1. Introduction to the Book of Psalms

Which book is:

• Quoted more in the NT than any other book
• Usually the first book of the OT to be translated into any language
• Often bound in with N.T.
• Much loved
  • my own experience
  • favourite Psalms? (why?)
• The largest book in the Bible is a book of music
  • Luther: (Allen p.23)
  • Why no musical notes?
    • actually there is a whole system of marks, but the meaning is almost completely lost
    • we do know where each line and verse ends from the Hebrew
• We have to be careful teaching this book that we don’t end up with too much emphasis on analysing it and lose the wonder
  • Nevertheless, when you put something that God has made under the microscope, you see more and more beauty
  • So the goal of this course is to help us to appreciate the psalms

A. Name of the book

• Hebrew name: sefer tehillim (Book of Praises)
  • abbreviated to tehillim (Praises)
  • same basic word as halelu-Yah
  • virtually every single psalm has some element of praise in it.
• Another title is prayers (see Ps 72.20)
  • see also intro to Hannah’s psalm of praise in Sam 2:1
• The word “thanksgiving” is also used as a title
  • This is direct, i.e. addressed to God.
  • Almost 2/3 of the psalms directly address God at some point
  • This was common in early Christian hymns, but hymns written in the 1800 and 1900’s rarely address God
  • Much of Christian songwriting today has recaptured this lost aspect
  • If the Psalms are “sung prayers” then they should usually be addressed to God
    • Value of mixing prayer and singing in our worship
• The difference between praise and thanksgiving: Allen p.58-64
  • Actually there is no Hebrew word for giving thanks
  • The importance of being vocal and not quiet in our praises
  • In ancient times, reading was always done aloud.
    • This is actually a good way to read the Psalms
• So a second goal of this course is to help us praise God

B. Structure of Psalms

Division into Five books

• There are some duplications, most notably Ps 14 = Ps 53
  • Why is this?
  • Arranged for a purpose, maybe some regular worship activity
• There is evidence that the whole 150 were carefully organized, since some Psalms link together with the previous.
  • Some were actually joined originally (e.g. 9-10 are an acrostic. 42-43 have the same refrain, three times)
• Superscripts—brief notes at the start of many psalms, are probably original and are best taken as accurate
  • Jesus thinks so: Mark 12:35-37 (quoting Ps 110)
  • In all Hebrew bibles, back to the very oldest ones, the superscripts are marked as the first verse
• Psalm 1 & 2 begin the collection
• Each book ends with doxology (Praise and glory to God)
• Book ends with 5 doxologies and then Ps 150 is entirely praise
• Note at end of 2nd book

other collections

• Ps 113-118 Hallel or Hymns of praise
  • Ps 113-4 before the meal and 115-8 afterwards
  • Last words in the light of what Jesus was about to do!
• Ps 120-134 “Songs of Ascent”

C. Approaches to studying the Psalms

1. See it primarily as teachings (Early church, up to reformation)
   • lack of focus on beauty and literature
2. Reformation
   • began (with Luther and Calvin) to value it as an art-form
3. late 1800, early 1900s Analytical/Critical
   • very little value. Very dry. (many of them were unbelievers)
4. 1900’s Historical approach
   • tried to reconstruct a historical background to each psalm
   • could become very speculative
   • some useful insights
5. Form critical approach
   • focussed on the literary form of each psalm
   • found 7 basic types (discuss later)
   • a lot of useful insights in this approach
6. Cultic (worship) approach
   • attempts to reconstruct worship events for which there is very little evidence
   • e.g. an annual autumn festival
7. Eclectic approach (pick the best out of all the others)
   • most good scholars today do this

D. Resources

• An entire online course on the Psalms: http://www.bible.org/series.php?series_id=144
  • by Allen Ross, an excellent Hebrew scholar Note: this material seems to be no-longer available. See this link for information: Ross
  • first class material at a good scholarly level (although some may find it a little dry)
• Another entire course, this time in audio: http://www.believerschapeldallas.org/OnlineMessages/DrBruceWaltke/tabid/175/Default.aspx
  • By Bruce Waltke, one of the translators of the NIV
  • Possibly the best Christian scholar today on the Psalms
  • About 20 hours of audio. Very easy to listen to (he is a good speaker)
• Praise! A matter of Life and Breath, Ronald B. Allen (Nashville: Nelson, 1980)
  • Allen was one of the translators of the NKJV
• Psalms—An Introduction and Commentary, Derek Kidner (Downers Grove: IVP, 1973)

