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Book of Psalms is the largest book in the Holy Bible, and is of more ancient-origin in part or in total than the other books of the Bible, except for the Old Testament books of Genesis through to Ruth.
From antiquity the Psalms were for the Jews the most important book in the portion of their Scriptures known as the ‘Writings’.
In fact, the Psalms have been highly regarded since the beginning of the period of time they were written—from around three thousand five hundred years ago.
Such is the extreme eminence and spiritual potency of the sacred material contained in the Psalms, they are for both Jews and Christians probably more revered and more frequently used than any other book of the Bible overall.
This depth of reverence to the Psalms that is held by believers is indeed well deserved. For such is the inspirational richness of the spiritual and sacred material contained in the Psalms, the depth of revelation of the God of the Bible, and the nature and the coming of Jesus Christ to the earth, users cannot help but be affected, and their worship experience comprehensively enriched by the frequent and generous use of the Psalms.
New Testament writers obviously also held the Psalms as being of great worth, for they quoted from them more frequently than any of the other Old Testament books also, with the possible exception of the Book of Isaiah. In fact the New Testament contains one hundred and sixteen direct quotes from the Book of Psalms.
Indeed, the Psalms are certainly one of the finest portions of the Bible, and since the time that they were composed they have commonly been used as an integral part of the true believer’s peak religious experience.
Regardless of whether its sacred hymns and prayers are used for public worship or for individual devotional guidance, its one hundred and fifty songs constitute the height of God-given literature.
Praise be to God that He has given us the Book of Psalms to have with us for our own inspiration, guidance, and personal and communal worship as we pass through the years of our mortal lives here on this earth.
Blessed are the readers and users of this most excellent book of sacred hymns and prayers. Blessed also are the people who make their peace with God, and live in harmony with Him while the days of their lives last—may they live forever! And may the grace and the goodwill of God be with them, and the witness of God be extended through them to touch and transform the lives of others around them also.
In the Hebrew Bible the title of the Book of Psalms is Tehillim meaning ‘praises’ or ‘hymns’, and in rabbinical literature Sepher Tehillim, meaning ‘book of praises’. This is because the outstanding feature of the contents of the book is praise to God.
The root word for the Hebrew name Tehillim is halal, and the Hebrew term halal also lends itself towards praise, hence the origin of our well known Hebrew exclamation of praise to God—hallelujah ℝ, literally meaning ‘praise Yahweh’!
This reaction of praise rising up within the heart of the Psalmist to God is the expression of inward joy. This was exhibited by the use of brisk notes, and lively and animated music in the singing of the individual psalms.
The psalms from antiquity were used in Jewish worship services to great effect in the temple at Jerusalem and in the synagogues. There the psalms were apparently chanted or sung and accompanied by musical instruments, as they commonly are in Christian churches and Jewish synagogues across the world to this day. The poetry and words of many of the psalms contain musical scores and directions, and are well suited for singing.
An individual psalm in Hebrew is called a mizmor, from the word zamar, meaning ‘to cut off’. This was because when the psalm was sung, each word was separated into its component syllable, with each syllable answering to a note in the music.
The name Psalms that we know the book by comes from the Greek title ‘Psalmoi’ (‘yalmovi’), the name used in the ancient Septuagint version of the Old Testament Bible (from around 200 B.C). The name Psalmoi is the plural of the Greek word psalmos (‘yalmov’), which is the Greek translation of The Hebrew word mizmor, a technical designation for many of the psalms. Psalmoi is a term used to describe a song that is to be musically accompanied with stringed instruments.
So the name of the Book of Psalms in the English versions of the Holy Bible is very fitting, as the majority of the individual psalms really are hymns or songs of praise and worship to the Lord. To this purpose they are well suited, illustrated by their abundant use in worship services and celebrations of praise to God since they were first composed.
The term Psalter by which the Book of Psalms is commonly known by many Christians comes from one early manuscript that titled the book ‘Psalterion’.
The Hebrew people have divided the Book of Psalms into five books. This division has been recognized from ancient times, although the origin of this practice is not fully known, but was possibly due to the Pentateuch also containing five books.
From the beginning the Book of Psalms has been considered a book of great excellence, and was considered by the Hebrews to be as significant and important as the Pentateuch itself, being divided into five books, as the Pentateuch (the Old Testament books that Moses wrote; being Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), representing the Law, was also contained in five books.
Where the divisions should take place the ancients were not agreed, as some of them divided the Book of Psalms into three books of fifty psalms each. For doing this they assigned certain allegorical reasons that are not generally recognized. It is believed however, that from the time of the compilation of the Psalms after the return of the Jewish exiles from Babylon to their Judean homeland the Psalter was commonly divided into five books as follows:
Book One—Psalm 1 to Psalm 41 inclusiveℝ [Psalms 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41].
Book One closes with a doxology, and a double Amen—‘Amen, and Amen’ (see Psalm 41; verse 13).
Book Two—Psalm 42 to Psalm 72 inclusiveℝ [Psalms 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72].
Book Two closes with a double doxology, a double Amen—‘Amen, and Amen’, and the inscription ‘The prayers of David the son of Jesse are concluded’ (see Psalm 72; verses 18-20).
Book Three—Psalm 73 to Psalm 89 inclusiveℝ [Psalms 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89].
Book Three closes with a doxology and a double Amen—‘Amen, and Amen’ (see Psalm 89; verse 52).
Book Four—Psalm 90 to Psalm 106 inclusiveℝ [Psalms 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106].
Book Four closes with a doxology, an Amen, and in the original Hebrew, the word for praise to God, hallelujah—literally ‘Praise the Lord’ (see Psalm 106; verse 48).
Book Five—Psalm 107 to Psalm 150 inclusiveℝ [Psalms 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150].
Book Five closes with Psalm 150 which begins with, and in the original Hebrew closes with, the Hebrew word for praise to God—hallelujah—‘Praise the Lord’, and it is in itself an extended verse of praise to God.
Interestingly, in constructing the Book of Psalms the compiler does not appear to have paid any attention to the chronological arrangement of the book.
After the Babylonian exile was over in around 536 BC, the Israelites returned from the city of Babylon to their Judean homeland over a number of decades, and at that stage they had been reduced down to being a numerically small, and emotionally devastated and traumatized national group. There they faced many hardships and much opposition in their attempts to re-establish their small Jewish state.
