150 ancient Hebrew poems, songs and prayers. Many are of King David but there are many authors. To understand how it was designed (collected?) it is best to start at the end. The last 5 Psalms – of songs of praise to God of Israel. Hallelujah. Seems to be a conclusion to the 5 sections. Now, go to the first two Psalms in Book 1- blessed is the one who meditates on the Torah (teaching), referring to the 5 books of Moses. But, NOW applying to the 5 books of the Psalms. Book 2- blessed (same word as Ps 1) are those who take refuge in the Messianic King. Sets it all up as the prayer book of Gods people as they strive to be faithful to the commands of Torah as they wait to the Messianic kingdom. Psalms 3-41 describe how David modeled this. Book 2 – the hope of a future temple in Zion, a Messianic kingdom. End with Ps 72 and echoes all the prophecies about this kingdom, fulfilling Gods promise to Abraham. Book 3- reminds God that even though Israel is in exile to NOT forget His promise to David. Book 4- how to respond to this crisis of exile with the prayer of Moses after the golden calf incident- Mercy! The rest of the books affirms the future day of God as LORD of all the earth. Book 5- God hears the cries of His people and will send this kingdom. Then it has the Hallel and the Songs of Ascent which further describe this future exodus when God redeems His people. In between these is Ps 119, an alphabet poem describing the value of God’s word (Torah). Now, in the center poem of the 5 Psalm conclusion (148), all creation is summoned to praise the God of Israel because He has raised up a horn for His people. Horn- metaphor, Bulls horn raised in victory, a symbol of the future Messianic king. Looking at the big picture, there are two groups of Psalms- Lament and Praise. The first draw attention to what is wrong in the world and ask God to do something about it. Lament is an appropriate response to the evils in this world. They are mostly in Books 1-3. Praise psalms are prayers of joy and celebration and draw attention to what’s good in the world and what God has done in our lives and thank God for it. These are mostly in Books 4-5. This shift from Lament to Praise tells us about prayer- as we hope fop the Messianic kingdom it will create tension, we are taught not to ignore pain but look forward to the promise of his future kingdom. Torah & Messiah. Lament & Praise. Faith & Hope.
KEY IDEAS
Life on earth can sometimes be difficult, but God and His Word are our great consolation. We can turn to God with any problem we face, including our deepest personal hurts. God is faithful and He is powerful—worthy of our praise, devotion, and thanksgiving. Through it all, one thing is certain: the righteous are blessed by God, but the wicked suffer many ills.
Life on earth can sometimes be difficult, but God and His Word are our great consolation. We can turn to God with any problem we face, including our deepest personal hurts. God is faithful and He is powerful—worthy of our praise, devotion, and thanksgiving. Through it all, one thing is certain: the righteous are blessed by God, but the wicked suffer many ills.
- You can trust in God’s Word. Never doubt it.
- Christians ought to always meditate upon the Word of God.
- True hope lies in God and His Word.
- God is an awesome God—worthy of your personal praise and worship.
- God is so awesome that He merely spoke the words and the universe leapt into existence.
- Each one of us is custom-designed by God within our mother’s womb.
- Our Lord is worthy to be praised. Make it a daily habit.
- Always be ready to testify to others about how great God is.
- God’s people often yearn for Him and His Word.
- Christians who walk closely with God are full of joy.
- Great blessing accompanies the life of the person who seeks to walk righteously with God.
- God invites you to come to Him in prayer and speak to Him about anything that concerns you.
- Don’t get impatient. Wait on God and He’ll come through for you.
- Commit to regularly expressing your thanks to God for what He has done for you.
- God is willing and ready to give you spiritual wisdom when you need it. Just ask Him.
- God is an ever-present help in times of affliction and adversity.
- God is your divine shield. You can find safety in Him.
- Rejoice! God’s angels have been assigned to watch over you.
- Keep your faith in God strong. He’ll always come through for you.
- Maintain a reverent fear of the Lord.
- Want to please God? Obey Him!
- May your tongue always be used for good.
- Want to know why you sometimes do bad things? It’s the sin nature within.
- Forgiveness of sin is available from the Lord.
- Because God loves you, He sometimes allows adversity in your life as a means of discipline—a way of calling you back to His side.
- Life on earth is all too short. It is therefore wise to live in light of eternity.
- The righteous have nothing to fear in death.
- Believers look forward to an eternal existence with God.
