Introduction To The Psalms

General Info

The word Psalms means praises

There are 150 Psalms in the book of Psalm 73 were written by King David 39 of them we are not sure about 12 were written by Asaph 11 by the sons of Korah 2 by Solomon 10 by Hezekiah 1 by Moses 1 by Heyman 1 by Ethan

It is the longest book in the Bible and the most diverse. It deals with God and His creation. It deals with war, worship, wisdom, sin, evil, judgment, justice, and prophecies of the coming messiah.

The Psalms were written over a long time span. The oldest psalm is psalm 90, which is the psalm that Moses wrote. And the latest psalm is most likely psalm 137, which is a psalm of lament that was written during the days when the Hebrews were in the Babylonian captivity.

The Hebrew word translated as Psalm is halel, which is where we derive the word hallelujah.

There is a full range of emotions recorded in the Psalms. Including deep devotion, intense feelings, exalted emotions and dark rejection. The Psalms do not sugar coat life they display life as it really is. Both the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, the mountaintops and the valleys. You will find the realities of life’s experiences in the Psalms. You will find joy, peace, tranquility, pain, grief, turmoil, relief, comfort, hope, and restoration just to name a few. It has been well said that the Psalms is the only book, which contains every experience of a human being. Is it any wonder that the Psalms is one of the most loved and looked to books in the Bible. No matter what you are feeling you can find it in the Psalms. We can relate to the Psalms because they reflect our human responses to God. We can see our own emotions and feelings reflected before us in the pages of the Psalms.

The Psalms are the only inspired hymnbook. They were used as a hymnal in the worship services of ancient Israel, and they were used the same way for the New Testament church. In fact there was a time, really not that long ago, that if you sang anything else in church it was considered a heresy. The singing of Psalms is a lost art today.

The Psalms are also considered poetry.

And so the book of Psalms is organized with the Poetry books of the Old Testament. And you might have heard that before. But you look at it and say I don’t really see it as Poetry. I mean where is the rhyming? When you think of Poetry you might have something like this come to mind. Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, North Valley Baptist is the church for you. A big part of our poetry has to do with the arrangement of sound. This is not the case for Hebrew poetry. In Hebrew poetry the lines are not arranged according to sound but they are arranged either by theme or by grammar.

The grammar relations are lost in translation. For example in some Hebrew poetry the first line will start with the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet and the second line with the second letter in the alphabet and the third line with the third letter and so on. Now obviously that gets lost in translation. You cannot force the second line to start with a B if the first word in that line is Wisdom. So we cannot really look at the grammar relations of Hebrew Poetry, but we can see the arrangement by theme. Hebrew poetry is an arrangement of thought and not sound. The first major kind of arrangement is Synonymous. Using this technique the poet will express the same idea but he will use different words to do it.

Psa 19:1 <To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.> The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

The firmament is another way, a similar way to describe the heavens. And the statement that they declare the glory of God And the statement the firmament sheweth his handywork Are again similar. In this arrangement he is getting you to think about the same thing twice. And without any space in between. One right after the other. It is a way to put emphasis on your point and drive it home.

And the point being made here is that creation testifies of God. This truth is also found in the N.T. Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them. Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Another example is Psalm 3:1

Psa 3:1 <A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.> LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! many [are] they that rise up against me.

Psalm 24:1

Psa 24:1 <A Psalm of David.> The earth [is] the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Psa 24:2 For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods. Psa 24:3 Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? Psa 24:4 He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Psa 24:5 He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

The second major kind of arrangement is contrasting ideas. Here the poet will put two contrasting ideas right next to each other.

Psa 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

Psa 7:9 Oh let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end; but establish the just: for the righteous God trieth the hearts and reins.

Psa 11:5 The LORD trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth.

Sometimes entire Psalms are laid out with the arrangement of contrast.