The leaders of the Israelite people were committed to instituting a return to the worship of God and the development of religious fervour among the nation. So at that time a renewed effort was expended in gathering, re-organizing, and re-assembling their sacred writings.
These sacred writings (our Old Testament) the post-exilic Israelites separated into three divisions. They are: the Law (the Torah), the Prophets (the Nebi’im), and the Writings (the Kethubim or Hagiographa).
The division they called the Writings included the three Old Testament poetical books, Psalms, Proverbs, and Job; and the books known as the Five Rolls (the Megilloth) which were: the Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther; and the historical and prophetic books of Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Chronicles.
The Israelite leaders considered the Book of Psalms to be the most important of the Writings, so the title was often referred to as representative of the whole group. For this reason the Jews often spoke of their sacred writings as the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus Christ Himself referred to the sacred Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament) in this way (see Luke chapter 24; verse 44).
Interestingly the arrangement of the Old Testament books in the original Hebrew language has not been followed in the English translations, for their order is based on the Greek and Latin versions where the books of the Old Testament appear to have been arranged on a topical and chronological basis.
It is widely believed that the collection of one hundred and fifty psalms that make up the Book of Psalms were compiled by the priest and scribe Ezra after his return to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile in 458 BC. In fact virtually all the ancient authorities gave Ezra the credit for collecting and compiling the different writings of Moses and the prophets, and reducing them to the form now found in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, including the Book of Psalms.
While Ezra is traditionally associated with the compilation of the Old Testament books, it is possible or indeed highly likely that other people were also active in the work, particularly the important post-exilic figure Nehemiah; for the compilation and reduction of the Hebrew Scriptures down to the form we now know as the Old Testament, using reed pens and papyrus scrolls or parchment, was for one man a vast and significant undertaking.
The Book of Psalms is by definition a large collection of ancient religious lyrical poetry (in fact it is the largest of this kind in existence). This uplifting and inspirational collection of Hebrew spiritual hymns, psalms of praise, and prayers was intended and composed for use in both congregational and individual worship.
Because there are so many psalms (one hundred and fifty in all) that were composed by a variety of authors in different periods of Israel’s history, the whole collection may well have been written over a period of more than a thousand years. What is more, outside the internal evidences written or incorporated into the individual psalms themselves, there is no way we can find out when they were composed.
Certainly men who were holy men of God wrote the Psalms. Among the names listed in the superscriptory introductions and headings of the Psalms are people who walked with God in their day; men who lived their lives to do the will of God; men who were true prophets or seers in their time; men through whom God delighted to reveal Himself, His glory, and His majesty to mankind; men such as Moses, David, and Asaph.
Possibly the earliest psalm in the Book of Psalms is Psalm 90, written by Moses. Moses was the great man of God appointed to lead the Hebrews out of captivity in Egypt, and author of the first five books of the Old Testament (usually known as the Pentateuch); that is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Numbers.
Estimates for the Hebrew exodus from Egypt vary between around 1500-1350 BC. Moses must therefore have written Psalm 90 some time either before or during the Exodus, as he died toward the end of the forty year period of the Israelite exodus.
The youngest of the psalms that we can gain insight from through the contents is Psalm 137, a moving lament of the exiles in Babylon, written sometime between 597-537 BC when the Jewish exiles were still living there.
It is possible, however, that some of the psalms were written after the Jews returned to their Judean homeland from the Babylonian exile after 537 BC. Psalms 74, 79, and 89 include verses that appear to describe the tragic destruction of Jerusalem and the temple sanctuary by the Babylonians in 586 BC (Psalm 74; verses 3, 8, 9, Psalm 79; verses 1-4, 7, 10-12, and Psalm 89; verses 39-44).
The majority of the Psalms were written in the days of the reign of David (circa. 1010-970 B.C). to provide meaningful God-centred joyous songs to be used in the worship services in the sanctuary. Then after the large religious resources contained across all the Psalms were written and completed, they immediately became regularly used as a feature of the Jewish sanctuary, temple, and synagogue services. Thus the hymns, poetry, and prayers they contained were thereafter available for public and private worship.
This situation consequently reduced the need to continue the composition of further large-scale collections of Jewish spiritual psalm-type songs and poetry. This was because the volumes of individual psalms and collections of psalms (and other Old Testament works) that had been written for communal and private worship were by that stage already in place.
It is apparent also that the individual psalms that make up the collection are not organized by content in the Book of Psalms, but were probably listed in the order that they were entered in the official worship collection. By the time the scribe Ezra (and possibly others) compiled the sacred Hebrew religious writings and reduced them down to the form that we now know as the Old Testament, the Book of Psalms was considered a finished and completed book. Doubtless, later Jewish religious poetical works (the Dead Sea Scrolls contain others) were composed by different authors, but these have not been included in the Hebrew sacred canon that is our Old Testament.
The writers of the Psalms made no attempt to prove the existence of God, for they already knew God to know that He lives. The Psalmists wrote their songs and prayers of the Psaltery for the use of the community of faith, on both a communal and personal level. Frequently they employed the use of sensitive and emotional language in their various addresses to God.
Many of the psalms are ‘prayer songs’, the heart-felt outpouring of praise and request by the Psalmist to his God, mingled with deep adoration and emotion for the Lord, the God of the Hebrews. When used in their original sanctuary setting with musical accompaniment the effect would have been very joyous and moving indeed!
Indeed, the generations of people in the days of David and the Psalmists were truly richly blessed, for the Lord their God attended their worship services and ceremonies with the Spirit of God in power, and even in person on occasion, along with the manifestation of the great power and awesome splendour of His full physical presence.
Many of the Psalmists were prophets, men whom the Lord God and His angels would minister to and personally visit.
The presence of God was also powerfully manifested to His covenant people Israel in the Shekinah Glory over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, the sacred chest that was housed in the Most Holy Place of their sanctuary.
Poetry can be described as an artistic form of speaking or writing, where the carefully designed, clever, and imaginative use of language can be both beautiful and elevating. Poetry can be effectively employed to stimulate a measured and designed emotive response in the reader and user of the poems.
A large portion of the Holy Bible is made up of poetry. The New Testament does not contain much poetry, but is mostly prose (that is, the ordinary form of spoken or written language), however the Old Testament is rich in poetical content. In fact around forty percent of the Old Testament consists of Hebrew poetry.
In some of the writings of the Old Testament, however, it is difficult to distinguish Hebrew poetry from prose. For one thing, it is evident that the Hebrews made no great distinction between one form of writing from the other, so there was no clear cut delineation in their form of literature, for neither the terms ‘poetry’ or ‘prose’ has an equivalent in Biblical Hebrew.
