Psalm 16, Predictions of the Resurrection of Christ

We are going to take a couple of days off from our Survey of the Old Testament.  We are approaching Easter and I would like to just share some scriptures with you for meditation's sake.  Today’s devotions are all from the OT. 

There is one prophesy of Jesus’ resurrection that should have been noticed.  It is the one found in Psalm 16.  We say it should have been noticed because both Peter (Acts 2:25-28) and Paul (Acts 13:35) refer to it.  When you read this today it is possible you did not notice such a clear reference to Messiah’s resurrection.  But upon closer examination, I believe you should have noticed it.  Further, if you were a Rabbi studying this Psalm you should have noticed it. 

Why do I say that?  Because this is a Psalm of David (according to the title).  You might think the normal thought would be that David is speaking of his own death, and that his soul will not be left in Sheol (the abode of the dead); neither would his flesh see corruption.  But if David is speaking of himself, it must also apply to the greatest Son of David, the Messiah. 

But let’s look closer: is David referring to himself in the last half of v10?  You will note that v10b is all Paul quotes of the passage in Acts (Peter quotes 16:8-11).  As I read it, Paul (and Peter as well) does not understand 16:10 to be “parallel” poetry but rather “contrasting” poetry.  Both phrases speak of death (Sheol and corruption); but the first speaks of “my soul” and the latter of “Your Holy One.”  This satisfies my sense of the Psalm.  There are commentators (Jameson-Faucette-Browne for one) who discuss whether the entire Psalm refers to Christ or the Psalm is divided and other views.  To me it is interesting that neither of the Apostles felt a need to discuss these things with their audiences.  What was needed was to point out that the Messiah known as Jesus of Nazareth, through His resurrection, satisfied the precise wording of Psalm 16.

With that, here are a few of the instances in the OT where the Messiah is spoken of in a way that can only be satisfied by His resurrection.

·       Psalm 22:21b: After describing Messiah's death by crucifixion (22:1-17) He prays to be saved from the sword and the lion’s mouth (v18-21b), a prayer of Jesus on the cross, “into Thy hands I commit My spirit” (Ps. 31:5; Luke 23:46).  The very next words in Ps. 22 are, “You have answered Me.  I will declare …”  The Father has an answer to Jesus’ prayer that makes it possible for Him to declare something after having died.  The answer is RESURRECTION.

·       Isaiah 53:10: The resurrection comes between “when you have made His soul an offering for sin” and “He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days.”  An offering for sin always involved the bloody death of what was offered.  The Passover lamb had no more days; our Lamb did.  By RESURRECTION.    

·       Gen. 22:11-12: The story of the “binding of Isaac” is unquestionably a story about God’s fulfillment of the promise to Adam and Eve to resolve the sin issue.  Blood sacrifices immediately became fundamental to true worship, as seen in Cain and Abel.  What was offered was brought alive and then it’s blood shed on behalf of the worshiper.  What God asked Abraham to do was to be no different.  Abraham understood God’s command to be to take the life of his own son, on an altar, with a knife.  God stopped Abraham, having seen his faith, because Isaac was not the perfect sacrificial lamb.  It was all a picture.  Gen. 22:14 makes this clear.  400 years later Moses understood this was about the atonement.  In this case Messiah’s resurrection is “figurative”, as Heb. 11:19 says.  Abraham’s expectations that day were to take his son to the mountain, to take his life, and to return WITH HIS SON from the mountain.

We believe the OT fits perfectly with what happened to our Lord: death, burial and resurrection.  This is not about, as many Jews believe, two Messiahs, one to die and one to reign gloriously.  It is about one Messiah, RESURRECTED.