SING WITH DAVID
An Overview of Psalms
They were written for singing. They were meant for temple worship. They are melodious lyrics, more than poems.
Compiled over a thousand years – from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra –
they are deeply emotional, heart-rending, dramatic and figurative in speech. From the depth of despair, and excruciating agony, and the torture of disbelief, they take us through the ladder of faith to the Upper Room. The Psalms inspire us to worship the Living God. The apostolic church believed there is special blessing for reading the Psalms. Ever since they were penned, the Psalms remained close to the heart of the believer.
The structure of the Book of Psalms is similar to the Five Books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, or the Book of the Law.
Compiled over a thousand years – from the time of Moses to the time of Ezra –
they are deeply emotional, heart-rending, dramatic and figurative in speech. From the depth of despair, and excruciating agony, and the torture of disbelief, they take us through the ladder of faith to the Upper Room. The Psalms inspire us to worship the Living God. The apostolic church believed there is special blessing for reading the Psalms. Ever since they were penned, the Psalms remained close to the heart of the believer.
The structure of the Book of Psalms is similar to the Five Books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, or the Book of the Law.
BOOK I – Psalms 1-41
BOOK II – Psalms 42-72
BOOK III – Psalms 73-89
BOOK IV – Psalms 90-106
BOOK V – Psalms 107-150
While each of the five books concludes with a praise (doxology), Book V concludes with a psalm of praise (Psalm 150). Books I and II are primarily composed of Davidic Psalms. Book III includes Psalms of Asaph, and the sons of Korah. Books IV and V include anonymous Psalms, along with those of David and others.
Based on their themes, Psalms may be classified as:
Royal Psalms emphasise "God as King"; look for phrases like "the Lord reigns" or imageries of the Creator, the Savior of Israel, and "the coming One".
Zion Psalms focus on Jerusalem, preferring its endearing name, Zion; they rhapsodise over God's chosen site for the Holy Temple, the place for true worship in His name.
Penitential Psalms confess sins and ask God forgiveness, and then praise Him in the joy of renewed fellowship (e.g., Psalm 51).
Wisdom Psalms read like the Book of Proverbs. They juxtapose the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the blessed and the abominable. Its sub-category, Torah Psalms focus on the beauty, truth, and sufficiency of the law of God.
Imprecatory Psalms ask God to curse the wicked, which might shock the New Testament readers, but reinforces God's abhorrence of evil.
Passover Psalms (113-118) are sung at the beginning of the Passover. Psalms 113-115 were sung at the temple during the slaying of the animals; Psalms 116-117, during the meal, and Psalm 118 at the end.
Hallel Psalms are clustered at the end, focusing on the Exodus and praising the Lord for His salvation, literally from Pharaoh and his armies and spiritually from Satan and the dark forces.
Lament Psalms are written in distressing times to pour out one’s sorrow and vexation of spirit which even the righteous pass through, life being a blend of good times and bad times. But God wipes away the tears of His children, as the faithful experience time and again.
Royal Psalms emphasise "God as King"; look for phrases like "the Lord reigns" or imageries of the Creator, the Savior of Israel, and "the coming One".
Zion Psalms focus on Jerusalem, preferring its endearing name, Zion; they rhapsodise over God's chosen site for the Holy Temple, the place for true worship in His name.
Penitential Psalms confess sins and ask God forgiveness, and then praise Him in the joy of renewed fellowship (e.g., Psalm 51).
Wisdom Psalms read like the Book of Proverbs. They juxtapose the righteous and the wicked, the wise and the foolish, the blessed and the abominable. Its sub-category, Torah Psalms focus on the beauty, truth, and sufficiency of the law of God.
Imprecatory Psalms ask God to curse the wicked, which might shock the New Testament readers, but reinforces God's abhorrence of evil.
Passover Psalms (113-118) are sung at the beginning of the Passover. Psalms 113-115 were sung at the temple during the slaying of the animals; Psalms 116-117, during the meal, and Psalm 118 at the end.
Hallel Psalms are clustered at the end, focusing on the Exodus and praising the Lord for His salvation, literally from Pharaoh and his armies and spiritually from Satan and the dark forces.
Lament Psalms are written in distressing times to pour out one’s sorrow and vexation of spirit which even the righteous pass through, life being a blend of good times and bad times. But God wipes away the tears of His children, as the faithful experience time and again.
Another way of gaining an overview of the Book of Psalms is to follow the history of Israel. Based on the history around the Davidic Covenant, the book may be classified afresh as:
INTRODUCTION: The righteous one 1-2
BOOK I: David’s conflict with Saul 3-41
BOOK II: David’s kingship 42-72
BOOK III: The Assyrian crisis 73-89
BOOK IV: The destruction of the temple and the Exile 90-106
BOOK V: The Return and the new era 107-145
CONCLUSION: The climax of praise to God 146-150
BOOK I: David’s conflict with Saul 3-41
BOOK II: David’s kingship 42-72
BOOK III: The Assyrian crisis 73-89
BOOK IV: The destruction of the temple and the Exile 90-106
BOOK V: The Return and the new era 107-145
CONCLUSION: The climax of praise to God 146-150
Theology of Psalms
The Lord rules the universe; He will establish His just rule on the earth through the righteous, who will prosper while the wicked perish. Since the OT did not spell out the final judgment in eternity, its theology worked through events of their world.