While the Old Testament authors favoured the use of two part sentences (that is, couplets) for some types of compositions (songs, psalms, proverbs etc.). which they consistently used, ordinary sections of text in what is considered prose can also contain couplets or sections of poetry. These can be found in narratives, particularly dialogues; and in oracles, prayers, legal writings, and sections of blessings and curses.
Prophetic writings also, which largely consist of poetry throughout, sometimes contain sections of text that slips into a less distinguishable form of writing more like prose, and visa versa. Some of the psalms display the rigid coupling form of Hebrew poetry, for example Psalm 94, while others such as Psalm 23 and Psalm 35 have a much looser style, which is not really distinguishable as straightforward poetry. The contrast between these two types of psalms is striking.
The outstanding feature of Hebrew poetry is that it is completely centred on the great subject of man’s relationship with God. The Book of Psalms, the wisdom literature (Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes), the Song of Solomon, and much of the contents of the books of the Hebrew prophets are written as poetry. In fact there are poetic elements found throughout the writings of the Holy Bible. The writings of Moses known as the Pentateuch and the historical books of the Old Testament also contain a few poems.
Ancient Hebrew poetry in the Bible is quite different from most western forms. It does not normally consist of measured lines and stanzas that contain a pronounced regular metre, rhythm, and rhyme, but instead is religious lyric poetry throughout. The poetry of the Bible was frequently written to be used as songs that had musical accompaniment. Being lyrical poetry, it regularly features the song-like outpouring of the poetical writer’s own thoughts and feelings. These are very different to our own regular modern poetry which is usually far more epic and dramatic, with its more extended and set forms and presentation of a wide range of external secular subjects.
The early use of lyrical forms of poetry was not limited to the Israelite composers, for the modern field of archaeology has uncovered similar poetic compositions from the cultures that surrounded ancient Israel, such as Ugarit and Mesopotamia. Later Jewish writings also used this lyrical form of poetry, as illustrated by the work known as the Hodayot, or ‘thanksgiving’ scroll that was discovered in the Qumran caves in 1947, and that forms part of the collection of Dead Sea Scrolls.
Often the poetic forms of the Holy Bible are not openly and readily obvious to the reader, for the common translations frequently make little or no typographical distinctions between prose and poetry. Unfortunately this factor also tends to diminish the emotional and spiritual value of the material, for the modern reader can often fail to fully appreciate its spiritual depth and vitality, nor the circumstances of the author who composed it, while the quality of the material is also downgraded through the necessary translation from Hebrew to English.
In the Scriptures of the Old Testament there are found three distinct forms of poetry:
(i) The dramatic form of Hebrew poetry found in the Book of Job and the Song of Solomon.
(ii) The lyrical form of Hebrew poetry (that is, poetry that has frequent expressions of intense personal emotion, and is song-like in manner) such as is found in the Book of Psalms.
(iii) The form of Hebrew poetry found in the Book of Ecclesiastes, which is direct and moralistic, and was written with the intention of teaching the reader instruction.
The Book of Psalms is the largest collection of ancient lyrical poetry in existence. Because of the nature of the psalms, and their inclusion in the sacred canon of the Holy Bible, they are by necessity religious. Being lyrical poetry, they are a manifestation and outpouring of the innermost thoughts and emotions of the poet. The psalms are an expression of the thoughts, emotions, and feelings of the poet in his own circumstance or that of the nation towards God, so consequently they are directed to God.
Many of the psalms address God directly, and are rich with expressions of praise and petition. They stir up and reveal the feelings of God’s own people on earth—their fears, doubts, and tragedies; as well as their joys, hopes, and victories. In essence they communicate the faith, hope, and trust of faithful believers in the one true God. Frequently the Psalmists drew from their own experiences of great danger, tragedies, and personal failings in their discourse as expressions of the need of the faithful for God’s help, mercy, and goodness.
Many of the psalms are didactic, meaning that they contain teaching and instruction in their contents, and were composed to be used as songs that drew upon past deliverances God had wrought on behalf of His people, so as to provide comfort and support to believers in their time of trial and need, as well as warning them against unbelief and disobedience.
In some of the psalms the poet rejoiced in the Law of God as the guide to life, and directed the reader to keep the Law for their own personal well-being and prosperity, most notably Psalm 1 and Psalm 119. Some of the Psalms are national hymns, written to remind the Israelite people of the Lord’s past deliverances, and of His special protection and covenant with the Hebrew people. Several Psalms incorporate ancient Israel’s wisdom or philosophy of life, and reflect the moral teachings of the Proverbs and other Wisdom writings.
Perhaps the most important function of the Book of Psalms in ancient times was its use as the hymnal of the temple and sanctuary service. Because of this, the individual psalms often celebrate the ordinances of the sanctuary, and exult and rejoice in the high privilege of drawing near to God at Zion, where the presence of God was manifested.
This aspect of the Psalms, combined with the sincere, and at times intense, personal display of true love and commitment to God, makes the Psalms the fullest and most powerful expression of the worship of ancient Israel. Because they were written in the form of personal Hebrew lyrical poetry, the Psalms became unforgettable, and as such they are one of the outstanding legacies of the ancient Hebrew race for mankind in this world.
The Book of Psalms reveals the ancient Israelites to be a deeply religious people, worshippers of the true God (as opposed to the false gods of the surrounding nations), and a people with a high moral code and a strong sense of good and evil. The national knowledge that they were God’s covenant people strongly influenced them to avoid wickedness and unbelief, and to incorporate God in their everyday lives, whether they be heroic on the battlefield, or mundane in their daily toil. In fact their speech, conduct, and national direction were all influenced and caught up in their position as the people of God’s covenant.
The Book of Psalms powerfully reflects this strong commitment and connection with God, and makes the worshipful material it so abundantly provides all the more useable right across the entire realm of faith, for the edification of God’s people on earth.
Lyrical poetry is a form of poetry where the writer frequently resorts to outbursts of emotional language in a song-like manner. It is a form of discourse that offers significant advantages over regular language in the construction of the Psalms.
The use of lyrical poetry enabled the Psalmist to concentrate and enhance the amount of information contained in the verses with added emotional content through the artistically stylish use of word pictures, symbolic, and figurative language, emotive language, and multiple meanings.