Psa 1:1 Blessed [is] the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Psa 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psa 1:3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

Psa 1:4 The ungodly [are] not so: but [are] like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Psa 1:5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. Psa 1:6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

The first man is blessed The second man is not The first man is planted like a tree. That’s solid. Just go out and try to pull up a tree. The second man is not planted instead he is like the chaff that the wind blows away. The first man will bring forth fruit. The second man is just being blown around by the wind like chaff. No fruit there. The first man delights in the Law of the Lord. He can delight in it because he has nothing to fear from it at the judgment. This is not the case for the second man. It says that he will not stand in the judgment. Sinners will not stand in the congregation of the righteous. Because they can’t claim the blood of Christ the law will send them to hell. The law does not bring delight to the lost. The first man shall not wither The second man shall perish

When you see these two opposite type of lives contrasted side by side, which would you rather have?

So we have similar arrangement of thought and we have contrasting arrangement of thought in Hebrew poetry. And there is also an arrangement where the original thought is embellished upon. The original thought is expanded upon.

Psa 1:2 But his delight [is] in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

Psa 29:1 <A Psalm of David.> Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength.

So to recap Hebrew poetry has to do with the arrangement of thought rather than rhyming.

The Psalms have great variety

You will also notice as you read the Psalms that they vary to a great extent. In some of them things are just going good. You read psalm 145 and you come away with the impression of a man who is right with God; a man who is walking close to God.

Look at example Psalm 33, 104, 145

This kind of Psalm shows a life of regularity, prosperity, health, a life where things are going good. You could call this type psalms of orientation. By that I mean that the person is in correct orientation and right relationship with God. And out of his heart just pours out Praise for His God. In this Psalm King David was on a spiritual mountaintop.

There is also another type of Psalm that reflect a life of upheaval and disruption

Look at example Psalm 13, 51, 86, 88, 143

Can you almost visualize David’s heart breaking as you read this?

These kinds of Psalms show a life of pain and suffering, alienation, grief, despair, and deep sorrow. You could call this type Psalms of disorientation. Here the person is under conviction about their sin. And he realizes that he needs to get right with God. In this case it was King David after he sinned.

Then there is another type of Psalm that offers praise and thanksgiving to God for His deliverance to correct and restore to a right relationship with Him.

You will see many positive emotions in this type of Psalm such as joy, rejoicing, gladness, happiness, release, and renewal. Now all three of these Psalms that we read were written by the same man. They were all written by King David. In these three Psalms we see King David on the mountaintop, backslidden in sin, and restored. In all three cases, God is the same. The difference is with David. The difference is in how we react to God.

We can also experience the same conditions.

We to can be walking close to God. We to can backslide. We can also fall into sin. But praise God we can also be restored like David.

And God wants us to be restored when we fall. If you are backslidden you need to do what we saw David do in Psalm 51

And if you are not backslidden, then you need to remember this if you do backslide. And we should never be boasted up in pride enough to think that we won’t backslide. That is a very dangerous attitude. In fact that is the attitude that Peter had, and yet he warmed his hands at the enemies fire, and flat out denied that he even knew Jesus. We are all just one weak moment away from backsliding, and understanding that is a major step in preventing backsliding.

So what did David do in Psalm 51?

Psa 51:3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin [is] ever before me.

He acknowledged that he sinned. He confessed it to God.

Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me [with thy] free spirit.

David asked God to restore him. In this Psalm we a real life example that we can relate to of 1Jo 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1Jo 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us [our] sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

And when we see David pray in Psalm 51, we see him baring his heart to God. It was not some dry-eyed sterile mechanical prayer. When you read it, you can almost see the tears running down his face. He prayed for forgiveness and restoration from the heart. God looks on the heart. We are not going to fool God with a bunch of dry empty words. God doesn’t want technical or flowerily prayers. He wants your heart.

The book of Psalms gives us real life examples of how to relate to God in many different situations. And the book of Psalms gives us wonderful examples of how to pray to God from the heart.

 

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