The Psalms
John McKEE | jUNE 2024
As we begin a summer sermon series on the Psalms it is good for us to know a little bit more about them. Therefore, in this short article we will consider the who, what, where, when, and why of the Psalms, as well as how we can be using them daily in our own lives, for family devotions, and more broadly in the life of the church as we gather each Lord’s Day.
Who?
Many of the Psalms, although not all of them, have a title, which while not versed is still part of the Psalm and gives us important information for understanding them, such as who the author is. The most frequent author was King David with nearly half of the Psalms being attributed to him. Others were written by significant figures in the history of the Children of Israel such as Moses or David’s son Solomon. Others still were written by the sons of Korah, Asaph, Heman the Ezrahite and Ethan the Ezrahite. These last few names may be more obscure, but they were music directors who served at different times within the royal court of Israel. However, we must also remember that God is the ultimate author of the Bible, for as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness”, therefore the Psalms, like all Scripture, have both a human author and a divine author. This means that the Psalms are both human words to God: words of prayer, praise, petition, lament, and thanksgiving; and God’s word to us which give us instructions for how to live and to point us to Jesus.
What?
The Psalms are a collection of 150 songs, prayers, and poems, organised into five separate books, but telling one cohesive story. These five books were not compiled randomly, and the same themes occur across the different genres than can be found in them. John Calvin said the Psalms are “an anatomy of all parts of the soul; for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.” From the highest heights of joy to the deepest depths of despair and everything in between, the Psalms give us the language to express our emotions to God whether in private words of prayer or public songs of praise. Here are some of the main genres we find in the Psalms, although others may be found:
Hymns praise God for who he is and what he has done, inviting us to worship God for his character and his works in creation and redemption.
Laments cry out to God and give voice to the difficult and perplexing questions that arise as God’s people face life in a fallen world. These psalms often move from plea to praise as the light of God’s faithfulness begins to shine in the psalmist’s darkness.
Thanksgiving psalms typically begins with the psalmist speaking of his intention to thank God, he then gives the reason for this which is usually how God has delivered him out of some great trouble in the past, finally he thanks and praises God. These can be very similar to hymns, but thanksgiving psalms typically have a more personal focus, whereas hymns have a broader focus on the history of redemption.
Imprecatory psalms are a form of curse and differ from laments in that not only do they call on God to vindicate his people, but also to punish the wicked. The language of these psalms can be striking and initially unsettling, but they must be understood within the larger conflict between good and evil, righteousness and wickedness, that marks all of Scripture. Furthermore, we acknowledge that salvation and judgement both belong to God, vengeance is his, not ours (Rom 12:19) and we can be sure that the Judge of all the earth will do what is just (Gen 18:25). Ephesians 4:26 tells us to be angry and not to sin, this might sound paradoxical, even impossible, but here imprecatory psalms help us to express our anger in the language that God has given us and to hand that anger over to him so that we may not sin.
Where and When?
The various human authors of the Psalms wrote in different places and at different times. Psalm 90 is titled “A prayer of Moses, the man of God” and was probably the earliest to be written as the Children of Israel journeyed through the wilderness toward the Promised Land. On the other hand, Psalm 137 focuses upon the Babylonian exile and is one of latest to be composed either during the exile or shortly after it. It was after the return from the Babylonian exile that the Psalms were compiled into their current form to help the people of Israel remember their history and to give them hope for the times ahead. The Psalms therefore cover the period between the release from the two great captivities in the history of the Children of Israel: Egypt and Babylon, telling the story of God’s people during this time while keeping one eye on the past and another looking to the future. This period spanned about 1,000 years with the reign of King David in Jerusalem coming roughly in the middle of it. As David is such an important figure in the Psalms, being familiar with the events of his life found in 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles, can be really helpful for understanding the context of certain psalms.
Why?
Not only did Jesus read, sing, and pray the Psalms but he is also the focus of the Psalms. After the resurrection, Jesus walked on the road to Emmaus with two disciples, “and beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). If we are really to understand the Psalms and use them to their full worth, then we must always remember that they are pointing us to Jesus. Sometimes this is clear, like with Psalm 110 or Psalm 22 which Jesus will quote from during his ministry, or with the famous words of Psalm 23 where it is easy to see the connection between “the LORD is my shepherd” and Jesus calling himself the “good shepherd” (John 10:11). Other times we might have to work a bit harder to see how a certain psalm points us to the life and work of Christ, so we always want to keep one eye on him as we read them. There is also a flow and pattern to the Psalms that matches the life of Jesus. We have considered some of the different genres in the Psalms and most of the laments come towards the first half of the book with more thanksgiving and praise toward the end. There is a movement in the Psalms from suffering to glory and that same movement is to be found in the life and work of Jesus, suffering on the cross then rising again and ascending into glory. This same movement then becomes the Christian’s experience for we suffer in this life knowing that through faith in Jesus there is an eternal glory that lies before us. The Psalms help us to make sense of our lives and experiences in this fallen world by pointing us to the life of Christ who came to redeem us from it.