Hebrew poetry, like the Hebrew language itself, contains numerous figures of speech, and makes frequent use of vivid imagery, similes, and metaphoric language to communicate powerful thoughts and feelings.
The imagery employed in the Psalms is both earthy and militaristic, for ancient Israel was a nation largely made up of farmers, and the economy was mostly agriculture-based. The men of ancient Israel were frequently at war with the surrounding nations, and they were constantly aware that military failure easily led to an horrific national disaster, and that they and their families faced great peril and suffering, and the risk of enslavement or the loss of their own lives if a hostile enemy conquered them. This made Israel dependent on God’s protection for their own survival; a telling factor that is frequently revealed throughout the Book of Psalms.
As part of the lyrical style of poetry used in the Psalms, the Psalmists regularly use evocative language in their songs. This type of language tends to evoke an emotional response in the readers and users of the Psalms, enlivening and enriching the value of their own personal worship experience.
The Psalmists frequently used word pictures to convey the truth they were presenting, producing in the reader the same feelings the poet had when he wrote them, raising the emotions while delivering the intended intellectual and spiritual meaning and significance.
For example in Psalm 1 the godly man is described as one who delights himself in the Law of the Lord. The Psalmist uses a beautiful word picture to describe the stability and spiritual vitality of such a man in this way, ...“he is like a tree planted beside streams of water, which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither.”.
This is then contrasted against the ungodly, which the Psalmist describes in this way (in verse 4): “they are like chaff that the wind blows away”. The significance and the colourful transmission of these vital truths are greatly enhanced through the skilful and artistic use of these metaphoric allegories.
Psalm 22 is perhaps the most powerful of the Messianic psalms, and it contains some outstanding imagery. In one example the Psalmist conveys the great fear and peril felt by the victim with these word pictures (in verse 14), “I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting away within Me”. The reader is made aghast and their emotions raised at the plight of the victim by the use of this very effective imagery, in conjunction with the surrounding texts.
In Psalm 64 the Psalmist uses the imagery of swords to represent tongues, and bows and arrows to represent words (they are both weapons of war), to describe the cutting words of treacherous individuals against the reign of the king. Similar word pictures are used very effectively to describe great Biblical truths throughout the Book of Psalms.
In order to fully understand the poetic expressions of the Psalmists the reader of the Psalms needs to understand the cultural and historical background of the Israelites. Readers need to be sensitive to the distinctive nature of Hebrew poetry, with its frequent use of striking imagery and particular emphasis on the use of parallelisms, for only then can the reader discover and understand the full meaning of the verse with its inherent characteristics.
The great strength and advantage of using this style of religious lyrical poetry in the Psalms is that it more effectively enabled the Psalmists to supply and confirm the spiritual realities that faithful believers must understand and practice if they would please God.
Poetry is an artistic form of written language. The Psalms, being poetry, contain the components of poetry and of artistic form; displaying design, recurring patterns of word play, balance, unity, variation, and harmony.
Hebrew poetry, however, varies considerable from modern poetry, in that the Psalmists did not seek to compose their poetry for mere amusement or entertainment. Instead, their poetry was composed to be songs and prayers containing powerful God-centred material that was intended to uplift and dynamically enhance the religious and spiritual experience of the users, as well as being pleasing and acceptable to God as worship.
In addition, the lyrical poetry of the Psalms was written with the express intention of being used as songs that were set to music.
Unlike modern Western poetry, Hebrew poetry does not consist primarily of rhyme or rhythmic balance, but rather in parallelisms of thought, meaning that the lines of poetry frequently expand, enhance, or repeat the previous line or lines. In this way the Psalmists were better able to poetically present and expand grand concepts of worshipful God-centred material in a manner that would be interesting, enjoyable, and memorable to the users.
For this reason it is difficult to identify and determine the metre and rhythm of the Psalms with any degree of certainty, because they were not composed to poetically drift and rhyme through subject matter from the secular realm. In fact there are only a few psalms that do consistently follow a metrical pattern of accented words.
However, where rhythm was used in the original text, this is indicated by the use of accent marks in the Hebrew, showing where the composer intended stress to be placed on words and phrases. Unfortunately though, this rhythm is not metrical and is lost in the necessary translation into English, although the Hebrew poetical parallelisms remain.
People frequently expect the poetry of the Bible to display metre and rhyme before they would recognize it as poetry. Hebrew poetry however, has little in common with the Western form of poetry, for it contains neither rhythm nor rhyme after the Western fashion.
Instead, the distinctive feature of Hebrew poetry lies in its placing of ideas in relation to one another. Generally it consists of two lines of mutual correspondence or clauses, in which the second line develops and follows on from the first line in an ongoing manner. This type of poetry or ‘thought-rhyme’ is known as parallelism.
It is important for the reader of the Psalms to be aware of these parallelisms, for their understanding of the text and the subsequent interpretation of it hinges upon the ability of the reader to recognize and distinguish this thought pattern.
There are five primary kinds of parallelism in the Psalms:
(i). Synonymous parallelism, in which the thought or imagery expressed in the first line is repeated immediately in different words and images in the succeeding line, with the two lines forming a couplet of unified ideas; for example:
Psalm 2, verse 8.
“ 8 Ask of me,
and I will make the nations Your inheritance,
and the ends of the earth Your possession”; (Psalm 2, verse 8).
Psalm 69, verse 6.
“ 6 Do not let those who look to You, O Lord God of Hosts, be be disgraced because of me.
Do not let those who seek You be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel”; (Psalm 69, verse 6).
(ii). Antithetical or contrastive parallelism, in which the idea or imagery of the first line is contrasted or reversed in the successive line; for example:
Psalm 1, verse 6.
“ 6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish”; (Psalm 1, verse 6).
Psalm 37, verses 12, 13.
“ 12 The wicked plot against the righteous, and gnash their teeth at him;
13 but the Lord laughs at the wicked, for He knows their day is coming”; (Psalm 37, verses 12 and 13).
(iii). Progressive parallelism, where the idea presented in the first line is developed or advanced
in the second line of the couplet; for example:
Psalm 82, verse 8.
“ 8 Arise, O God, judge the earth;
for all the nations are Your possession”; (Psalm 82, verse 8).
Psalm 69, verse 18.
“ 18 Draw near to me and redeem me,
deliver me because of my enemies”; (Psalm 69, verse 18).
