In this article, we will dig into the book of Psalms and look at powerful Messianic Psalms. These verses focus on the coming Messiah, His sacrifice, royalty, deity, and more. So, grab your Bible, and let’s study God’s Word…
The book of Psalms never ceases to amaze me. It has the ability to minister to us in the here and now while being written in ancient times. It’s extremely prophetic in nature foretelling future events and is used as inspiration for centuries for worship music.
But one of my favorite things about the Psalms is how so many of them speak of Jesus. These are called the Messianic psalms!
And today we are going to explore some of them. We will focus on 7, but near the bottom of this post, you will see a list of all Messianic Psalms and how they relate to prophesy.
Before we dig in I thought it would be good to cover some common questions people ask.
>> Check Out More Topical Bible Verses Here
FAQ about Messianic Psalms
Inside the World of Messianic Psalms (Psalms about Jesus)
If you would like to look beyond the Psalms about Jesus then I encourage you to check out this article about finding Jesus in the Old Testament. It’s a great read!
Psalm 16
I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my glory [my innermost self] rejoices;
My body too will dwell [confidently] in safety,
For You will not abandon me to Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead),
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
You will show me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore. – Psalm 16:8-11 AMP
This Psalm is telling us that the Messiah would not die and be buried like we are. He would not see the corruption of burial and eternal death. He is the giver of eternal life, and when we are in a relationship with Him, we will never die because we have eternal life. In Matthew 28:10, we see that He rose from the dead, and His body did not see corruption.
Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?
Why are You so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? – Psalm 22:1 AMP
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” He was saying, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46) Jesus felt forsaken on the cross right before His death. He echoes our words when we go through trials that seem impossible to overcome. We can call out to God in our times of deep distress knowing that He will answer us. God loves us, and will always come to help us with the impossible situations we face.
For [a pack of] dogs have surrounded me;
A gang of evildoers has encircled me,
They pierced my hands and my feet. – Psalm 22:16 AMP
Jesus had His hands and feet pierced when He was nailed on the cross. In John 20:27, Jesus asked Thomas to put his finger on his hands and side so that he could see the holes that resulted from Him being pierced at the cross. Although Jesus felt the pain of having his hands and feet pierced, it did not destroy Him. He overcame the pain because it had a larger purpose.
We can overcome our suffering with the help of God. Our painful situations can leave us stronger and with a testimony that will bless the lives of others.
Psalm 34
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken. – Psalm 34:20 AMP
One of the things we learn about Jesus’ crucifixion is that His bones were never broken as was the norm for those who were crucified. This Psalm was a prophecy that His bones would remain intact. John 19:36 says that His bones were not broken to fulfill prophecy, which we see in Psalm 34:20.
Sometimes we fear the worst in situations not knowing that nothing bad will happen to us. Just like Jesus’ bones were spared, God will spare us from experiencing things that could destroy our lives.
Psalm 35
Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know. – Psalm 35:11 AMP
Jesus faced many false witnesses who accused Him falsely. They made reference to His words where He said He would tear down the temple and build another one in three days. The words of His accusers were not adding up, they were only looking for a reason to have Him killed.
In life, we will face false accusers but we can trust that God will defend and protect us. We don’t have to live in fear of those who don’t have our best interests at heart. We can forgive them and not hold anything against them.
Psalm 40
Sacrifice and meal offering You do not desire, nor do You delight in them;
You have opened my ears and given me the capacity to hear [and obey Your word];
Burnt offerings and sin offerings You do not require.
Then I said, “Behold, I come [to the throne];
In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
“I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your law is within my heart.”
I have proclaimed good news of righteousness [and the joy that comes from obedience to You] in the great assembly;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips [from proclaiming Your righteousness],
As You know, O Lord.
I have not concealed Your righteousness within my heart;
I have proclaimed Your faithfulness and Your salvation.
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly. – Psalm 40:6-10 AMP
The above Psalm tells us that Jesus came to fulfill what God had said about Him long before He came to earth. We see the fulfillment of this Psalm in Hebrews 10:7 that says Jesus delighted in doing the will of His Father. Like Jesus, we can delight in doing God’s will wherever He calls us. He has a purpose for each of us, and it is His will for us as we walk this earth.
Psalm 41
Even my own close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me [betraying me]. – Psalm 41:9 AMP
Here we see a lament of a friend who betrays his close friend. This is very familiar because we know that Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Luke 22:47 tells us that Judas betrayed Jesus to His captors with a kiss. Jesus faced betrayal like we do from time to time. There are those who will betray us and break our trust. We can rest knowing that God will heal us from betrayal, and teach us to trust again.
Psalm 69
They (self-righteous hypocrites) also gave me gall [poisonous and bitter] for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. – Psalm 69:21 AMP
Imagine being given vinegar and gall when you are thirsty. This is what happened to Jesus when He was on the cross and desired to quench His thirst. We see the fulfillment of this Psalm in Matthew 27:34 where we are told that Jesus was given vinegar mixed with gall to drink.
One thing we can learn from this Psalm is that others may not give us wise counsel when we need it, and we can reject words that are not in line with God’s Word. We are to reject anything that moves us further away from God, and embrace that which leads us closer to Him.
Psalm 118
The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone. – Psalm 118:22
This Psalm talks of Jesus as the cornerstone, and He says it Himself in Matthew 21:42. Jesus is the foundation of our faith, and we would not be able to access God’s blessings without Him. He is the head of the Body of Christ and holds it together now, and for eternity.
Jesus died for our sins and set us free from the dominion of the kingdom of darkness. He has given us eternal life and enables us to live an abundant life as we are on earth. Without Him, we would not be reconciled to God.
A List of Messianic Psalms
Below is a simple list or chart of Messianic psalms that you can glance through.
| Psalm Reference |
| Psalm 2 |
| Psalm 8 |
| Psalm 16 |
| Psalm 18 |
| Psalm 22 |
| Psalm 27 |
| Psalm 31 |
| Psalm 34 |
| Psalm 35 |
| Psalm 38 |
| Psalm 40 |
| Psalm 41 |
| Psalm 45 |
| Psalm 55 |
| Psalm 68 |
| Psalm 69 |
| Psalm78 |
| Psalm 80 |
| Psalm 89 |
| Psalm 102 |
| Psalm 107 |
| Psalm 109 |
| Psalm 110 |
| Psalm 118 |
| Psalm 132 |
Free PDF of Psalms about Christ
I have created a free PDF of all the Messianic psalms. You will be able to read the whole psalm and highlighted in yellow is the prophecy about Jesus. At the end of the psalm is the new testament fulfillment references. Which you can look up if you want to let your studying go deeper!
To grab this and other free Christian printables just sign up for my newsletter below! It’s that simple and plus every month I release a new freebie!
Love the Psalms? Check out these posts!
There are more Messianic Psalms but our focus was on the 9 above. As we learn what they say about Jesus, we can glean a lot of wisdom from them. Jesus is our Lord and Savior and we await His return as our Messiah.
Melissa is a passionate minister, speaker and an ongoing learner of the Bible. She has been involved in church and vocational ministry for over 18 years. And is the founder of Think About Such Things. She has the heart to equip the saints by helping them get into the Word of God and fall more in love with Jesus. She also enjoys family, cooking, and reading.
She has spoken in churches in California, Oregon, Texas, and Mexico and has been featured in Guidepost Magazine and All Recipes Magazine. Read More…
Susan
Monday 15th of November 2021
Thank you so much.