E. Authorship: The King & The Priests

• Half of them written by David & Solomon
• All the other named ones are priests

Example: Psalm 44

2. Background to the Psalms

A. Authorship: The King & The Priests

• Half of them written by David & Solomon
• All the other named ones are priests

B. Theological

• All based on the covenant relationship with God
• Without the covenant, they would be meaningless
• Particularly in the laments, the pleas are on the basis of the covenant
• The most important word to understand in this context is: chesed
  • hard to translate: (KJV “lovingkindness” or “mercy” are poor translations)
    • faithful-love,
    • loyal-love
    • love that will never let you down and never give up on you but will hang on to the end
• It is possibly the most beautiful word in any human language
• It is a fundamental theme of the Psalms and the main thing God is praised for

C. Historical

• Two basic types of sacrificial worship
• We must distinguish the burnt offerings from the sacrifices

1. Burnt Offering: Totally burned—all goes up in smoke. Demonstrates total commitment to God
   • Lev 1: burned offering, an animal, or Lev 2 grain if you are a grain farmer
2. Partially sacrificed to God. Really a communal meal.
   • The priest ate his part, the offerer his/her part & God’s part was burned.
   • These were offered for three reasons (Lev 7:11-12, 16)
     
     1. Thanksgiving. (No concept of private thanksgiving in the O.T.)
        • You offered a sacrifice and a song.
     2. Vow answered by God
     3. Voluntary, freewill offering—just to express your love for God

• 1 Chron 16:37-43 describes the organization of music and song to go along with the sacrifices.
• Many of the Psalms were in this category
• These songs were designed to be sung “with smoke” (Waltke)
• e.g. Ps 66:13f
  • Selah —what does it mean. Literally “to lift up”
  • untranslatable: “Selach” like hip-hip-hooray. Just a cry of praise!
• another example: Ps 116:12-19

3. Hebrew Poetry

A. Poetry in general

• Poetic form: Allen p.28
• The nature of poetry: Allen p.41-50
  • unfortunate that some Bible paraphrases remove much of the poetry
• Misconceptions in poetry
  
  1. The idea that literal meaning and poetic meaning are somehow opposed
     • We use poetic language all the time in everyday speech, even something as mundane as a sports commentary
     • “the bases are loaded”, “It’s not over till the fat lady sings”
  2. The notion that poetry is always imprecise and ambiguous

B. Parallelism

(Much of this section is borrowed from Ross)

• The basic feature of biblical poetry is the recurrent use of a relatively short sentence-form that consists of two (or more) brief clauses:
  By day the LORD sends forth his love /
  
  and at night His song is with me. (Psalm 42:9)
• The clauses are regularly separated by a slight pause, for the second part is a continuation of the first and not a completely new beginning.
• On occasion, four parts may form the line.
• The relationship between the parts of a line is called “parallelism”.

C. Types of Parallelism

• Robert Lowthe is the man credited with the “discovery” of biblical parallelism (in 1753).
• He distinguished three types: synonymous, antithetical, and synthetic.
• The third category, “synthetic,” became sort of a catch-all for what would not fit the others.

1. Complete Parallelism

• Every single term or thought unit in one line is parallel to an equivalent term or unit in the other line.
  • Find an example in Psalm 6
• Complete parallelism can be subdivided into:

1. Synonymous Parallelism
   • where the thought is repeated by the second line in different but synonymous words.
     Then Israel / came / to Egypt; /
     
     Jacob / sojourned / in the land of Ham. (Ps. 105:23)
   • The order of the parallel terms need not be the same in both lines;
   • Find another example in Psalm 6
2. Antithetical Parallelism
   • balances the parallel lines through the opposition or contrast of thought, as in 90:6:
     In the morning / it flourishes / and is renewed; /
     
     in the evening / it fades / and withers.
   • Any in Psalm 6 ? What about Psalm 18 ? Ps 126
     • (see Psalm 18:18)
3. Emblematic Parallelism
   • one of the parallels is literal, the other a simile or a metaphor
     As a father / pities / his children, /
     
     so the LORD / pities / those who fear Him. (Ps. 103:13)
   • see also Psalm 18:16
4. Inverted or Chiastic Parallelism
   • strictly speaking a form of synonymous parallelism;
   • the main difference is that the order of the terms is inverted, like a mirror image
   • A clear example is found in Isaiah 11:13b:
     Ephraim / shall not be jealous of / Judah, /
     
     and Judah / shall not harass / Ephraim.
   • These are not always complete or perfectly balanced
   • Another example from Isaiah 1:18
     

     Though	be your sins
     		as scarlet
     		as snow	they shall be as white
     Though			they         be        red
     		as crimson,
     		as wool
     	they shall be.