(iv). Emblematic parallelism, in which the thought of the first line is figuratively illustrated in the second line, often by the use of a simile, and without any words of contrast, with the two ideas being loosely placed together. In this type of parallelism the first line of poetry serves as an emblem to illustrate the second line of poetry; for example:
Psalm 42, verse 1.
“ 1 As the deer pants for the brooks of water,
so my soul pants for You, O God”; (Psalm 42, verse 1).
Psalm 103, verse 13.
“ 13 As a father has compassion for His children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him”; (Psalm 103, verse 13).
(v). Climactic parallelism, where the lines of Hebrew poetry are highly repetitive and advance slowly; for example:
Psalm 29, verses 1, 2.
“ 1 Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of God,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name!
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness”; (Psalm 29, verses 1 and 2).
Hebrew poetry can contain other features that are incorporated into the text by the Psalmist for various purposes:
(i). Acrostic or Alphabetic Psalms. Sometimes the Psalmists constructed individual psalms with an alphabetical arrangement, whereby the first letter of successive lines or two or more lines appears in alphabetic order. This arrangement was possibly incorporated into the verse to not only enhance the use of the individual psalm, but to make it easier to memorise.
The Book of Psalms contains nine acrostic psalms: Psalm 9, Psalm 10, Psalm 25, Psalm 34, Psalm 37, Psalm 111, Psalm 112, and Psalm 145.
Psalms 9 and 10 become an acrostic arrangement in the Hebrew when they are combined together in order. (Psalms 9 and 10 are joined together as one in some Hebrew manuscripts, and in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate versions.)
In addition Psalm 119 is divided into twenty-two sections of text of eight verses each, with every section commencing with the successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
(ii). Inclusion of Refrain. A few psalms have been written to repeat a section of refrain-like verse at regular intervals. For example, the refrain in Psalm 42, verses 5 and 6 is repeated again in verse 11.
Psalm 42, verses 5, 6.
“ 5 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why are you so disquieted within me?
Hope in God,
for I will yet praise Him,
my help, 6 and my God.
O my God, my soul is downcast within me;
therefore I will remember You
from the land of the Jordan,
and from the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar”; (Psalm 42, verses 5 and 6).
Psalm 42, verse 11.
“ 11 Why are you downcast, O my soul?
Why are you disquieted within me?
Place your hope in God,
for I will yet praise Him,
my Saviour, and my God”; (Psalm 42, verse 11).
Another psalm that includes a refrain is Psalm 107, verses 8, 15, 21, and 31.
Psalm 107, verse 8.
“ 8 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love,
and for His wonderful deeds
to the sons of man!”; (Psalm 107, verse 8).
Psalm 107, verse 15.
“ 15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love,
and for His wonderful deeds
to the sons of man!”; (Psalm 107, verse 15).
Psalm 107, verse 21.
“ 15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love,
and for His wonderful deeds
to the sons of man!”; (Psalm 107, verse 21).
Psalm 107, verse 31.
“ 15 Let them give thanks to the Lord
for His faithful love,
and for His wonderful deeds
to the sons of man!”; (Psalm 107, verse 31).
Psalms 118, verses 1-4, and 29; and Psalm 136, verses 1-26 also include the congregational confirmation: “His faithful love endures forever”.
Psalms 118, verses 1-4.
“ 1 O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
“His faithful love endures forever.
2 Let Israel now say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron now say,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord now say,
“His faithful love endures forever”; (Psalm 118, verses 1-4).
Psalms 118, verse 29.
“ 29 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
“His faithful love endures forever” ”; (Psalm 118, verse 29).
Psalm 136, verses 1-26.
“ 1 Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
“His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
“His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
“His faithful love endures forever.
4 To Him who alone does great wonders,
“His faithful love endures forever.
5 Who made the heavens with great skill,
“His faithful love endures forever.
6 Who spread out the earth upon the waters,
“His faithful love endures forever.
7 Who made the great lights,
“His faithful love endures forever.
8 The sun to rule by day,
“His faithful love endures forever.
9 The moon and the stars to rule over the night,
“His faithful love endures forever.
10 To Him who struck down Egypt in their firstborn,
“His faithful love endures forever.
11 And brought out Israel from among them,
“His faithful love endures forever.
12 With a strong hand and with an outstretched arm,
“His faithful love endures forever.
13 To Him who divided the Red Sea in two,
“His faithful love endures forever.
14 And brought Israel through the midst of it,
“His faithful love endures forever.
15 But overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea,
“His faithful love endures forever.
16 To Him who led His people through the wilderness,
“His faithful love endures forever.
17 Who struck down great kings,
“His faithful love endures forever.
18 And slaughtered famous kings,
“His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
“His faithful love endures forever.
20 And Og king of Bashan,
“His faithful love endures forever.
21 And gave their land for a heritage,
“His faithful love endures forever.
22 A heritage to Israel His servant.
“His faithful love endures forever..
23 He remembered us in our low estate,
“His faithful love endures forever.
24 And rescued us from our enemies,
“His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every creature,
“His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
“His faithful love endures forever.”
The Psalms were composed as hymns and prayers of sacred poetry for use in individual and communal worship, so the authors made little or no attempt to outline or describe the circumstances for which many of them were composed. However one hundred and sixteen of the one hundred and fifty psalms that make up the Book of Psalms contain introductory headings and notes at the outset that are known as the superscriptions.
In the Hebrew language used in the original composition of the Psalms these superscriptions are incorporated into the text of the psalm itself. They give particulars about the psalm, such as the name of the author, or the musical instrument to be used to accompany the song, the style of the music or poetry, or the subject or occasion for which the sacred song was composed. Many of the inscriptions contain more than one detail or direction, while one (Psalm 60) contains all of these particulars.
There are only fifty-one psalms that contain no names to indicate authorship, and because there is no way of finding whom the author was (except that God would reveal), they are known as orphan psalms.
Ninety-nine of the one hundred and fifty psalms have names listed in the superscriptions. They are: David (73 psalms), Asaph (12 psalms), the Sons of Korah (11 psalms), Solomon (2 psalms), Moses (1 psalm), Heman (1 psalm), and Ethan (1 psalm).
The name of Jeduthun is also recorded in the inscription of three of the psalms (according to the superscriptions the Psalm was addressed to, or for, that individual), while Psalm 88 includes the names of both Heman and the Sons of Korah.
Critical scholars in the first half of the twentieth century irreverently attacked and largely summarily dismissed these superscription headings of the psalms. Some even went so far as to claim them to be merely editorially fanciful inclusions that have no relevance.