This is a collection of one hundred and fifty ancient Hebrew poems, songs, and prayers that come from all different eras in Israel's history. Seventy-three of these psalms are connected to King David, who was well-known as a poet and harp player (1 Samuel 16 and 2 Samuel 23). There were also many other authors involved. Asaph wrote twelve poems, the Korah sons produced eleven, and other worship leaders in the temple contributed as well (Heman and Ethan wrote one each, see 1 Chronicles 15:17-19). Two are connected to King Solomon and one other to Moses. Nearly one-third of the poems (forty-nine, to be exact) are anonymous. Many of these poems were used by the choirs who sang in Israel's temple (1 Chronicles 25 and Nehemiah 11:22-23), but the book of Psalms is not actually a hymnbook. At some point in the period after Israel's exile to Babylon, these ancient songs were gathered together with many other Hebrew poems and intentionally arranged into the book of Psalms. The entire work has , a unique design and message that you won't notice unless you read it beginning to end. To see the book's overall design, it's actually most helpful to start at the end. The book concludes with five poems of praise to the God of Israel (chs.146-150), each beginning and ending with the word "hallelujah." In Hebrew, this word is a command telling a group of people to "Praise Yah," which is an abbreviation of the divine name, "Yahweh."' This neat, five-part conclusion looks very intentional and invites the question of whether other parts of this book have been designed. If you pay close attention to the headings of the poems, you'll notice that in five different places, your Bible translators have the head-ings "Book One," "Book Two," and all the way up to "Book Five." In other words, the whole book of Psalms has been divided into five "books' or sections (chs. 3-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, and 107-145). The reason for these divisions is that each section has a final poem, which concludes with a similar line that looks like an editorial addition, "May the Lord, the God of Israel. be blessed forever. Amen and Amen" (Psalms 41:13. 72:19, 89:52. and 106:48).
CHAPTERS 1-2
So the book has a conclusion as well as an internal organization of five main parts. The natural place to go from here is the book's beginning to look for an introduction. Psalms 1 and 2 clearly stand apart from the rest of Book One just by their authorship. These two poems are anonymous. while the majority of psalms in the first book are linked to King David. They also stick out due to their content. Psalm 1 starts out by celebrating the person who is "blessed" because they meditate on the Torah, prayerfully reading and obeying it. Now, the Hebrew word "torah" simply means "teaching," but it also came to refer to the first five books of the Bible that contain the foundational laws of Judaism. It seems that the word has both of these meanings in Psalm 1. The book of Psalms is being offered as a new Torah that will teach God's people about the lifelong practice of prayer as they strive to obey God's commands in the first Torah.
Psalm 2, on the other hand, is a poetic reflection on God's promise to King David recounted in 2 Samuel 7. God told David that from his line would come a messianic (i.e. "anointed") king, who would establish God's Kingdom over the world, defeating evil and rebellion among the nations. The psalm concludes by saying that all those to take refuge in this Messianic King will be "blessed," the very same word used in the opening of Psalm 1. Together, these two poems tell us that the book of Psalms is designed to be the prayer-book of God's people, who are striving to be faithful to the commands of the Torah and hoping and waiting for the Messianic Kingdom.
CHAPTERS 3-41
With these themes introduced. we can begin to see intentionality in how the smaller books have been designed around the same ideas. For example, Book One has at its center a collection of poems (chs. 15 and 24) that opens and closes with a call to covenant faithfulness. The opening Psalm 15 is followed by three poems (chs. 16-18) that depict David as a model of such faithfulness. calling out to God for deliverance and being rewarded and elevated as king. These three have a symmetrical pair in Psalms 20-23 where the David of the past has become an idealized image of the future Messianic King. who will also call upon God for deliverance and be rewarded with a kingdom over all nations. And right in the center of this collection is Psalm 19. a poem dedicated to praising God for the gift of the Torah. This is a great example within Book One where we see that the twin themes from Psalms 1 and 2 emerge with intentional clarity.
CHAPTERS 42-72
Book Two (chs. 42-72) opens with two poems united in their hope for a future return to the temple in Zion (chs. 42-43), an image closely associated with the hope of the Messianic Kingdom. Book Two closes with a corresponding poem that depicts the future reign of the Messianic King over all nations (ch. 72). This poem echoes many other passages in the Prophets about the Messianic Kingdom (Isaiah 11, 45, 60, and Zechariah 9) and concludes by saying that this king's reign will bring the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham by bringing God's blessing to all nations (Psalm 72:17, see Genesis 12:3 and 22:17-18).
CHAPTERS 73-89
Book Three (chs. 73-89) also concludes with a poem reflecting on God's promise to David (ch. 89), but this time in light of the tragedy of Israel's exile. The poet remembers how God said he would never abandon the line of David, so how does that promise square with the fact of Jerusalem's destruction and the downfall of the line of David? The poem concludes (Psalm 89:49-51) by asking God to remember his covenant with David and to forgive his people.
