Reading the Psalms Christianly

Apocalyptic Poetry and Resurrection Prophecies

Brad Jersak

Psalm 17 (18):4–19 (Orthodox Psalter)

For the end [telos], for the child of the Lord, David: what things he spake unto the Lord, even the words of this ode, in the day wherein the Lord delivered him out of the hands of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul; and he said:

⁴ The pangs of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity sorely troubled me. ⁵ The pangs of hades encircled me, round about the snares of death have overtaken me. ⁶ And in mine affliction I called upon the Lord, and unto my God I cried; He heard my voice out of His holy temple, and my cry before Him shall enter into His ears.

⁷  And the earth shook and was made to tremble, and the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were shaken, because God was angry with them.

⁸ There went up smoke in His wrath, and fire from His countenance set all aflame; coals were kindled therefrom. ⁹ And He bowed the heavens and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet. ¹⁰ And He mounted upon cherubim and flew, He flew upon the wings of the winds. ¹¹ And He made darkness his hiding place, His tabernacle round about Him, dark water in the clouds of the air.

¹² From the far-shining radiance that was before Him there passed by clouds, hail and coals of fire. ¹³ And the Lord thundered out of heaven, and the Most High gave forth His voice. ¹⁴ And He sent forth His arrows, and scattered them; and lightnings were multiplied, and troubled them sorely. ¹⁵ And the well-springs of the waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were revealed at Thy rebuke, O Lord, at the on-breathing of the spirit of Thy wrath.

¹⁶ He sent from on high, and He took me; He received me out of many waters. ¹⁷ He will deliver me from mine enemies which are mighty and from them that hate me, for they are stronger than I. ¹⁸ They overtook me in the day of mine affliction, and the Lord became my firm support. ¹⁹ And He led me forth into a spacious place; He will deliver me, because He desired me.

How does one read the Psalms “Christianly”? Which is to say, how do the Psalms anticipate and inform their telos or fulfillment in Christ, and how do Christians read the Psalms as a Christian book of prayer.

Using Psalm 17 (LXX) from the Orthodox Psalter, two brief points are well worth noting. First, David models how Jewish apocalyptic imagery is descriptive of events rooted in this world. And second, we see how his near-death experiences transpose into resurrection prophecies.