Though the “Book of Praises” was gathered during the OT era and used in the Temple’s worship, its full intent as a canon of praise could not be fully grasped until Christ came. Its intent was to reveal and praise the Savior-King who would fulfill all the promises of God’s covenant with Israel. Jesus Christ must therefore be understood as the Sovereign of the Psalter, but also as the source of and the purpose for the development of the canon of the Psalter.
RPCNA Synodical Study Committee on Worship, “The Psalms in the Worship of the Church.” Submitted to the Synod of the RPCNA, June 2004. (HT: Dan Kok)
That’s a wonderful sentiment. Some time ago I heard a man (well known scholar) preach Psalm 40 who believed that sentiment. But I walked away disappointed with the level of “Christ-centeredness” the sermon communicated from the text. There is no doubt in my mind that we who preach need serious help in how to mine the Psalms for its true gold. I thought Vos’ essay entitled “The Eschatology of the Psalter” was a good beginning. Who has advanced this in a book, tracking down the various leads to Christ in the Psalter?
http://www.wscal.edu/resource-center/finding-christ-in-the-psalms
http://www.wscal.edu/resources/wsc-bookstore/details/learning-to-love-the-psalms
http://www.wscal.edu/resources/wsc-bookstore/details/songs-of-a-suffering-king-the-grand-christ-hymn-of-psalms
http://www.wscal.edu/resource-center/sermons-on-psalms
David, oddly enough, you might find the hymnsinger, Andrew Bonar’s Christ and His Church in the Book of Psalms (1859, rpt. 2001) a place to start.
thank-you for these pointers to more green pastures and still waters!