2. Incomplete Parallelism

• This type of parallelism is very frequent with many variations.
• Only some of the terms are parallel

1. Incomplete Parallelism with Compensation
   • only some of the terms are parallel e.g. Psalm 6:1
   • but each line has the same number of units (usually clear in English, but clearer in Hebrew).
     You will destroy / their offspring / from the earth,
     and their children/from among the sons of/men. (21:11)
   • A variation of this is the so-called step-parallelism, or climactic parallelism
     • the thought is developed by repetition and extension, as in 29:1,2:
       Ascribe / to the LORD / O sons of / the mighty One,
       Ascribe / to the LORD / glory / and strength,
       Ascribe / to the LORD / the glory of / his name;
       Worship / the LORD / in holy / array.
2. Incomplete Parallelism
   • one line is longer than the other, as in 6:2 (MT 6:3):
     O LORD, / rebuke me / not in your anger, /
     
     nor chasten me / in your wrath.
   • On occasion Lowthe’s old category of synthetic parallelism may be helpful.
   • In that type the second part further develops the first:
     For the LORD is a great God,
     and a great King above all gods (Ps. 95:3).

3. Formal Parallelism

• Not really parallelism
• the second colon simply continues the thought of the first
  I have set / my king /
  
  on Zion / my holy hill. (Ps. 2:6)

4. External parallelism

• the correspondence occurs between successive verses, as in Isaiah 1:3:
  The ox / knows / its owner,
  and the ass / its master’s / crib; /
  
  but Israel / does not / know,
  my people / does not / understand.
• see also Psalm 6:1,2

4. Classification of Psalms

The importance of Literary form

• Allen: p.29 limerick example

Types of Psalm

Songs of Ascent or “Pilgrim Psalms”

• Ps 120-134 “Songs of Ascent”
• Sung at passover
• See example: 121

Songs of Zion

• 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122 (which is also a song of ascent)
• They praise Zion as the dwelling place of Yahweh
• see example: 84
  • note “hosts”=armies in v.2

Hallel or Hymns of praise

• Psalms 113-118
• sung at passover
• see example: 118

Enthronement Psalms

• Not a particular form, but identified by content
• central to the theme is the statement “Yahweh reigns!”
  • e.g. ps 47:8; 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1
  • critical scholars have speculated about a “fall festival” copied from pagans, but there is no real evidence of this
• see example: 47

Royal Psalms

• Here is the collection:
  • Psalm 2 The Coronation of the Son and the Certainty of His Dominion
  • Psalm 18. The King’s Song of Victory in Battle
  • Psalm 20 A Prayer of the King for Victory in Battle
  • Psalm 21 A Praise of the King for Victory in Battle
  • Psalm 45 The Wedding of the Victorious King
  • Psalm 72 The Righteous and Prosperous Dominion of the King
  • Psalm 89 The Davidic Covenant Assured in Adversity
  • Psalm 101 The Charter by which the King Rules
  • Psalm 110 The Establishment of the Kingdom by Holy War
  • Psalm 144 The Establishment of Peace and Prosperity by the King’s Victory
• Often they are Messianic, e.g. Ps 110
  • Psalm 110 is one of the most quoted in the N.T. e.g. in Hebrews
  • It cannot be fully applied to any Old Testament king, but is only satisfied in Jesus Christ the King

Wisdom Psalms

• Rhetorical Elements
  1. The “better” saying
  2. The numerical saying.
  3. The admonition with and without motive
  4. The admonitory address to “sons”
  5. The ‘ashre formula
  6. The rhetorical question
  7. The Simile
• Thematic Elements
  
  1. The fear of the LORD and the veneration of Torah
  2. The contrasting life styles of the righteous and the wicked
  3. The reality and inevitability of retribution
  4. Miscellaneous counsels pertaining to everyday conduct
• Ross says:
  ...four psalms (1, 32, 37, and 49) may legitimately be called Wisdom Psalms, four psalms (25, 92, 94, and 107) contain clearly identifiable wisdom elements of varying lengths, and another four (19B, 73, 119, and 139) reflect some of the concerns of Israelite wisdom. Other psalms that are classified as wisdom psalms on stylistic and thematic grounds contain relatively few “Wisdom” words: 34, 112, 127, 128, and 133.