CHAPTERS 90-106
Book Four (chs. 90-106) is designed to respond to this crisis. In the opening poem, we return to Israel's roots with a prayer of Moses (ch. 90), repeating what he did on Mount Sinai after the golden calf incident by calling upon God to show mercy. The center of Book four is dominated by a group of prayers (chs. 93-99) that announce the Lord God of Israel as the true King of the world and all creation. The trees, mountains, and rivers are summoned to celebrate the future day when God will bring his healing justice and Kingdom over all the world.
CHAPTERS 107-150
Book Five (chs. 107-145) opens with a series of poems (chs. 107-110) that affirm that God hears the cries of his people and will one day send the future king to defeat evil and bring about his Kingdom. It also contains two larger collections called the 'Hallel" (chs. 113-118) and the *Songs of Ascents" (chs. 120-136), both of which conclude with poems about the hope of the Messianic Kingdom (chs. 118 and 132). Right between these collections is chapter 119, the longest poem in the book of Psalms. It is composed according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet and explores the wonder and beauty of the Torah as God's Word to his people. Once again, we see the the themes from Psalms 1 and 2. the Torah and the messianic hope, combined here in Book Five.
This brings us all the way back to the the final. five-poem conclusion to the entire book of Psalms. In the center. Psalm 148 says that all creation is summoned to praise the God of Israel because he has "raised up a horn for his people" (Psalm 148:14). This is a metaphor of a bull's horn raised in victory. The image echoes back to the same metaphor used in Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:10) as well as earlier in Psalm 132:17. In all these poems, the "horn" is a symbol of the Messianic King and his victory over evil—a fitting conclusion to this book.
There's one last thing about the book of Psalms that is easy to miss if you don't read it in order. While there are many different types of poems in these collections, they can all be sorted into two larger categories of either lament or praise. Poems of lament express the pain, confusion, and even anger of the poets about the horrible things hap-pening around them or to them. They draw attention to what's wrong in the world and ask God to do something about it. There are a lot of these lament poems in the book, which shows that this is an appropriate response to the evil and tragedy we see in the world. Lamentation can play an important role in our journey of prayer.
While these lament poems make up much of Books One through Three, you can see that praise poems are occasionally woven in as well. These are poems of joy and celebration that draw attention to what's good in the world. They retell stories of what God has done in the lives of his people, and they thank him for it. In Books Four and Five, praise poems outnumber the laments, culminating in the five-part hallelujah conclusion.
This shift from lament to praise is profound, and it tells us something about the nature of prayer according to this new Torah. Hoping for the Messianic Kingdom as the book teaches us to do will create a lot of tension as we look out on the tragic state of our world or our own lives. The Psalms teach us to neither ignore our pain, nor to let it determine the meaning of our lives. Biblical faith and prayer is always forward looking, anticipating the day when God will fulfill his promises and praising him for this ahead of time. The Torah and Messiah, lament and praise, faith and hope, this is what the book of Psalms is all about.
CHAPTERS 1-2
So the book has a conclusion as well as an internal organization of five main parts. The natural place to go from here is the book's beginning to look for an introduction. Psalms 1 and 2 clearly stand apart from the rest of Book One just by their authorship. These two poems are anonymous. while the majority of psalms in the first book are linked to King David. They also stick out due to their content. Psalm 1 starts out by celebrating the person who is "blessed" because they meditate on the Torah, prayerfully reading and obeying it. Now, the Hebrew word "torah" simply means "teaching," but it also came to refer to the first five books of the Bible that contain the foundational laws of Judaism. It seems that the word has both of these meanings in Psalm 1. The book of Psalms is being offered as a new Torah that will teach God's people about the lifelong practice of prayer as they strive to obey God's commands in the first Torah.
Psalm 2, on the other hand, is a poetic reflection on God's promise to King David recounted in 2 Samuel 7. God told David that from his line would come a messianic (i.e. "anointed") king, who would establish God's Kingdom over the world, defeating evil and rebellion among the nations. The psalm concludes by saying that all those to take refuge in this Messianic King will be "blessed," the very same word used in the opening of Psalm 1. Together, these two poems tell us that the book of Psalms is designed to be the prayer-book of God's people, who are striving to be faithful to the commands of the Torah and hoping and waiting for the Messianic Kingdom.
