The Anointed Son, the Suffering Savior, and
the King of Glory
The book of Psalms gives us words to bring before God in every season of life. There are songs of joy and thanksgiving, laments and cries for help, confessions of sin, and prayers offered when God seems far away. Written by David and other authors across generations of Israel’s history, these 150 Spirit-breathed and inspired songs teach God’s people to pray and worship together. They also carry the Story forward that we have been following: the God who creates, makes promises, delivers His people, and remains faithful even when they are not. In the Psalms, we hear God’s people responding to who He is and what He has done. Their words to God are also His Word to us, teaching us to know Him, trust Him, and bring our hearts before Him in worship.
Because the Psalms are poetry, we need to pay attention to how they communicate. Their writers use figurative language, pictures, comparisons, and lines that repeat or develop a thought to help us understand and feel what they are saying. When David calls God his rock or his shepherd, that imagery helps us see something of God’s strength and care. When a psalmist asks how long suffering will continue, we hear the prayer of someone learning to trust God in the middle of it. The Psalms give us room to grieve, confess, rejoice, and wait. They also shape those responses through the truth of who God is. Even their prayers for judgment teach us to entrust justice to Him rather than take revenge ourselves.
The Psalter — another name for the book of Psalms — is divided into five books: Book I (Psalms 1-41), Book II (42-72), Book III (73-89), Book IV (90-106), and Book V (107-150). We will read selections from each, beginning with Book I.
Book I Overview
Psalms 1 and 2 introduce the whole collection by placing before us the way of the righteous and the reign of God’s anointed King. Together, they call us to delight in God’s Word and take refuge in His Son. Most of the remaining psalms in Book I are attributed to David. Through his prayers and songs, we hear the struggles of God’s appointed king and the faith of a man who needs God’s help. Enemies threaten him, sorrows weigh on him, and his own sin requires forgiveness. Again and again, he turns to the LORD as his refuge.
Here the scarlet thread leads us to JESUS, the greater Son of David. JESUS Himself taught that the Psalms spoke of Him and must be fulfilled (Luke 24:44). He is the truly righteous One whose obedience never failed and the Anointed Son whose Kingdom cannot be overthrown. Our selected readings bring these connections into view: Psalm 2 anticipates His kingship, Psalm 16 points to His resurrection (Acts 2:25-32), and Psalm 22 gives words to the suffering He endured on the cross (Matthew 27:46). Psalm 23’s picture of the LORD caring for His sheep helps us understand JESUS as the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). Psalm 24 celebrates the King of Glory, directing our worship toward the LORD whose greatness no earthly king can match.
As we read Book I, we will encounter both our need and God’s faithfulness: the foolishness of sin, the blessing of forgiveness, the pain of waiting, and the security of belonging to Him. These psalms invite us to trust the Savior who suffered for His people and rose victorious. Ask the Spirit to help you see JESUS in these songs and prayers — and, through His Word, to grow in the knowledge of Him.
The One we are seeking is the Anointed Son, the Suffering Savior, and the King of Glory.
Let’s dive in together and see JESUS in Job!
- October 9 — Psalm 1
JESUS perfectly embodies the blessed man who delights in God’s Word and flourishes like a watered tree, wholly unlike the wicked. - October 10 — Psalm 2
The nations rebel in vain against the LORD and His Anointed Son, JESUS, whose Kingdom reaches the ends of the earth and offers refuge. - October 11 — Psalm 3
Surrounded by enemies, David trusts the LORD as his shield and deliverer, confident that salvation belongs to God and asking His blessing. - October 12 — Psalm 8
David praises the majesty of God, who crowns humanity with honor and dominion — fulfilled perfectly in the Son of Man who rules over all. - October 13 — Psalm 13
David moves from cries of “How long?” to confident praise, trusting God’s steadfast love and faithfulness while deliverance still seems distant. - October 14 — Psalm 14
David laments humanity’s corruption and the oppression of God’s people yet hopes for salvation, fulfilled in JESUS, who restores His people. - October 15 — Psalm 16
David delights in the LORD as his portion and refuge, looking beyond death to the resurrection of JESUS and everlasting joy in God’s presence. - October 16 — Psalm 19
Creation declares God’s glory, His perfect Word revives and guides, and David asks the LORD, his Rock and Redeemer, to cleanse and guard from sin. - October 17 — Psalm 22
David’s cry of suffering points to Jesus’s crucifixion, while his answered prayer anticipates the risen King’s praise among all people. - October 18 — Psalm 23
David trusts the LORD as his Shepherd, pointing to JESUS, the Good Shepherd whose presence leads His people safely home forever. - October 19 — Psalm 24
The earth belongs to the LORD, and only one with cleans hands may ascend His holy hill — fulfilled by JESUS, the victorious King of Glory. - October 20 — Psalm 27
David seeks the LORD as his light and salvation, desiring His presence above all and waiting to see His goodness despite surrounding enemies. - October 21 — Psalm 31
In deep distress, David entrusts his life and times to the LORD — words JESUS fulfills as He commits His spirit to the Father on the cross. - October 22 — Psalm 32
David celebrates the blessing of forgiven sin, showing that honest confession brings release from guilt and pointing to justification by faith in Christ. - October 23 — Psalm 34
David invites the afflicted to taste the LORD’s goodness and seek refuge in Him, while the righteous sufferer’s unbroken bones point forward to JESUS. - October 24 — Psalm 351
Falsely accused and hated without cause, David asks the LORD to vindicate Him, foreshadowing JESUS, the righteous Sufferer opposed to the world. - October 25 — Psalm 36
David contrasts the godless way of the wicked with the LORD’s immeasurable steadfast love, under whose wings His people find refuge and life. - October 26 — Psalm 37
David calls the righteous to trust, delight in, and wait for the LORD rather than envy evildoers; JESUS promises the meek will inherit the earth. - October 27 — Psalm 40
David praises God for lifting him from the pit, while his obedience points to JESUS, who came to do God’s will as the perfect sacrifice. - October 28 — Psalm 41
Sick, sinful, and betrayed by a close friend, David seeks God’s mercy and restoration, foreshadowing the betrayal Jesus would endure.
Continue in the See JESUS in the Old Testament readings with Part 1 of Proverbs (Wisdom’s Invitation)!
1 Imprecatory psalms ask God to judge evil and defend His people. They do not authorize personal vengeance but place justice in God’s hands (Deuteronomy 32:35, Romans 12:19). Christians may pray for evil to end, for enemies to repent, and for Christ’s righteous Kingdom to come, remembering that we escape judgment only through His mercy.
