An Introduction to

The Book of Psalms is an anthology of 150 prayers, worship songs, and poems sung and spoken in public and private worship.

Title

Our English title, Psalms, is taken from the Greek psalmos, "a song sung to the accompaniment of strings.”

Popularity

The Psalms are certainly the most treasured literature in the history of the world. They have governed the official liturgies of most, if not all, denominations in church history.^¹ They have largely defined the devotional literature of all time; that of monastic orders as well as individuals.

Psalms is one of, if not alone, the most quoted OT books in the NT. It is the largest book in the Bible. It derives from more authors than any other, and had the greatest term of composition – around one thousand years.

Historically, the first book printed in the Americas was The Bay Psalm Book, printed in 1640 in Massachusetts.

Relevance

“This book I am wont to style an anatomy of all parts of the soul; for no one will discover in himself a single feeling whereof the image is not reflected in this mirror. Nay, all griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, anxieties – in short, all those tumultuous agitations wherewith the minds of men are wont to be tossed – the Holy Ghost hath here represented to the life.” … John Calvin

“The Psalter is the favorite book of all the saints … [Each person], whatever his circumstances may be, finds in [the book] psalms and words which are appropriate to the circumstances in which he finds himself and meet his needs as adequately as if they were composed exclusively for his sake, and in such a way that he himself could not improve on them nor find or desire any better psalms or words.” … Martin Luther

“We purchase greeting cards because someone else is better at putting words to our thoughts than we are. …

The Book of Psalms is something like the “Hallmark Cards” section of the Bible. Here we find words that express our deepest and strongest emotions, no matter what the circumstance. Some psalms express joyful praise for God’s acts of deliverance; others express repentance and confession of sin; still others cry out to God because He appears to be oblivious to the writer’s plight. The whole spectrum of human emotions is expressed in the psalms. It is for this reason that men and women have turned to the psalms over the centuries. The psalms express the deepest emotions of the heart.”

Composition

Seventy-five psalms are attributed to David (seventy-three in the superscriptions; plus Acts 4:25 attributes Psalm 2 to him; as Hebrews 4:7 does Psalm 95). Asaph, a priest and worship leader, wrote twelve (50, 73-83). The sons of Korah, a guild of singers and composers of music, authored ten (42, 44-49, 84-85, 87). Solomon, David’s son, penned two (72, 127). Psalms 88, 89, and 90 are attributed to Heman, Ethan, and Moses, respectively. Anonymous authors account for the remaining forty-eight psalms.

Their dates of origin range from c. 1410 B.C., when Moses wrote Psalm 90, to after the return from captivity, around 445-430 B.C. (e.g., Ps. 126).

Book Divisions

The one hundred and fifty psalms were assembled in different stages over centuries, and ultimately into five books:

These divisions are marked by concluding doxologies. The individual psalms were probably first collected into smaller gatherings: Psalms of Ascent (Pss. 120-134), Psalms of David, Hillel Psalms, etc. Then they were gradually brought into this arrangement of five books. This was probably in several stages over several centuries. But this format is at least as old as the Qumran scrolls. Thematic explanations for the five-fold division seem pressed and are not persuasive. It is more likely that the division was governed by gathering in stages of time rather than by common themes.

Genre

In Reflections on the Psalms, C. S. Lewis emphasized the importance of studying the Psalms as poetry, with its unique forms and characteristics. He wrote:

“What must be said … is that the Psalms are poems, and poems intended to be sung: not doctrinal treatises, nor even sermons. … Most emphatically the Psalms must be read as poems; as lyrics, with all the licenses and all the formalities, the hyperboles, the emotional rather than logical connections, which are proper to lyric poetry. They must be read as poems if they are to be understood; no less than French must be read as French or English as English. Otherwise we shall miss what is in them and think we see what is not.”^³

In coming to poetry, we tend to think of common poetic conventions like rhyme and meter. Ancient Hebrews did not. But the artistic toolbox of the Hebrew poet, though differing from ours, was plentiful in its own right. The two most important conventions of Hebrew poetry are imagery and parallelism.

Imagery is the use of figures of speech, usually similes and metaphors, which paint vivid pictures in the readers’ minds. These govern the engagement of the imagination – and often the emotions. I can say, “I desire you greatly, Lord.” But it is more expressive, engaging, and imaginative to say, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God.” (Ps. 42:1).

Parallelism is a literary device of two lines where the second line clarifies, completes, or contrasts the first. This can take several forms:

These two devices complement one another. The rich imagery allows the poet to compress a lot of thought into a few words. And the parallelism sustains the thought.

In fact, the second book (Psalms 42-72) is summarized in 72:20 as “the prayers of David the son of Jesse.”

