Psalm
Wisdom & Poetry · Old Testament · Book 19 of 66- Author
- David and others — Asaph, the sons of Korah, Solomon, Moses and unnamed writers
- Written
- c. 1410–430 BC, gathered over a thousand years
- Time covered
- From Moses in the wilderness to the return from exile
- Where
- Israel, in the wilderness, the palace, the caves and the temple
- Written to
- God’s people at worship, and alone
- Genre
- Poetry — songs and prayers
- Chapters
- 150
“NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”Psalm 119:105 KJV
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Overview
The Psalms are the songbook and prayer book of God’s people, 150 of them in five collections, each closing with a doxology. They cover the whole range of a life before God: praise, thanks, confession, teaching, and a great deal of complaint.
What makes them unusual is their honesty. Roughly a third are laments, and several end without resolution. They are not the words of people who have it together; they are the words God gave His people to say when they do not.
Background
Seventy-three are ascribed to David, who both wrote and organized music for worship. Others belong to temple musicians like Asaph and the sons of Korah, and the oldest, Psalm 90, is Moses’.
Many carry headings naming the occasion, the tune or the instruments. The Songs of Degrees (120–134) were sung going up to Jerusalem for the feasts.
Key themes
- God is worthy of praise, and praise is taught as well as felt.
- Lament is prayer: God can be told the truth about grief and anger.
- God’s word and law are a delight, not a burden — Psalm 119 at length.
- The LORD is refuge, shepherd, rock, shield and light.
- The king God promised runs through the book, rejected and then enthroned.
Outline
- Book OneChapters 1–41
Mostly David: the two ways, the good shepherd, and the cry of dereliction in Psalm 22.
- Book TwoChapters 42–72
Korah and David: thirst for God, the confession of Psalm 51, and a king’s reign in 72.
- Book ThreeChapters 73–89
Asaph’s hard questions about the prosperity of the wicked, and a covenant that seems to have failed.
- Book FourChapters 90–106
Moses on our brief years, and a run of psalms declaring that the LORD reigns.
- Book FiveChapters 107–150
The songs of ascent, the great 119, and five closing psalms of pure praise.
Key passages
- Psalm 1:1-2 Blessed is the man — his delight is in the law of the LORD.
- Psalm 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
- Psalm 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
- Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
- Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions.
- Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
- Psalm 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart.
Christ in Psalm
The New Testament quotes the Psalms more than any other book. Psalm 22 describes the crucifixion centuries before it — pierced hands and feet, garments parted, lots cast. Psalm 110 is quoted of Christ as priest and king; Psalm 16 as the one whose soul was not left in hell; Psalm 118 as the stone the builders rejected.
Reading it
- Read them slowly and out loud; they were written to be sung, not skimmed.
- When a psalm is angry or desperate, let it be — that is why it is in the book.
- Pair Psalm 22 with the Gospel accounts of the cross.