Laments

• The largest single category—to be discussed next

Praise Psalms

• Also a large category to be discussed
• subdivided into declarative and descriptive praise

5. Psalms of Lament

• This is the largest single category
• The parts of a lament (not every psalm may have every part and the order may vary)

Example—Psalm 142

1. Address and introductory cry

With my voice I cry out to the LORD;
     with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.
I pour out my complaint before him;
     I tell my trouble before him.
When my spirit faints within me,
     you know my way!

2. The Lament (the real problem)

In the path where I walk
     they have hidden a trap for me.
Look to the right and see:
     there is none who takes notice of me;
no refuge remains to me;
     no one cares for my soul.

3. Confession of trust

I cry to you, O LORD;
     I say, “You are my refuge,
         my portion in the land of the living.”

4. Prayer—what the psalmist wants God to do about it

Attend to my cry,
     for I am brought very low!
Deliver me from my persecutors,
     for they are too strong for me!

(4a. optional) Reasons given to God for answering the prayer

Bring me out of prison,
     that I may give thanks to your name!

5. Vow or shout of praise

The righteous will surround me,

(5a. optional) Prophetic statement

     for you will deal bountifully with me.

Assignment:

1. Find a Lament psalm and print it out, divided into parts
2. List what parallelisms you find in it.

Try now with some other psalms: 3, 6, 13, 28, 56

6. Praise Psalms

• Praise psalms are usually divided into two categories: declarative and descriptive praise
• (Much of this material is taken from Ross)

The Form of the Declarative Praise Psalm

• Form critical scholars will often call this type of psalm the “Thanksgiving Psalm,” or the “Todah Psalm”
• they also divide them into two groups, the Praise of the Individual and the Praise of the Community.
• There is not an appreciable difference between the Communal and the Individual Praise—the essential elements are present in both.
• Psalms include: 18, 21, 30, 32, 34, 40, 41, 66, 106, 116, and 138.

1. Proclamation to praise God

• The psalm will begin with a clear intention to praise
• e.g. “I will praise . . . .”
• The psalmist will tell others what God has done.
• The vow of praise (made during the prayer) may have been made in private, but the payment of that vow must be in public.
• This type of psalm is essentially “testimony.”

2. Report of the deliverance

• The content of the praise will be given immediately.
• introductory statement that summarizes the praise, frequently expressed in one sentence.
  • then be further developed in the psalm.
• The psalmist will look back at the time of need and report the deliverance.
• The frequent elements in this report are: “I cried . . . He heard . . . He drew me out (or whatever).”

3. Praise or renewed vow of praise

• The psalmist now offers the praise.
• declares the saving deeds of the LORD.

4. Descriptive praise or instruction

• Frequently the declarative praise will turn into a descriptive praise of God and his attributes that explains the testimony.
• If the psalmist has reiterated the vow of praise in the preceding section, then this section forms part of the payment of that vow.
• The psalm may end with a teaching section which could be long
  • Lessons drawn from the experience are taught to the congregation.
• See Psalm 32 & 138 as examples
  
  

The Form of the Descriptive Praise Psalm or Hymn

• very similar
  • and some think they are essentially the same.
  • but there are discernible parts that differ substantially.
• Psalms include 28, 36, 105, 111, 113, 117, 135, 136, 146, and 147.

1. Prologue

Hallelu Yah! The psalm begins with some such expression.

2. Call to Praise

• may be an extended call for worship preparations, or simply “Praise Yah.”

3. Cause for the praise

• reason for and substance of the praise.
• normally a summary statement of the cause for praise followed by specific illustrations of it.
• summary usually has two parts:
  • God’s greatness (e.g., the LORD of creation)
  • God’s grace (e.g., his dealings in history to save).
• God is often praised for his creation and his sustaining of nature.
  • and so some of these psalms have been called “Hymns to the Creator.”

4. Conclusion

• renewed call to praise for the reasons expressed in the psalm
• or an exhortation, or a petition, or even a lesson.