While events recorded or mentioned in the Psalms date their composition to the Old Testament period of between 1,500 BC through to perhaps 430 BC, critical scholars rejected the superscriptions of the Psalms as authentic.
Critics instead assigned much younger dates for the vast majority of the psalms. They presented to the world the view that the psalms were only composed much later on, in the first and second centuries BC—a period of time known in Jewish history as the Maccabean period.
Tragically, these scholarly attacks on the authenticity of the Psalms brought widespread harm to believers globally. For by attacking the truthfulness and integrity of the superscriptions of the psalm authorship, critics significantly undermined, reduced, or even outright destroyed altogether the ability of scores of believers to believe in the Book of Psalms as being the genuine article. What is more, this widespread breach of trust in the truthfulness of the Psalms carried across several generations of people from the community of faith all over the world.
The spurious claims from these intellectual critics suggested to believers that the Psalter (that is, the Book of Psalms) was something of a fake, and only a book of much lesser significance. The terrible outcome from their dangerous activities was that this then led to a widespread decrease in the use of the Psalms.
Ultimately, however, the worst effect of this entirely unsatisfactory situation was that it then hampered and reduced the ability of many people to both believe in, and connect with, the God of the Psalms.
Tragically for mankind, the first half of the twentieth century was an intensely violent and deeply unstable period of time on earth. This turbulent period of human history was torn by two catastrophic world wars and many more lesser wars; the Great Depression; the terrible affliction, suffering, and slaughter brought on the masses by Communism across Eastern Europe and Asia; the constant terror of annihilation by nuclear weapons with the Cold War; and widespread global long-term political, economic, and social upheaval and unrest.
For many people across the earth, because their confidence in the Book of Psalm had been badly undermined by critical scholars, access was consequently inhibited or blocked all together to a foundational belief in God through the Book of Psalms. So mankind was denied full and unrestricted access to the virtues and personal support that believers typically experience from the liberal use of the Psalms in their daily lives.
Tragically for humanity, the damage inflicted by critical scholars on belief in the Psalms came during the most dire period of history for mankind that has ever happened. Soldiers locked into the conflict and carnage of the trenches and blood-soaked battlefields of war, inmates in concentration camps and prisons, and family members suffering at home were all alike denied full access to the comforting influence, the sense of virtue and peace, and the spiritual and moral strengthening that God brings to users of the Psalms. For the many millions of victims, this gross dereliction of duty to God and to mankind by the critical scholars reached its bitter fruition during some of the bleakest years that the human race has ever lived through in this dark world.
Unfortunately for all mankind, this damage in the almost universal credibility of the authenticity of the Psalms happened during a prolonged period of terrible strife right across the world, for the first half of the twentieth century was a period of time marked by widespread misery and suffering. Many people on earth were afflicted or powerfully impacted by the trauma and personal tragedies imposed by war, the death of loved ones, economic collapse, revolution, civil and political unrest, and the frequently violent upheavals of that period.
During those dark days of human history, the people of the world needed more than ever to be able to freely use, believe in, and find significant meaning, reasons to continue to live, and comfort for their troubled souls from the Book of Psalms and from the whole Bible, and from the God of the Book of Psalms, and from His Christ.
In truth, the heinous damage done by critical scholars in bruising and destroying widespread confidence in the Holy Bible and the Psalms of the Bible, has in the modern age cumulatively harmed and injured both God and man together.
For one thing the superscriptions in the Psalter are written in the third person pronoun form, as though an editor has written them in later. But the use of the third person pronoun form of writing is common throughout the Holy Bible.
For example, the first five books of the Old Testament, known even from ancient times as the Pentateuch, are written in the third person. However from antiquity it has been commonly believed that Moses, the great man of God, was the author.
God also has testified at length about the legitimacy of Moses, and of all that is contained in the writings of Moses. Yet Moses writes in the third person pronoun form right throughout almost all the entirety of the Biblical books that he has authored.
The writings of Moses begin at Creation, and conclude with the death of Moses near the end of Israel’s exodus from Egypt, a short time before they arrived at the Promised Land. Yet Moses himself is the central figure in the narrative contained in the last four books of the Pentateuch, because he played the central role for the Hebrews and for all mankind.
Moses was the intimate projector of the will of God to the ancient Hebrews during the Exodus, for Moses was the one man closest to God at that time. However, Moses did not write the Pentateuch to be a first person form of personal testimony. Instead he authored it to read as a written historical account of an important sequence of events, compiled from the evidence of eyewitnesses.
In like fashion one key book in the New Testament, the Book of John, is written in the third person pronoun form. This suggests that the writer was not present to witness the events written in the dialogue, but was merely an editor or author providing a written account of them. Actually it is commonly accepted, evidence suggests, and the Lord has said, that John, the disciple of Jesus, really did write the New Testament Gospel Book of John.
Since the beginning of Christendom, from the time of its appearance, the authorship of the Book of John was assigned to John, and furthermore John was present throughout the three year period of the ministry of Jesus Christ. Therefore John was very much a reliable personal eyewitness of the events that he has recorded for us in the Book of John.
In fact most of the books of the Holy Bible are written in the third person pronoun form. Therefore it is hardly justifiable to be suspicious of the authenticity of the superscriptions of the Psalms on the basis they are written in the third person, because this third person pronoun form of writing is almost standard throughout the Holy Bible also.
It is true, however, that fully identifying the authors of some of the Psalms is not always completely possible because of the use of the loose Hebrew word le in the superscriptions. This word is used as the preposition that precedes the names of the individuals listed. It can be translated from Hebrew into English as ‘from’, ‘to’, ‘for’,‘of’,‘out of’, and other meanings.
Consequently we are not always fully able to determine whether the person whose name is listed was the author, the musician for whom the psalm was composed, the collector and arranger of the psalm, or a person to whom the psalm was dedicated. However it is certainly apparent that the psalms that have a name listed in the superscriptions were closely connected with that person, and these psalms were composed during the course of that person’s lifetime.
The superscriptions with which the majority of the psalms commence are certainly of ancient origin. They appear in all of the oldest Hebrew scriptural manuscripts in existence. Evidently they were old when Jewish scholars translated the sacred Hebrew writings—our Old Testament—into the Greek language of the Septuagint (LXX) version in the second or third centuries BC.
