1. - Following the psalm’s track in the New Testament, we can see the point to which Israel’s songs and prayers in the first communities. Most various psalms appear in the first communities with spontaneity and fluidness. With only a few words in occasions, but the allusion is certain.
2. - In the wise men passage (Mt 2,1 followers) the accomplishment of the psalm 72 is celebrated. May the kings of Tarshish and the islands render him tribute (Ps 72, 10.11). Psalm 91 appears in the temptations (Mt 4,1 foll.; Lk 4,1 foll) diabolically cited. If you are Son of God …. In the Beatitudes, where it is said Fortunate are the gentle, they shall own the earth (Mt 5,5) we can acknowledge the presence of psalm 37: the humble will inherit the land (Ps 37,11); where it is said Fortunate are those who mourn, they shall be comforted (Mt 5,4), we can recall: May those who go from weeping …… come home with joyful shouts (Ps 126, 6); where we can read Fortunate are those with pure heart, for they shall see God (Mt 5,8), psalms appear that talk about the clean heart (Ps 24,4;51,12;73,1); where the advise is not to swear in any way, neither by the earth that is the footstool, nor by Jerusalem because it is the city of the great king (Mt 5,35), alluding psalms enhancing the King and the Lord, which name must not be taken in vain (Ps 99,5; Ps 48, 2-3).
3. - The rebound of wicked and oppressors (Ps 6,9) also reaches to those saying: Lord, Lord!, but do not carry out the will of the Father: Away from me (Mt 7,23), in the parable of the mustard seed (Mt 13,32), the seed becomes a tree and there the birds build there nests (Ps 104,17); when talking in parables (Mt 13,35), psalm 78 is accomplished: I will speak in parables (Ps 78, 2); where Jesus says: I have come that they may have life, life in all its fullness (Jn 10,11), he alludes to psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd; where Jesus multiplies the loaves, the hoped signal is sung: May grain abound through the land (Ps 72,16, 78,29;M5 14,13-21); when the jews accuse him of deify himself, Jesus answers with psalm 82: Is it not written in your law: you are gods? (Jn 10,34); before Lazarus tomb, Jesus prays with the psalm 138: Father, I thank you for you have heard me. (Jn 11,41-42); when God’s judgment is mentioned, psalm 62 is referred to: You reward each one according to his deeds (Mt 16,27; Ps 62,13); when going into Jerusalem, the children acclaim him and Jesus cites Psalm 8: From the mouths of children and infants you have found perfect praise (Mt 21,16, Ps 8,3); in the parable or the homicide viticulturists psalm 118 is cited: The stone which the builders rejected (Mt 21,16; Ps 118,22 foll.); psalms 2 and 110 are used to confess that Jesus is Christ, like Lord, like God´s son (Mt 3,17; 17,5; Mk 12,25-37; 16.19).
4. - In the passion, several facts and situations are experienced to the light of the psalms: Judas treason, the one who shared my table has risen against me (Jn 13,18); Ps 41,10); the abandon of relatives and acquaintances, they stood at distance (Lk 23, 49; Ps 38,12; 69,9;88,9); the prayer in the orchard, my soul is filled with sorrow even to death (Mt 26,38; Ps 42,6); what happens around the cross, reflects for Saint John the psalm 22: jests, thirst, dresses allotment; when dying, Jesus delivers himself in God´s hands: Father, in your hands I commend my spirit (Lk 23,46; Ps 31,6).
5. - In the Acts of the Apostles, Judas end and Mathew election are lived from psalm 109: May his days be numbered, his office be taken by another (Acts 1,20; Ps 109,8); to the light of the resurrection, psalm 16 acquires a new meaning: You will not abandon my soul to the grave (Acts2,25 folls; Ps 16,10); there is the conscience that the God of the Glory (Ps 29,3) directs Israel’s history (Acts 7,2), and that David’s election has prepared Jesus mission: I have found David may servant, and with my holy oil I have anointed him (Ps 89,21;Acts 13,22-23); nations´ judgment and salvation so frequent is the psalms (Ps 9,9; 96,13; 98,9; Ps 67,3; 98,3), also appear in Acts (17,31; 28,28); remember the people you have formed of old (Ps 74,2), is now the Church of the Lord, won at the price of his own blood (Acts 20,28).
