the corresponding reality in the New Testament. Usually types have to do with the Person, offices or work of the Lord Jesus Christ. For example, the Passover lamb in Exodus served as a type or symbol of our Saviour, who would later come as a sacrifice for the atonement of our sins. We get our word type in this connection from Romans 5:14, where the word translated “figure” in the phrase “[Adam] is the figure of him who was to come [i.e. Christ]” translates The New Testament Greek word τύπος, tupos (Strong’s Concordance, Greek Dictionary, number 5179). Other words used to describe the same method of interpretation are “example” (Hebrews 8:5), “shadow” (Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5 again; 10:1), “signifying” (Hebrews 9:8), and “figure” (Hebrews 9:9)—here figure translates the Greek word more often transliterated parable (παραβολή, Greek 3850). And the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the fulfilment of the types and figures of the Old Testament, we therefore refer to as the Antitype. The Old Testament ceremonial laws were “a shadow of things to come; but the body” that cast the shadow “is of Christ” (Colossians 2:17). ↩︎

7. The Koine Greek word διαθήκη, diatheke (Strong’s Concordance, Greek Dictionary, number 1242) has been translated by two English words: covenant and testament, and these words are used interchangeably in our English translation of the New Testament Scriptures. Testament comes from the Latin word testamentum, meaning covenant, and this word has been retained in our English Bibles for reasons of historic continuity. For example, the two great divisions of the Holy Sriptures have been known as the Old Testament and the New Testament for most of the last two thousand years in Western Europe and around the world. These titles could equally have been translated as Old Covenant and New Covenant. ↩︎

8. O. Palmer Robertson calls the New Covenant the “Covenant of Consummation”—see a chapter with that as its title in his book The Christ of the Covenants (Presbyterian & Reformed Publishing Co., 1980). Quoting Robertson: “Because of its unique role in gathering together the various strands of covenantal promise thoughout history, this last of God’s covenants may appropriately be designated as the covenant of comsummation. This covenant supercedes previous covenantal administrations…The heart of this consummative realization consists of a single person. As fulfiller of all the messianic prophecies, he achieves in himself the essence of the covenantal principle: ‘I shall be your God and you shall be my people’” (pp. 272-273). ↩︎

9. Here I borrow a much loved phrase from the Westminster Shorter Catechism. “Q. 21. Who is the Redeemer of God’s elect? A. The only Redeemer of God’s elect is the Lord Jesus Christ, who, being the eternal Son of God, became man, and so was, and continueth to be, God and man in two distinct natures, and one person, for ever. Q. 22. How did Christ, being the Son of God, become man? A. Christ, the Son of God, became man, by taking to himself a true body and a reasonable soul, being conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost, in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and born of her, yet without sin. Q. 23. What offices doth Christ execute as our Redeemer? A. Christ, as our Redeemer, executeth the offices of a prophet, of a priest, and of a king, both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation” (Westminster Shorter Catechism questions 21-23). ↩︎