Even back at that time, the translators of the Septuagint in Alexandria in Egypt obviously did not understand some of the technical musical terms or instructions used in the superscriptions of the Psalms. This has been found through recent archaelogical discoveries and scholarly researce, that together have revealed that the translators of the Septuagint misinterpreted and incorrectly translated some of the Psalm superscriptions.
Modern critical scholars in recent times have often refused to accept that David and his contemporaries could have composed prayers and songs with such advanced spiritual concepts as early as 1000 BC.
However, a large portion of these scholarly critics of the Holy Bible are not really members of the worldwide congregation of Christian faith at all. Instead these critics are merely highly educated, yet ordinary intellectual professionals who have undergone an extraordinary depth of advanced education and academic training, resulting in extreme intellectual prowess.
Tragically for believers, these critical scholars dare to criticize, dismiss, and condemn important parts of the sacred Scriptures in order to build and carry their own reputations, and cement their own personal careers. Yet while they are frequently filled with their own self-importance, they are spiritually hamstrung and blinded to the truth by the many subversive and destructive intellectual biases that they carry. So they therefore mistakenly assume that their own importance, status, and superior knowledge provides them with the justification and the means to attack, undermine, and ultimately annihilate popular belief in the Holy Bible by the masses.
This is made obvious through the many oblique claims and arguments that critical scholars have devised and levelled against the Holy Bible in the modern age. Their fallen status is particularly apparent with their mistreatment of the Book of Psalms, whereby they have summarily dismissed the composition of most of the Psalms from the Biblical timeframe of ancient Old Testament Israel. Instead, they have arrogantly assigned the composition of most of the Psalms to the end of the BC era.
There is also the major issue with the Bible critics, in that a proportion of these critical Bible scholars are also ardent evolutionists. Mankind’s radical and wildly inaccurate theory of Evolution presents broad concepts that are diametrically opposed to the historical reality and the truthfulness of God’s Creation of life on earth.
Because of the vast, blinding plethora of unshakable prejudices that are thrown up by a core belief in Evolution, these evolutionistic theologians and philosophers are unable to accept the God of the Holy Bible as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and as the Giver and Sustainer of all life. Instead, in their minds they reason and operate from the groundless basis that their evolutionary concepts for the origin of life holds the key to unlocking their own version of science and truth.
Consequently they have concluded that human evolutionary development, and the imposition of the evolutionary time frame, both work together to prohibit the Psalms from being the genuine article. They have mistakenly assumed that the depth of spirituality and religious belief expressed in the Book of Psalms could not have evolved and existed any earlier than the more recent period of time at the end of the BC era that they have decided upon and have therefore assigned.
So it is absolutely vital for all true believers to realise and understand the true status in the sight of God of many of these critical scholars of the Holy Bible. While appearing intelligent, advanced, and highly respected, these irreverent and dangerous critics are far from being infallible, in fact completely the opposite is true.
The reality in place for the majority of the critical scholars of the Holy Bible is that normally they are merely highly intelligent, well-paid academics, who normally profoundly lack in the practical life experiences and simple faith that hard-working true believers from a more common background live with. In truth, the working classes of ordinary people have an extreme advantage when it comes to growing and developing a living and fruitful life-long relationship with the Almighty God.
The practical display of this reality is best illustrated by the example of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the days when the Lord our God lived on the earth in the form of an ordinary man, it was mostly the peasants and common working class people who flocked to hear Jesus’ heart-warming message of God’s love, goodwill, and salvation.
And it was these same common, ordinary, working class people whom God valued so highly. They were the people who received the generous favour and goodwill of the Lord Jesus Christ, and who were so richly blessed with a close personal relationship afterward with God in their own personal lives, and who later went on to establish the early Christian church and the New Testament era.
Archaeological discoveries of clay tablets and various religious artefacts from around Palestine and the Near East over the last century indicate that an advanced level of religious development really has existed in the region from the time of Abraham in around 2000 BC and beyond.
Many critical scholars in recent times have questioned, disputed, and even rejected the view that David wrote some or any of the psalms. Individual critics have even gone much further and rejected the concept that the central historical Biblical hero figure David, was in fact, ever a real person.
They instead imply, insinuate, or claim outright that the Hebrew King David and other central Biblical characters, and ultimately the God of Creation from the Holy Bible, were merely mythological figures of Jewish invention, and they may well have never really existed at all. The great signs and wonders that the Almighty God has performed and carried out on earth in Old Testament times are talked down and dismissed with notions of natural or freak phenomena.
However there is substantial evidence that David in fact did compose most, if not all of the psalms where his name is recorded in the superscription. This is because of their great antiquity; because the oldest existing Hebrew manuscripts carry them; because the oldest known Hebrew lyrics had them; and because some of the superscriptions describing the occasion or the historical background for which the psalm was composed is referred to elsewhere in the Bible.
Intense internal research into the Psalms by linguistic experts in the ancient Hebrew language, and powerful evidence from other sources such as the Ugaritic Texts, and the Dead Sea Scrolls also point to the inscriptions being true. The conservative reader of the Holy Bible really has no reason to reject them.
One of the most notable contributions to our understanding of the Book of Psalms in recent years comes from the field of archaeology. Hundreds of clay tablets dating back to 1500-1200 BC have been unearthed from the mound of the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit. The area of this discovery is known from its modern-day name of Ras Shamrah.
Located on the Mediterranean coast of north Syria, archaeological research commencing there in 1929 has been in progress almost continuously ever since. Most of these clay tablets have been recovered from the area where in ancient times temples stood to the gods of the Canaanites named Baal and Dagon.
The clay tablets were written in a cuneiform script not previously encountered, that was subsequently deciphered by scholars. The tablets were found to contain mythological texts dealing with the ancient Canaanite religion. The study of these texts became a science in itself that is called Ugaritic, the name that has also been given to the language and script in which these clay tablets were written.
The Ugaritic language varies only slightly from ancient Hebrew, and many of the mythological religious texts on the tablets from Ras Shamrah were very detailed. Nearly all of the obscure words and phrases from the Old Testament, and particularly the Psalms were found in these Ugaritic Texts. Thus the words could be read in their context of usage, illustrating their true meaning.
This new information has greatly assisted scholars in understanding many of these formally obscure words and phrases from the Old Testament and the Psalms. What is more, the study of the Ugaritic literature has shown the Book of Psalms to be of much greater antiquity than most of the critical scholars previously were willing to accept.