CHAPTERS 3-41
With these themes introduced. we can begin to see intentionality in how the smaller books have been designed around the same ideas. For example, Book One has at its center a collection of poems (chs. 15 and 24) that opens and closes with a call to covenant faithfulness. The opening Psalm 15 is followed by three poems (chs. 16-18) that depict David as a model of such faithfulness. calling out to God for deliverance and being rewarded and elevated as king. These three have a symmetrical pair in Psalms 20-23 where the David of the past has become an idealized image of the future Messianic King. who will also call upon God for deliverance and be rewarded with a kingdom over all nations. And right in the center of this collection is Psalm 19. a poem dedicated to praising God for the gift of the Torah. This is a great example within Book One where we see that the twin themes from Psalms 1 and 2 emerge with intentional clarity.
CHAPTERS 42-72
Book Two (chs. 42-72) opens with two poems united in their hope for a future return to the temple in Zion (chs. 42-43), an image closely associated with the hope of the Messianic Kingdom. Book Two closes with a corresponding poem that depicts the future reign of the Messianic King over all nations (ch. 72). This poem echoes many other passages in the Prophets about the Messianic Kingdom (Isaiah 11, 45, 60, and Zechariah 9) and concludes by saying that this king's reign will bring the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham by bringing God's blessing to all nations (Psalm 72:17, see Genesis 12:3 and 22:17-18).
CHAPTERS 73-89
Book Three (chs. 73-89) also concludes with a poem reflecting on God's promise to David (ch. 89), but this time in light of the tragedy of Israel's exile. The poet remembers how God said he would never abandon the line of David, so how does that promise square with the fact of Jerusalem's destruction and the downfall of the line of David? The poem concludes (Psalm 89:49-51) by asking God to remember his covenant with David and to forgive his people.
CHAPTERS 90-106
Book Four (chs. 90-106) is designed to respond to this crisis. In the opening poem, we return to Israel's roots with a prayer of Moses (ch. 90), repeating what he did on Mount Sinai after the golden calf incident by calling upon God to show mercy. The center of Book four is dominated by a group of prayers (chs. 93-99) that announce the Lord God of Israel as the true King of the world and all creation. The trees, mountains, and rivers are summoned to celebrate the future day when God will bring his healing justice and Kingdom over all the world.
CHAPTERS 107-150
Book Five (chs. 107-145) opens with a series of poems (chs. 107-110) that affirm that God hears the cries of his people and will one day send the future king to defeat evil and bring about his Kingdom. It also contains two larger collections called the 'Hallel" (chs. 113-118) and the *Songs of Ascents" (chs. 120-136), both of which conclude with poems about the hope of the Messianic Kingdom (chs. 118 and 132). Right between these collections is chapter 119, the longest poem in the book of Psalms. It is composed according to the order of the Hebrew alphabet and explores the wonder and beauty of the Torah as God's Word to his people. Once again, we see the the themes from Psalms 1 and 2. the Torah and the messianic hope, combined here in Book Five.
This brings us all the way back to the the final. five-poem conclusion to the entire book of Psalms. In the center. Psalm 148 says that all creation is summoned to praise the God of Israel because he has "raised up a horn for his people" (Psalm 148:14). This is a metaphor of a bull's horn raised in victory. The image echoes back to the same metaphor used in Hannah's song (1 Samuel 2:10) as well as earlier in Psalm 132:17. In all these poems, the "horn" is a symbol of the Messianic King and his victory over evil—a fitting conclusion to this book.
There's one last thing about the book of Psalms that is easy to miss if you don't read it in order. While there are many different types of poems in these collections, they can all be sorted into two larger categories of either lament or praise. Poems of lament express the pain, confusion, and even anger of the poets about the horrible things hap-pening around them or to them. They draw attention to what's wrong in the world and ask God to do something about it. There are a lot of these lament poems in the book, which shows that this is an appropriate response to the evil and tragedy we see in the world. Lamentation can play an important role in our journey of prayer.
While these lament poems make up much of Books One through Three, you can see that praise poems are occasionally woven in as well. These are poems of joy and celebration that draw attention to what's good in the world. They retell stories of what God has done in the lives of his people, and they thank him for it. In Books Four and Five, praise poems outnumber the laments, culminating in the five-part hallelujah conclusion.
This shift from lament to praise is profound, and it tells us something about the nature of prayer according to this new Torah. Hoping for the Messianic Kingdom as the book teaches us to do will create a lot of tension as we look out on the tragic state of our world or our own lives. The Psalms teach us to neither ignore our pain, nor to let it determine the meaning of our lives. Biblical faith and prayer is always forward looking, anticipating the day when God will fulfill his promises and praising him for this ahead of time. The Torah and Messiah, lament and praise, faith and hope, this is what the book of Psalms is all about.