6. - In Paul´s letters, justification message is supported by the psalms: the Gospel reveals his justice to the nations (Rom 1,16; Ps 98,2), for the salvation of those who believe, first the Jews and then the Greeks (Rom 1,16; Ps 98,9); God’s wrath denounces men impiety, injustice and idolatry: They exchanged his glory for the likes of a calf (Rom 1,23; Ps 106,20); sin is universal: God is truthful and every human a liar (Rom 3,4;Ps 116,11); it is also said: You are right when you pass sentence (Ps 51,6M in Rom 3,10 folls Ps 5,10; 14,1; 140,4 are cited; and Ps 36,2 in Rom 3,18), no mortal will be worthy before God on the basis or the Law (Rom 3,20; Pw 143,2); nevertheless, win acknowledgement obtains forgiveness (Rom 4,7; Ps 32,1 folls); Christ word extends everywhere: The voice of those preaching resounded all over the earth (Rom 10,18; Ps 19,5); the answer is the praise among the pagans (Rom 15,9; Ps 18,50 and 117,1); as far as the Jews is concerned, God has not rejected the people he elected (Rom 11.1 folls; Ps 94,14), but now Christians are God’s Israel (Ga 6,16;Ps 125,5), they load the cross, like sheep to be slaughtered (Rom 8,36; Ps 44,23).
7. - When Paul says that before God his world’s wisdom is nonsense, he cites Psalm 94: The Lord knows the thoughts of men, that they are a puff of wind (1Co 3,20; Ps 94,11); when he denounces the idolatry of the gentiles sacred banquets, he cites Psalm 106: they mingled with these nations and learned to do as they did (1Co 10,20; Ps 106, 34); the freedom that comes from the Lord, from whom is the earth and its fullness (1Co10,26; Ps 24,1), is limited by the fraternal responsibility (1Co 10,28: alluding to the received spirit of faith, Paul cites Psalm 116:I have kept faith even when I spoke (2Co4,13;Ps 116,10); talking about the sharing of belongings, Psalm 112 appears: He has given generously to the poor (2Co9,9;Ps 112,9); when he talks of the given grace according to Christ gift measurement and of his cosmic dimension, he cites psalm 68: When he ascended to the heights he brought captives and gave his gifts to men (Eph 4,8 folls; Ps 68,19).
8. - In the letter to the Hebrews, the Son dignity is proclaimed with Psalm: You are my son (Heb 1,5; Ps2,7), above the angels (Heb 1,7; Ps104,4); your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever (Heb 1,8; 45,7), your years will never end (Heb 1,12;Ps 102,28); in Jesus psalm 8 is accomplished: Sit here at my right side (Heb 1,13;Ps 110,1); Psalm 8 is accomplished too: You have given him dominion over all things (Heb 2,8;Ps 8,7); what is important is hear God’s voice today (Heb 3,7;Ps 95,7), I will do your will, O God; you did not desire sacrifice and offering (Heb 10,5-9; Ps 40,7-9), to offer to God a sacrifice of praise (Heb 13,15; Ps 50,14.23)
9. - The First Letter of Peter refers to the psalms, when God is invoked like Father (1P1,17;Ps 89,27), when you taste the goodness of the Lord (1P2,3;Ps 34,9), when rules of life are recommended (1P3,10; Ps 34,13 folls), when we are recalled that we are foreigners and strangers (1P2,11;Ps 39,13), when we are invited to place our worries on him (1P5,7; Ps 55,23); in the Second Letter of Peter time comparison made in psalm 90 serves to explain God’s delay (2P3,8; Ps 90,4).
10. - Finally, in the Revelation Christ is presented with psalms like the Firstborn and the ruler of the kings of the earth (Rev 1,5; Ps 89,28), it is announced that he probes the heart and the mind (Rev 2,23;Ps7,10), we hope that nations will come and bow before you (Rev 15,4;Ps86,9), he will graze God’s elected (Rev 7,17;Ps 23,2), enemy’s powers will also drink the wine of God’s anger (Rev 14,10;Ps75,9;Rev 16,4; Ps 78,44;79,3), great and marvellous are your works, O Lord God, justice and truth guide your steps (Rev 15,3;16,5; Ps 145,17), the just men will see his face (Rev 22,4;Ps 17,15;42,3).
* How are the Psalms used in the first communities? How do we use it?