5. Epilogue

• Hallelu Yah! This expression may also appear at the end of the passage (although it is not always present).
• See Psalm 33 & 135 as examples

7. Imprecations in the Psalms

A. What they are

• strong words or curses against enemies
• e.g. Ps. 137
  
  7. Remember, O LORD, against the Edomites
     the day of Jerusalem,
     how they said, “Lay it bare, lay it bare,
     down to its foundations!”
  8. O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed,
     blessed shall he be who repays you
     with what you have done to us!
  9. Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones
     and dashes them against the rock!
• Also look at Psalm 109:6-15
• Other Psalms 5:10; 10:15; 27:4; 31:17, 18; 40:14,15; 140:9,10.
• strongest are Psalms 35, 69, 109 & 137

B. Where they are and how frequent

• There are no more than 18 psalms with curses in them
  • of the 368 verses of those psalms only 65 include anything that might be called imprecation. (Ross)

C. What is the problem?

• These are Spirit-inspired words, written out as an art-form for everyone to sing
• This seems to be the opposite of the forgiving spirit that Jesus told us to have

D. Poor solutions

1. Use these Psalms to vent our feelings (e.g. Fee)

• We can’t “vent our feelings” on our enemies in order to clear the air so we can forgive them and love them
• These are actual curses. These are prayers that the catastrophes will come upon them
  • It is not just a dumping exercise

2. The Psalms simply record the curses of the Psalmist accurately, but they were sinful curses

• But they were put in a song-book for everyone to sing and Jesus even quoted some of them

3. There was a lower standard of morality in the O.T., e.g. polygamy, eye for an eye

• But the Law of Moses even commanded us to love our enemies Lev 18:19
• Prov. 25:21,22: “If your enemy hunger, give him bread to eat...”
• David (who wrote 13/18 of these psalms) was not a vengeful person in his lifetime, but very gracious and forgiving
  • He repaid evil for good: Saul, Shimei (who through stones at him)

  
  

E. Good Solutions

1. Poetic Language

• Bear in mind that this is poetry and part of the poetic genre is to use exaggeration for effect (hyperbole)
• e.g. Psalm 27:2 “When evildoers assail me to eat up my flesh, my adversaries and foes, it is they who stumble and fall.”
• of course this is only a partial explanation

2. They never name an individual

• They were always against a class of people
• There is always the assumption that if an individual repents, they will escape the judgement

3. The Kingdom of God took an external form

• The imprecations are not against personal enemies, but against enemies of the Kingdom (see Ps. 137 above)
• When we pray “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it was in heaven” we are praying essentially the same prayer but with a New Covenant understanding of the Kingdom
• The grace of the gospel message is the sword that destroys the kingdom of darkness
• The final kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream was a prophecy of the coming of Jesus
  • the stone smashed and destroyed all the other kingdoms in the dream
  • but in the fulfillment, it was by missionaries like Paul, bringing light and hope and “turning the world upside down”
• So we can read these Psalms as prophetic of the radically superior kingdom victory of Jesus

4. Following on from this: The psalms do not clearly distinguish evil men from the evil forces behind them

• In the New Covenant we see that even the foulest sinner can be forgiven
• What Jesus has done is to “bind the strong man”
• Now we more clearly understand that the warfare is not against humans but spiritual powers: Eph 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
• We can pray these psalms against the forces of darkness while at the same time pray for our persecutors: “forgive them father for they know not what they do”
• In fact, our persecutors are brought to forgiveness and freedom precisely when the spiritual powers that enslave them are crushed by God

5. These imprecations are prophetic of the final judgement

• We do want all wrongs to be put right
• We do want God to be just and to put down all the forces of evil

8. Messianic References in the Psalms

• There will be two recurring elements in all these prophecies
  1. the Messiah was to be a man from a certain line in the nation of Israel
  2. the LORD Himself was to come to the earth to reign

The Israelite hearer of these messages may not have been able to bring these emphases together except in a general or spiritual way, namely, that God was to be with the Messiah and rule through him. The New Testament would declare their fulfillment in the incarnation. (Ross)

Psalm 20

• Handout of Psalm 20

Typological Relationship

• It is not the Psalms that are Messianic, but the annointed king who is
• David was a type of Christ, and so to some extent was the line of kings that came from him
• This is the basis for making an application to Christ.

Examples

• Directly prophetic: Ps 110
• Other Psalms: (see Ross)
  • 16
  • 22
  • 40
  • 41:9
  • 69
  • 118

9. Example Psalms

Psalm 123: http://loveintruth.com/amf-docs/psalm123.htm
Psalm 20
Psalm 44