Category: Messianic Psalms

Happy Third Sunday of Advent!

Today I got to sing in our church’s annual Christmas cantata. Over a hundred performers in choir, orchestra, children’s choir, handbell choir, narrators, and even a dancer made it happen. I told people that since I was only one-hundredth of the performance, it’s not bragging for me to say it was spectacular. I truly believe that we who got to participate were even more blessed than those who witnessed it. Each one of us doing our bit came together to make something stunningly beautiful – all following the careful instruction and coordination of the Director. How like what a church should be!

But one of our songs was a setting of Mary’s Magnificat, found in Luke 1:46-55. She prays it after the angel announces that she will become pregnant and she goes to Elizabeth, who also has a miraculous pregnancy. And since I’m thinking about Psalms lately, I noticed that Mary’s Magnificat is a Messianic Psalm.

First, I contend that it’s a Psalm because it’s full of parallelism. The verses are in two line sets, saying similar things in another way. (And of course Mary would express herself in this Hebrew poetry form, certainly what she was used to.)

But look at the Key Concepts I have found in Messianic Psalms. And then let’s look at how most of them show up in Mary’s Magnificat:

Messianic Psalms Key Concepts

God’s Rule

Coming Justice

Certain Victory

Eternal Scope

Now let’s look for them in Mary’s prayer:

My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed, [Eternal Scope]
for the Mighty One has done great things for me – [Certain Victory]
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him [God’s Rule]
from generation to generation. [Eternal Scope]
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. [Coming Justice]
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble. [God’s Rule]
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty. [Coming Justice]
He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful [Certain Victory]
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors. [Eternal Scope]

Okay, other people might assign those concepts differently. But compare with the Messianic Psalms in Psalms – Psalms 2, 45, 72, 110, and 132 – and see if you don’t think Mary’s Magnificat has similar themes.

Over the years, I’d often wondered why Mary starts talking about bringing rulers from their thrones and lifting up the humble – but it fits with the news that she’s been told she will be mother of the Messiah, the Anointed One, the one who brings justice!

And with the Christmas promise of “peace on earth, good will toward men,” doesn’t Advent seem like the time to long for justice, to cry out for peace?

Today we also sang “Joy to the World.” It’s another song about how things will be some day.

He rules the world
with truth and grace.
And makes the nations prove
the glories of his righteousness
and wonders of his love.

And as in Psalms, we sing and rejoice in the assurance that what we long for will actually happen. Some day.

And as I keep saying, Mary’s example and the entire book of Psalms tells us we can also pray this way.

So let me write a short example Messianic psalm (Happy Ending psalm). Please try it yourself and paste yours into the comments.

An Advent Psalm

Joy to the world!
Lord, you came as a tiny baby,
and you’re coming again to make all things right.
Your beginnings were humble
and you are one of us –
even though you came from power
you did not identify with the powerful,
but began your life in a bed of straw,
dependent on your mother for sustenance,
even you who sustain the hungry.
Our joy is because
the injustices of the world are not forever.
You stepped into human history
showing us a way of love.
And yes, you’re toppling the hierarchy
and lifting up the lowly.
You’re filling the hungry with good things
and coming near the desolate.

The story of your first coming
is a story of God showing up where least expected.
(Yes, you were long-expected,
but not in a manger!)
And I’m sure your second coming
will also be full of surprises.
Even so come, Lord Jesus!

I’ve been neglecting this blog since I wrote the weekly posts in my Laments for Lent series. Naturally, I took a break after finishing that series, and then I had a vacation in June to Oregon (see the Columbia Gorge picture above), and a trip to ALA Annual Conference in Philadelphia after that, and then a mini-retreat to Canaan Valley State Park in West Virginia – and I need to get in the swing of writing again.

I recently read another book on praying laments, which I will review before long. But it got me thinking about ways my own book, Praying with the Psalmists (as yet unpublished) is different. Yes, I talk about Laments, but I go through the entire book of Psalms and divide them up into ten types – and I talk about how we can use each type as an example in our prayers.

And the most difficult type, honestly, to explain why we should use it in prayer was Messianic Psalms.

Now, many Psalms have elements that ended up being fulfilled in Jesus – and I do think some of the Laments would have surprised the original psalmists. But the Psalms I named as specifically Messianic were talking about the ruler, the Anointed One, at the time – Psalms 2, 45, 72, 110, and 132. I doubt that the psalmists who originally prayed these Psalms realized they were being prophetic, and I certainly am not suggesting that we must prophesy when we pray. But think about it: We know how the story ends!

So in my book, I call them Happy Ending Psalms. I believe that the arc of the universe does tend toward justice and I believe that Christ will return and make things right.

I found four key concepts that show up in Messianic Psalms: God’s Rule, Coming Justice, Certain Victory, and Eternal Scope.

All that is to say that in posting about Psalms tonight, I’m going to attempt a category I’ve been neglecting – a Messianic psalm or better called a Happy Ending psalm or Justice psalm:

Justice Psalm for Troubled Times

Lord, why do the nations rage,
and the peoples plot in vain?
Why are the rulers of our land
blaming immigrants for every woe?
Why are they abducting people
who came here seeking refuge
and locking up people
who answered the call on the Statue of Liberty
and came here for a better life?

And Father, I don’t know what I can do about it.
I feel helpless when I hear of detention,
horrible conditions, and harsh treatment.

Let the evil not go unnoticed, Lord!
Help us to not look away.
You’ve said that your people
are to care for the stranger in the land.
Watch over the immigrants,
the homeless,
the hurting.
Watch over everyone wrongly imprisoned –
let them know they are seen.

And I don’t know how,
I don’t know when.
But I pray that justice will be done,
that those responsible for these deep wrongs
will be called to account.

Let America once again –
or maybe for the first time –
truly become the land of the free
and the home of the brave,
where we take in the tired, the poor,
and the huddled masses yearning to be free,
where we defend the fatherless and the oppressed
and never turn a deaf ear
to the cry of the poor.

I know that the day will come
when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
But, Lord, hear now the cry of the poor
and the immigrant.

May your justice come swiftly
and your unfailing love shine.

— And I still feel at a loss. But it helps my spirit to pray.

This week, we’re covering Messianic Psalms – Psalms about how the Anointed One will come and make all things right. Since I don’t claim to be able to prophesy, but I do know that God wins in the end, when I write a psalm in this pattern, I like to call it a Happy Ending psalm. It’s a good pattern to use when praying about injustices out in society.

Here’s one I wrote this week:

From Psalm 72:4

May he defend the afflicted among the people
and save the children of the needy;
may he crush the oppressor.

O Lord,
May our governments do this —
defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the needy,
crush the oppressor.

Thank you that, in the end, your kingdom will bring
righteousness and justice for the oppressed.

Help me to learn what my part is
in relieving the oppressed
in defending the afflicted
in helping the needy.

If my part is to supply books
to help them know they’re not alone,
then help me do my part
and not be silenced.

Father, our world is so far from safe
for so many of your children.
May your kingdom come
on earth as it is in heaven.