Establish my footsteps in Your Word ~ Psalm 119:133

Theologian John Calvin said this about the Psalms: “I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;’ for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated”.¹

What Exactly are the Psalms?

The word Psalm is traceable to the Greek word ‘psalmoi’, which are poems that are meant to be sung to the accompaniment of music played on strings. Psalms is a collection of 150 different poems/songs assembled together as one book of the Bible, but within the book itself there is a division into five books.

Book l
Psalms 1-41 – General emphasis on the assurance of the Lord’s protection of Israel from her enemies.

Book ll
Psalms 42-72 – The same themes continue but in a slightly different way. Israel’s confidence in the Lord remains strong.

Book lll
Psalms 73-89 – The picture emerges of a nation in trouble. The Lord seems to be judging them by allowing other nations to inflict suffering.

Book lV
Psalms 90-106 – A look back into Israel’s history as a reminder of God’s faithfulness to them, often referring to the time of Moses and the exodus.

Book V
Psalms 107-150 – A general expression of hope for the future.

The Psalms are a clear declaration of the nature and character of God, full of descriptions of God, both explicitly and implicitly

The Psalms are also expression of various human emotions

Joy and Sadness; Confidence and Fear; Gratitude and Frustration; Trust and Desperation; Hope and Anger; Victory and Despair

The Psalms help cultivate a vibrant and effective prayer life

The Psalms are FULL of prayers that are great examples for us to enhance our own prayer lives.

Who Wrote the Psalms?

David, Moses, Solomon, Asaph, descendants of Korah, Ethan and Heman the Ezrahites.

Interpretive Challenges

Various literary genres and Hebrew figures of speech are important considerations when interpreting the Psalms. Biblical narratives and doctrinal treatises are approached in a more straightforward manner, where words and phrases have a literal meaning (unless context dictates otherwise). Whereas, the Psalms requires an understanding of the various poetic forms and figures of speech that the authors used.

Genre

The book of Psalms contains different literary types: Praise, Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Lament, Imprecation, Doctrine/Instruction, Kingship/Royalty

Hebrew Figures of Speech

Hebrew poetry employs many various figures of speech. Often used in the Psalms are: Simile, Metaphor, Anthropomorphism, Zoomorphism, Idiom, Metonymy, Merism, Hendiadys, Type, Inclusio, Hyperbole, Aposiopesis, Erotesis, Acrostic, Personification, Repetition, Parable and Allegory

Our Response

“That the Psalter has for ages served as the book of praises and prayers for the worshiping community as well as for devout individuals in their private meditations should be enough to prompt churches of today to reconsider their place in the instruction and development of the spiritual life of the church”.²

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Royal Psalms

Torah Psalms

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1. Commentary on the Psalms, Volume 1, John Calvin, The Ages Digital Library Commentary, Albany OR, 1998, p. 27 ↩︎
2. A Commentary on the Psalms Volume 1 (1-41), Allen P. Ross, Kregel Academic, Grand Rapids MI, 2011, p. 28. ↩︎