How Jesus Quoted the Psalms
From the cross to the temple courts, Jesus lived, prayed, and taught from the Psalms. A survey of His use of them.
Jesus was saturated in the Psalms. He quoted them in temptation, in teaching, in debate, and most poignantly from the cross. Understanding His use of the Psalms helps us see them not as a relic but as the living prayer book of the Messiah.
In the wilderness temptation, Jesus answered the devil three times from Scripture, and the third answer came from Psalm 91: "He shall give his angels charge concerning thee." He wielded the Psalms as a weapon against deception.
On the cross, His cry "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" is a direct quotation of Psalm 22:1. By citing the first line, He invoked the whole psalm—a lament that ends in vindication and worldwide praise. Even in His darkest moment, He prayed the Psalms.
After the resurrection, He told His disciples that everything written about Him in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). The Psalms are a book about Christ, and He is the one who teaches us to pray them.
Related Psalms
Psalm 22
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?”
A lament of abandonment that becomes praise, foreshadowing Christ’s suffering.
Read morePsalm 91
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”
God our refuge and fortress; under His wings we find protection and deliverance.
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