Finally, Martin Luther called the Psalms, “a little Bible, and the summary of the Old Testament.” This is because the five books of the Psalms walk us through God’s plan of redemption to save a people for himself who should dwell eternally with him. To really understand the Psalms, we need to enter through the double gates of Psalms 1 and 2 which establish key themes that develop throughout. Psalm 1 presents us with two ways to live, the way of the righteous which is blessed, and the way of the wicked which will perish. Psalm 2 then introduces the theme of kingship, indeed there is a double kingship as God sits in the heavens and rules over all creation and he has established his Anointed King to rule upon the earth. Again, there are two ways to live as the nations perish who rage against the LORD and against his Anointed, but blessed are all who put their trust in him. Initially it appears that David will be that messianic king for Psalm 3, which is the first with a title, is attributed to David and shows that the establishment of his kingdom will not be straightforward. Psalm 41 concludes Book 1 (Psalms 1-41) and as it is attributed to David and echoes the blessing of Psalm 1 it certainly appears that David is the king we are looking for. In Book 2 (Psalms 42-71) the kingdom continues to be built up as the nations are called to come and worship the God of Israel. This second book concludes with Psalm 71, a Psalm of Solomon, David’s son, as kingship has passed to him, and Israel is flourishing. However, things take a downward turn in Book 3 (Psalms 73-89) which pictures Israel after Solomon had stopped walking in God’s way and started walking in the way of the wicked. The kingdom was divided, the people turned to idolatry and were ruled by a long line of wicked kings, eventually resulting in the exile to Babylon. The Psalms in this section get increasing more bleak as the people descend into despair. Psalm 88 is the only Psalm without any hint of praise such is the hopeless condition of the people, then in Psalm 89, the closing one in Book 3 it almost looks as if God’s promises have failed, and the Davidic line of kings has been broken.
However, the repeated use of God’s covenant name, the LORD (Yahweh), throughout all five books ought to continually remind us that this is a covenant making and keeping God and his promises never fail. That is why hope is restored in Book 4 (90-106) which begins with Psalm 90, a Psalm of Moses, the man who led Israel out of captivity in Egypt as the people have now returned from their captivity in Babylon. The theme of this book focuses on faith in the kingship of God as Israel rebuilds in the absence of the Davidic King. Book 5 (Psalms 107-150) focuses on obedience and worship of God, while also sparking hope in Psalms 110 and 118 that a messianic king and true son of David will come and rule, of course pointing us to Jesus as the true blessed man of Psalm 1 and the Anointed King and Son of God from Psalm 2. The final few Psalms are filled with an escalating worship of God. In Psalm 146 the praise is from the individual psalmist. Then in Psalm 147 Jerusalem is called to praise the LORD. Next in Psalm 148 the angels, sun, moon, stars, all creatures great and small, kings and princes, young and old are called to praise the LORD. In Psalm 149 all God’s people are called to praise him before the final words of Psalm 150, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.” Jesus Christ is God’s Anointed King, the true and better David, the blessed and righteous man of Psalm 1 and from this one man the Kingdom of God has grown to fill all creation. Through Jesus Christ, God will defeat the wicked, restore creation, and bless all his people by bringing them from present suffering to eternal glory.
How?
The Psalms were primarily used in the public worship of Israel and were a regular part of the religious life of the people. Just hours before being sentenced to the cross, Matthew 26:30 says that Jesus sung a hymn with his disciples. The Bible does not say exactly what they sung but it was probably a psalm between Psalms 113 and 118 as this small collection was always sung to celebrate the Passover festival. Just as Jesus sung the Psalms so too have God’s people been singing them in praise for well over two-thousand years and so when we sing the Psalms today, we are joining our voices in worship with the saints who have gone before us. Many psalms have been set to modern tunes and helpful paraphrases have been produced to make them easier for us to sing. Singing the psalms is a great tool for helping us learn and memorise Scripture. Furthermore, as we sing our way through the Psalms, we will find ourselves singing lament. Many great hymns have been written over the years but very few deal with negative emotions. However, when we sing Psalms of lament, especially when we gather together for worship, we are able to express our sorrows and praise God in our frustrations through the words that he has given to us. We sing and remind ourselves of who God is, the wonderful things he has done, and his faithfulness to his promises that Christians have clung to for centuries before us. These promises can be a source of so much comfort to us and countless Christians have drawn strength from them over the years. We can take those promises and pray them back to God and as we do so the language of the Psalms will begin shape and influence the language of our prayers. The Psalms are a gold mine, we simply need to start digging. So, take them up and begin to read, sing, and pray your way through for here lie some of the richest blessings that God offers to his church.