Wisdom Literature
Wisdom Literature is a manual for the wholeness of life, out of the brokenness of life. The Hebrew Wisdom Literature, of which the Book of Psalms is a part, was indeed influenced by contemporary Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Canaanite-Phoenician literatures. By around the second century B.C., a three-fold division of the Hebrew Scriptures arose: The Law, The Prophets, and The Writings. The books of Psalms, Proverbs and Job were described by the mnemonic title “The Book of Truth”
Rhythm of Thought
The Rhythm of Thought and the Rhythm of Sound are unique characteristics of the Hebrew Poetry and Wisdom Literature. The key to thought rhyme is in the technique of parallelism (the matching of one thought with another).
Synonymous parallelism exactly balances the thoughts or meanings in two lines by saying the same thing twice in nearly the same way:
The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them (2: 4).
The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head (7: 16)
Climatic parallelism develops a thought begun in the first line by adding to enrich one’s thinking:
Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
or stand in the way of sinners,
or sit in the seat of mockers (1: 1).
This technique highlights something more important to follow:
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates
day and night (2: 2).
A profound example is Psalm 95:
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord (the meaning of worship);
.. the rock of our salvation (the object of worship, v 1).
Let us come before him with thanksgiving (the attitude of worship, v 2).
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker (v 6);
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture (the why of worship, v 7).
Today, if you hear his voice
do not hearken your hearts
as you did at Meribah
(the warning to worshippers and the theme of the Psalm, v 8).
For forty years I was angry with that generation
(the lesson from history for worshippers, v 10).
Occasionally they are expressed in a three-tier structure in which each line repeats the first, except in the last where a new thought is added. Psalm 29:
Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength (v 1).
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness (the theme of the Psalm, v 2).
The voice of the Lord is over the waters ..
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon (3, 4 & 5).
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert …
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks … (7, 8 & 9)
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace (10-11).
Emblematic parallelism uses images to convey the poetic meaning. While one line conveys the main point in a direct fashion, the second line illuminates it by an image:
Who is like the Lord Our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? (113: 5, 6).
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him (103: 13).
The Lord is my shepherd, ..
he makes me lie down, ..
he leads me..
he restores my soul..
he guides me…
even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
your rod and your staff, they comfort me..(23: 1,2,4)
Antithetical parallelism balances the thoughts within a pair of lines by stating truth in the first and the contrast in the second:
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish (1: 6).
They dug a pit in my path –
but they have fallen into it themselves (57: 6).
Rhythm of Sound
To appreciate the Rhythm of Sound, one needs to know the Hebrew language. So we dare not explain but mention some of the technique in the passing. Worth mentioning is the Acrostic Psalm 119, in which each stanza begins with a Hebrew alphabet (aleph, beth, gimel, daleth, corresponding to a, b, c, d …)
The other techniques employed are:
Alliteration, Paronomasia (word play through the repetition of similar-sounding words), Onomatopoeia (sounds suggesting meaning), Ellipsis (omission of a key word in parallel construction), Inclusio (repetition of words/phrases).
John Calvin describes the Psalter as, “An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the grieves, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.”
The joy of reading about Psalms cannot duplicate the joy of reading Psalms.
Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord (the meaning of worship);
.. the rock of our salvation (the object of worship, v 1).
Let us come before him with thanksgiving (the attitude of worship, v 2).
Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker (v 6);
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture (the why of worship, v 7).
Today, if you hear his voice
do not hearken your hearts
as you did at Meribah
(the warning to worshippers and the theme of the Psalm, v 8).
For forty years I was angry with that generation
(the lesson from history for worshippers, v 10).
Occasionally they are expressed in a three-tier structure in which each line repeats the first, except in the last where a new thought is added. Psalm 29:
Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength (v 1).
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to his name;
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness (the theme of the Psalm, v 2).
The voice of the Lord is over the waters ..
The voice of the Lord is powerful;
the voice of the Lord is majestic.
The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars;
the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon (3, 4 & 5).
The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightening.
The voice of the Lord shakes the desert …
The voice of the Lord twists the oaks … (7, 8 & 9)
The Lord sits enthroned over the flood;
the Lord is enthroned as King forever.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace (10-11).
Emblematic parallelism uses images to convey the poetic meaning. While one line conveys the main point in a direct fashion, the second line illuminates it by an image:
Who is like the Lord Our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth? (113: 5, 6).
As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him (103: 13).
The Lord is my shepherd, ..
he makes me lie down, ..
he leads me..
he restores my soul..
he guides me…
even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil,
your rod and your staff, they comfort me..(23: 1,2,4)
Antithetical parallelism balances the thoughts within a pair of lines by stating truth in the first and the contrast in the second:
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish (1: 6).
They dug a pit in my path –
but they have fallen into it themselves (57: 6).
Rhythm of Sound
To appreciate the Rhythm of Sound, one needs to know the Hebrew language. So we dare not explain but mention some of the technique in the passing. Worth mentioning is the Acrostic Psalm 119, in which each stanza begins with a Hebrew alphabet (aleph, beth, gimel, daleth, corresponding to a, b, c, d …)
The other techniques employed are:
Alliteration, Paronomasia (word play through the repetition of similar-sounding words), Onomatopoeia (sounds suggesting meaning), Ellipsis (omission of a key word in parallel construction), Inclusio (repetition of words/phrases).
John Calvin describes the Psalter as, “An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the grieves, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated.”
The joy of reading about Psalms cannot duplicate the joy of reading Psalms.
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