A Summer of Psalms Intro

What is the Book of Psalms?

The book of psalms is a collection of hymns from the Israelites, generally understood to be compiled around the late 500s BC. The writing of the Psalms spans many generations and world events, including David’s pre-kingly accolades, looking back to Moses and the people of Israel in the wilderness, into the later years of the kingdom of Israel under Solomon and onward.

We usually classify the book of Psalms in English translations as a book in the “Poetry” genre, but for the Jews, it fell into a section simply called “the Writings.” Though there are many different types of psalms, as we will discuss in just a few seconds, we need to remember moving forward something really important—the book of Psalms is primarily to be understood as part of the Israelites’ worship. Like we sing *insert songs here from this week* + “How Great Thou Art” or “It is Well,” the Psalms were the songs the people of Israel sang when they gathered together.

What is in the Book of Psalms?

As has been mentioned already, the book of Psalms is a book of songs. Though some of them don’t read quite as nicely in English, most of them have rhythms, rhymes, and structures that are extremely beautiful poetry in the original Hebrew. One of my professors has actually said that the writers of the Hebrew Bible are “literary ninjas” who are able to sneak things in over and again that connect all of their thoughts together in an intricate web of emotion and thought.

So, it is a book of songs—Over 100 of them! But can you imagine looking through a playlist on Spotify and having to find a song in a list of 150 without being able to scroll or search? That would be awful! (It’s even worse if you’re old like me and you think by to CDs or even… tapes. It was so hard to get to the right song). The editors of the book of Psalms have helped us out here, though. They don’t want people to have to be like “Psalm 130....or was it 15… or 97…?” They have grouped the Psalms together into 5 books for us, how nice! You can actually see some of their work in headings over the psalms that help out, but here’s the thing: it is kind of a mystery on how the books are set up. Some people think each one has to do with a different book of the Torah (the first five books of the bible), but some disagree. So, as we go through the book, just know we are gonna take some quick steps off into each of the books.

One thing that is super helpful when reading the book of Psalms that is not the books is the idea of subgenre. Each psalm is written in a specific style. Let’s take a second and think about modern music to understand what I’m saying here. What genre is the song “We Will Rock You?”— Rock, duh. What about “I Will Always Love You” (the Dolly Parton Version, duhhhh)—Country/Pop. Now, would you sing “We Will Rock You” at a wedding or a funeral…? That would be awful! What about “I Will Always Love You” at a tailgate before a national championship game? That would be weird, for sure. The same thing is true of the Psalms though; they all fall into different genres. Look at this chart real quick and I can show you :)

*Chart*

Praise—lifting up the attributes of God. Lament—mourning for how things have gone or are going, either based on enemies victories or personal failures. Royal—related to the kingly line/ prospering. Wisdom—based on the biblical idea of the fear of God, lift high the ideas of how to live a wise life and what it looks like. Thanksgiving—pretty self-explanatory. Hymn—usually packed out with doctrine and theological declarations . Trust—showing dependence on God and his promises. Important to note is that some of the songs are also what people call “imprecatory,” which are depending on God to take vengeance for those who have been mistreated.

By recognizing that Psalms have different genres and styles, we can see that not every Psalm is meant to be read the same exact way (hint back at example earlier).

Why is the Book of Psalms Important?

So, all of this genre stuff and general info about the book is great, but why the heck is it in the Bible? Why do we need to hear the words of songs from over 2500 years ago? Don’t we have plenty of songs now? It seems like every worship or youth pastor and their mom is writing songs and putting them out for us to listen to—why these oldies?

J.A. Motyer has a great observation on why the book of Psalms is still important for us today: “What was it like to be a member of the OT church? What did they believe? What was their experience of God, personally and corporately? Did their religion make them happy or was it a burden? Were they aliens in another age or our brothers and sisters of long ago? As we look through the window of the Psalms we discover that here indeed is the same God, now disclosed to us in Christ, and here are people of the same nature as ourselves facing the same kind of life as we and finding that their God enhances their joys and bears their burdens.” --Motyer, J. A. (1994)

We see in the Psalms a connection between us and the Israelites—our God and our struggles. We are all humans, and though times have changed, our hearts have not. More than this, we can see that God is unchanging. He is the same God today as he was then, and everything the Israelites knew of him is true today.

C.S. Lewis actually struggled with this, this value of the book of Psalms. He actually wrote an entire book about them and for a full chapter he worries about the implications of the calls for destruction of enemies and their embarrassment. BUT he lands in place of understanding, “…the ferocious parts of the Psalms serve as a reminder that there is in the world such a thing as wickedness and that it (if not its perpetrators) is hateful to God.” (Reflections on the Psalms, 37-38). He struggles with the brutality of some of the language but still sees that there is value even in the places where he struggles.

In conclusion on the purpose of studying the Psalms and its implications for us, we see that the Psalms connect us with truth about God that has been true forever and always will be. But it also connects us in relationship to God’s people from 2500 years ago and then some. This is why Motyer called them the OT “church;” (though some would disagree on the use of that term) they are the Lord’s just as much as any believer today. But they are also just as human. In the Psalms, we find God, along with ancient siblings of grace.

What about the Gospel?

Once again, this is an intro week, so I will not be going too far in depth, but lest we lose sight of why we are here, the Psalms also are rich sources of language to talk about the Gospel. For just as the same God was being worshipped, He had the same plan from the beginning. Because of his faithfulness and revelation to the Old Testament authors, there are echoes of the Gospel all throughout the Psalms.

Let us, then just look at Psalms 1-2 briefly.

*Read them*

As we look at these two Psalms, I have a note to make here. Many commentators actually place Psalm 1-2 outside of Book I as a sort of an intro. They do the same thing with the end of the book of Psalms oftentimes. That is kind of important but not life-changing. Basically, just know that these two Psalms have just set up the entire rest of the book.

Psalm 1 is a “Wisdom” Psalm, which roots blessedness to righteousness. Justin preached on this a while back, so I will just hit the high points:

Wickedness and those who practice it will get nothing and are only temporarily joyful or blessed.

Righteousness found in meditating on the Lord’s instruction produces flourishing. The person who delights in God is basically a living reflection of the Garden of Eden— “flowing streams, bearing fruit, not withering, prospering...”

Simply put, verse 6: The LORD will preserve the righteous, but the wicked bring destruction on themselves. (Seems a lot like the book of Micah…).

Psalm 2 is a “Royal” psalm which has to do with the king/kingly line. I’ve actually seen some people in classes tell me they think Psalm 1-2 are meant to be just one big Psalm. Because the themes are extremely similar.

The wickedness of the world and its suffering is found in its rejection of God and his authority (1-3).

God is not phased by the world’s rejection or wickedness; he has his own plan set in motion (4-6).

The Lord has chosen a king, His son, who will inherit the nations and the earth. He will rule forever (7-9).

A last word of admonition to the world—Fear God, receive his instruction, and recognize the Son as King, lest you die. By trusting in his protection, anyone can be blessed and find the protection they seek.

As we start our quick Summer trip through the book of Psalms, let us not forget these truths: God has not changed; He is faithful. And He has set up his Son as king over all creation. Though we have chosen wickedness and rejected him, bringing about our own destruction, today He is calling us through the book of Psalms to listen, to meditate on his Word, and to trust in His Son—Jesus, the only One who can provide refuge from the wrath our sin deserves. Amen? Amen.

Let’s pray.