Salvation and Redemption in the Psalms, and in Our Hearts, by Dr. Jeff Mirus 

By Dr. Jeff Mirus, Catholic Culture, Mar 22, 2024

Jeffrey Mirus holds a Ph.D. in intellectual history from Princeton University. A co-founder of Christendom College, he also pioneered Catholic Internet services. He is the founder of Trinity Communications and CatholicCulture.org.

The Book of Psalms is a remarkable collection of sung prayers which probe nearly every aspect of both the evil and the good that we do, and of our dependence on God for deliverance from the evil. But the themes can vary from concern about the trials of this world to concern about our eternal destiny. And while God is always the source of deliverance through His mighty power, the concept of redemption—that is, of God paying a price to free us from captivity to evil or death—is mentioned only sparingly, and with little or no development of what the word implies.

This is hardly surprising. Our natural awareness of sin and guilt suggests that we should have to pay for our own sins. The idea that God will not extract full payment of the debt of sin from us, but instead will take it upon Himself, is never explicit in the Old Testament. …