The better we understand the old covenant and are able to interpret its types or shadows, the better we will be able to understand the new covenant. The psalms are one of the primary places in the Old Testament where we are able to see and understand the types in their original or immediate context and yet at the same time move beyond this immediate meaning to the greater spiritual reality they foreshadow. A brief overview of God’s action throughout salvation history helps clarify this idea and bring it into perspective. From the beginning, God’s constant desire for mankind has been to unite us to himself as his sons and daughters. After the fall of Adam, God continued to work toward this purpose. He called Abraham to follow him and made Abraham our forefather in faith. God established a people and blessed them with a land of their own and a covenant, after delivering them by the leadership of Moses. God made them a priestly people who offered sacrifice to him, lived under the kingship of David, and awaited the day of the Lord and the coming of the Messiah. The psalms were written within the context of this salvation history and are full of references to all that identified Israel as a distinct people with a culture and heritage of their own—land, army, king, enemies, Temple worship, sacrifice, covenant, priesthood. These elements not only have meaning in themselves, but are also types of what was to come in the revelation brought by Jesus Christ. They foreshadowed greater truths. They are elements that make up the psalms and also elements that point beyond themselves. With the incarnation of Jesus, his coming to us as the Word-madeflesh, we see the fulfillment of all that was foreshadowed in the Israel of old. Jesus is the new Adam. He is also the new Moses, the great high priest, and the anointed king or Messiah. Instead of having territorial land as in the era of the psalms, we, the new people of God, know our heritage as sons and daughters of God, and we know God’s reign over the earth. Instead of fighting with physical armies against enemies, as on the battlefield of Israel, we victoriously pray the warrior’s psalm (Psalm 144) as we engage in warfare against Satan and Introduction | page 15
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