What do you know about the Psalms? They are poems, maybe prayers or songs. There are 150 of them in our Bibles. Many of them were written by King David. We hear them read at weddings, funerals, and Sunday worship services. We could go on and on. But what are the Psalms about?
With sixteen chapters, we can easily say that Mark is about Jesus, especially because 1:1 says as much (“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”) With fifty chapters, we can say Genesis is the beginning: both the beginning of creation, the beginning of God’s special work to rescue fallen humanity, and even the beginning of the Hebrew Scriptures. With over 150 chapters, can we say that the book of Psalms has one thing that it’s about? Last Spring, I began to read Thomas Aquinas’s Commentary on the Psalms, and although I have much more to read, Thomas seems to think there is a unifying theme of the Psalms: all the works of God.
Thomas was a medieval theologian, and he is best known for his magnum opus the Summa Theologiae. The Summa is an expansive work intended to “treat of whatever belongs to the Christian religion.” Because of the Summa’s role in shaping modern Christian’s understanding of Thomas, many might be suprised to know that he wasn’t a “systematic theologian” vocationally, but instead he was employed as a “doctor of Scripture.” In other words, his primary job was to provide commentary on Scripture to university students. It was in this capacity that Thomas wrote his commentary on the Psalms, which does not sadly cover all 150 Psalms.
I benefited from reading Thomas’s prologue to his Commentary on the Psalms. (Although we have a habit of ignoring and skipping introductions in contemporary books, in all his works, Thomas’s introductions provide important information to understand his work.) In this introduction, he provides a compelling picture of the content and purpose of the Psalms as biblical canon.
The General Content of the Psalms
The Psalms contain mention of all the works of God. Thomas divides God’s works into four parts: creation, governance, restoration, and glorification. Of these four, most readers of the Psalms undersatnd creation and glorification, but it may be unclear what Thomas means by governance and restoration. By governance, he means that the Psalms communicate Old Testament history. He cites Psalm 78:2-3 (77:2-3 in his Bible) to that effect: “I will open my mouth in a parable; / I will utter dark sayings from of old, / things that we have heard and known, / that our fathers have told us.”
By restoration, Thomas refers to the Psalms that speak of Christ. This may be taken as a strange claim to the average reader of the Psalms. Defending contemporary worship music against the claim that it doesn’t use the name of Jesus, I once heard a pastor respond that the Psalms don’t either, and many contemporary worship songs are inspired by the Psalms. For my part, it’s 2025, and I’m happy to embrace the end of the worship wars. That being said, it’s common to think that the Psalms have little to do with Jesus. I will return to this point in the next section. With those four parts clarified, we understand that the Psalms have as their subject matter the works of God.
The Psalms provide beautiful, poetic words about our God that are often emotionally rich and varied. It is no wonder that so many godly men and women love the Psalms. It is also no wonder that copies of the New Testament intended to witness to the lost and begin on the path of folloing Jesus also often include the Psalms (usually along with the Proverbs).
In the Psalms, God’s work as Creator is explained and praised, perhaps most acutely in Psalm 8.
In the Psalms, the most important events of the Old Testament are repeated and explored, perhaps most comprehensively in Psalm 105 or 106.
In the Psalms, the restoration of God and man is revealed as Christ and his work are spoken of and praised. Our church preached through a series of Psalms that specifically looked at Christ foreshadowed in the Psalms. See this link: https://www.fbalcoa.org/sermons/series/the-messiah-in-the-psalms.
In the Psalms, God is glorified. This is why churches historically sang the Psalms in their services. This is a biblically-warranted practice, and although I don’t believe in exclusive Psalmody (only singing the Psalms), I would rather attend a church with exclusive Psalmody rather than a church that excludes the Psalms in its singing.
The Christological Content of the Psalms
Because the Psalms are inspired by God to provide words about his works, they provide an important role in revealing the one, true God to us. We might look at creation and think, “Surely this world must have been thought up and created by someone,” but the Psalms confirm this and explain it through the act of prayer and praise. Of all the works of God, Thomas thinks the Psalms play a particularly important role in revealing Christ to us.
Thomas writes about the Psalms, “For all the things that pertain to faith in the Incarnation are related so plainly in this work that it seems to be a Gospel rather than a prophecy.” Wow! This quote helps us understand that Thomas thought the Psalms provided a great deal of theological content for the doctrine of the Incarnation.
Whereas few Christians today think of the Psalms as a theological text or as about Jesus, Thomas views the Psalms as speaking clearly the doctrine of Christ. For him, Christ’s person and work are beautifully spoken of in the Psalms.
Is Thomas Right?
When I was a kid, I liked history. I still do. I think studying history and literature has value, but in theology, I want to learn what is true not just what someone else thought was true. On this issue, is Thomas right? Specifically, are the Psalms, at least some of them, about Christ? I suspect that Thomas is right. A plain, cursory reading of the Psalms may not reveal the deeply foundational Christology below, but the New Testament moves upon us to read deeper and with Christ as an interpretive key.
In Matthew 22:41-46, Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 to make a theological point about his own identity. In Acts 2:34-35, Peter does the same thing to show how Jesus was greater than David. This text finds its way into other New Testament passages too.
In Acts 13:34-36, Paul quotes Psalm 2 and 16 in a sermon to speak about Jesus.
Many places in the New Testament quote or allude to the Psalms, but the book of Hebrews provides us with a masterclass in apostolic exegesis of the Psalms. In other words, Thomas agreed with the apostles that the Psalms contained teaching about Christ. The apostles, like Thomas, believed this to the degree that they interpreted who Jesus is and what he did in light of the Psalms.
Just mentioning those few quotes, really only scratches the surface, and more needs to be said. But I hope this brief introduction helps you see how the Psalms speak about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. May his named be glorified through all the earth!
Chandler Warren 