This book can assist your prayer like no other. Many of the psalms are not only good (and inspired) examples of prayer; they are also extraordinary expressions of actual prayer about actual and relevant human struggles. They can help us express our deepest emotions to the Lord. It was Athanasius, an outstanding church leader in the fourth century, who reportedly declared “that the Psalms have a unique place in the Bible because most of the Scripture speaks to us, while the Psalms speak for us.”^⁴

Dietrich Bonhoeffer exemplified the value of praying the Psalms. One biographer said, “Bonhoeffer loved to pray the Psalms because they offered him the sustaining and liberating power of God’s words in coping with the vicissitudes of everyday living. These prayers seemed so well to express not only the moods of an individual’s relationship with God but also the turns of love and heartbreak, of joy and sorrow, that are themselves the Christian community’s path to God.”

The psalmists can be helpful instructors about prayer. Martin Luther said, “The Christian can learn to pray in the Psalter, for there he can hear how the saints talk with God. The number of moods which are expressed here, joy and suffering, hope and care, make it possible for every Christian to find himself in it, and to pray with the Psalms.”

Reading these prayers and praying through them can enrich our prayer experience.

This book was the hymnal of Israel, as well as the Church of Scotland and several other expressions of Christianity. These psalms are songs of praise to God. As such they are to be distinguished from other genres (narrative, didactic, proverb, etc). This book is to be received, embraced and echoed from the heart, which is the seat of worship. We must study them in just that way.

Ideally, they should be more than studied. They should be sung. That raises an issue. The God-breathed words, or lyrics, survive. But the musical notes do not. And that is good! Why is that good? Because the music, or tune, was not inspired. Therefore, we are not compelled to sing according to another culture’s music tastes. We can, and we should, put these words to music that fits our own musical inclinations.

Types

Psalms of lament are emotionally-charged cries to God for deliverance from trouble and distress. They sometimes experience God as distant, and often muster arguments to motivate Him to act on their behalf. This type of psalm is common to the Psalter, even as adversity is common to life. (e.g., Ps. 3)

These psalms are the grateful cries of those on the sweeter side of deliverance. They could be either individual (e.g., Ps. 30) or communal (e.g., Ps. 65).

Praise psalms usually begin with a call to praise the Lord, followed by a reason. The reason is usually a description of the attribute(s) of God, and sometimes a reminder of His grace in general. (e.g., Ps. 95)

The psalms provide guidelines for godly, daily living. They reveal the path to wisdom, righteousness, and God’s blessing. (Pss. 1, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127, & 128)

These psalms reflect the psalmist’s repentance, brokenness, and contrition for sin. (Pss. 38, 51, & 130)

Torah psalms extol the virtue of God’s Law and exhort the reader to live under its authority. (Pss.1, 19, 119)

These psalms reflect the psalmist’s repentance, brokenness, and contrition for sin. (Pss. 38, 51, & 130)

In these psalms, the first letter of the first word of successive lines, verses, or stanzas begin with the twenty-two consecutive consonants of the Hebrew alphabet. (Pss. 9, 10, 25, 34, 111, 112, 119, & 145)

These fifteen psalms are noted in the superscription by a phrase like “A Song of Ascents.” The community sang them as they ascended the holy hill, Jerusalem, in pilgrimage to the annual feasts of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. (Pss. 120-134)

Messianic psalms anticipate God’s anointed deliverer, and reveal His Sonship (Ps. 22), His sacrifice (Ps. 22), and His sovereignty (Ps. 110).

Royal psalms are those that concern the King of Israel. They often prophetically point to Christ. (e.g., Pss. 2 & 110)

These psalms celebrate the majesty of God’s sovereign reign and future judgment over all His creation. (Pss. 47, 93, 96-99)

Psalm Headings (Superscriptions)

One hundred and sixteen psalms have a heading that provides an editorial explanation identifying its author, historical context, or musical instructions. In the Hebrew Bible these are part of the canonical text, “and are included in the numbering of the verses. The New Testament not only treats these headings as holy writ, but following our Lord’s example it is prepared to build its arguments on one or another of the notes of authorship which form part of them (Mk. 12:35-37; Acts 2:29ff., 34ff.; 13:35-37). We need look no further than this for their authentication.”^⁵

1 Bernhard Anderson reminds us that in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, “especially where the ancient monastic usage is still preserved—the entire Psalter is recited once each week. In the Anglican church the Psalms are repeated once a month.”

2 Sermon, Wisdom Literature: The Psalms, Part I; at www.bible.org.

3 C.S. Lewis, Reflections On the Psalms (N.Y.: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1958) pp. 2-3.

4 Bernhard Anderson, Out of the Depths (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1974).

5 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72 (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 1973) 32-33.

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