Many psalms that these higher critics assigned the composition of to the Maccabean period of Jewish history (that is the first and second centuries BC) have now been shown to contain words and phrases that were in common use in the second millennium BC (that is the period between 1000-2000 BC), but not in the Maccabean period. This factor adds considerable support to the authenticity of the superscriptions, and the early dates suggested for many of the psalms by their respective titles.
In 1947 a Bedouin shepherd boy found some ancient scrolls in a cave in the north-western area of the Dead Sea known as Khirbet Qumran. The Bedouins had trouble selling off the scrolls, because potential buyers thought they were forgeries, however eventually these scrolls came to the attention of scholars.
One scholar by the name of Dr. John C. Trever from the American School of Oriental Research in Jerusalem was the first who recognized their antiquity, and he brought the scrolls to the attention of American experts in 1948.
When the news of the discovery of such ancient scrolls reached the Western world it fired the imagination of both Jews and Christians alike. Immediately the finding of the Dead Sea Scrolls was recognized as the greatest single archaeological discovery to have taken place since the complete tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamen was discovered some twenty-five years before.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were manuscripts that had apparently been hidden in a series of caves in the area by a previously unknown Jewish sect called the Essenes. These manuscripts were concealed in the caves sometime between 66-68 AD, before the monastery of the Essenes was destroyed by a Roman army, probably led by the Roman general (who later became the Roman Emperor) Vespasian in AD 68, at the time of the Roman-Jewish wars of 68-73 AD.
Apparently the sect members perished at that time or in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, as they never returned to collect their scrolls. A series of eleven caves around Qumran were found to contain manuscripts. Subsequent exploration of caves in the region around the Dead Sea and the ruins of the Jewish fortress of Masada by Bedouins and teams of archaeologists between 1948 and 1961 yielded up some six hundred manuscripts in various states of preservation written on leather parchment or papyrus.
The scrolls include manuals of discipline, Bible commentaries, hymnbooks, two scrolls of the Book of Isaiah, and fragments of every book of the Old Testament, except the Book of Esther, as well as other writings. The Dead Sea scrolls are extremely important to both Jews and Christians alike, because they throw back the oldest known manuscripts of books of the Bible by twelve hundred years.
Intense research on the scrolls, which is still ongoing, has found there to be only quite minor differences between the text of the Biblical books of the scrolls, and the Bible we use. Copies and fragments of the Book of Psalms in the Dead Sea scrolls dating back up to three centuries before Christ came to the earth still include the same superscriptions at their headings. This also provides further substantial evidence for the greater age for the Psalms.
Foremost among the names is that of David, the poet-king. He was such a prodigious author of psalms that the Book of Psalms is frequently referred to as the Psalms of David. His name is recorded in the inscription of seventy-three of the psalms, nearly half of the entire book of one hundred and fifty, and it is also probable that David composed numerous other of the psalms that have no name listed in the inscription.
David was an accomplished poet and musician in his own right and that is beyond question. A number of Scriptural references point to this (see 1 Samuel 16:14-23; 2 Samuel 23:1-7; and Amos chapter 6; verse 5). In fact there is much Scriptural evidence that David really was the author of all or nearly all of the psalms that have his name listed in the superscription, as well as others. David was a man of great faith and deep emotions, and he expressed this in spiritual songs, poetry, and prayers of great depth and beauty (see 2 Samuel 1:19-27; and 2 Samuel 3:33 and 34). What is more, David was deeply devoted to God, and he was intimately acquainted with His ways.
David grew up as a shepherd boy, and spent endless hours protecting the flock. From his experiences he was later to pen the words of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures”. David had known God from his earliest days, apparently from the womb (see Psalm 22; verses 9, 10; Psalm 71; verse 6; and Psalm 139; verse 13), and was intimately acquainted and experienced with the Law, as given through Moses. What is more, the psalms themselves, and the superscriptions at the outset of some of them, make frequent references and allusions to David’s experiences in life. In fact Psalm 18 and Psalm 105 are both repeated in the historical narrative of David (see 2 Samuel 22; and 1 Chronicles 16:7-36; respectively), and are there attributed to him. This confirms his authorship of these two psalms, and also implies that David doubtless wrote other psalms as well.
David is the only author of the Psalms mentioned in the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and a number of the New Testament writers, refer to David as the author of psalms they quote from (see Matthew 22:41-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Acts 2:25-28; Acts 2:34, 35; Romans 4:5-8; Romans 11:9, 10; and Hebrews chapter 4; verse 7). New Testament writers also credit David with writing Psalms 2 and 95 (see Acts 4:24-26; and Hebrews chapter 4; verse 7) whereas these psalms have no superscriptions to indicate authorship. The translators of the ancient Septuagint (LXX) also attribute thirteen additional psalms to David that are not found in our English versions of the Holy Bible. These are Psalms 33, 43, 71, 91, 93-99ℝ [Psalms 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99], 104, and 137.
David lived and reigned in the new era of the kings of Israel and Judah. After the elders and citizens of Israel called for a change of government from that of a theocracy in the era of the Judges to a monarchical system of kings (around c. 1050 BC), Saul was the first king appointed by God to reign on the new throne of Israel, and he ruled an estimated thirty-five years before dying by his own hand in the heat of battle against the Philistines. When David came to the throne of Judah after the death of Saul he conquered the Jebusite stronghold of Jebus, renamed it Jerusalem and established his throne there. Later the Hebrew temple (as the centrepiece on earth of worship to the true God) was built by his son Solomon on David’s instructions at Mount Moriah in Jerusalem.
King David was very zealous for the God of his fathers, and he made great efforts to enliven and beautify the worship of the Hebrew sanctuary. He appointed two hundred and eighty-eight singers and musicians to perform in the sanctuary service. They were Levites by birth and were skilled in the playing of various musical instruments, listed as cymbals, harps, and lyres “for the service of the house of God” (1 Chronicles 25:6).
A few of these Levites were also authors of some of the psalms themselves, and their names are included in the superscriptions of some of the psalms. These are: the Sons of Korah (1 Chronicles 9:19) including Heman, who was later known as Jeduthun, perhaps after his appointment to the sanctuary service (1 Chronicles 6:33); Asaph (1 Chronicles 6:39); and Ethan (1 Chronicles 15:19). Apparently God was well pleased to bestow talents and blessings on these holy men, for they were artistically and musically skilled, and they used their talents to good effect in the production and performance of joyous and melodious songs for the worship services in the House of God.
In the Book of Psalms, the term “of David” appears in the superscription of seventy-three psalms as follows:
Thirty-seven times in Book One (Psalms 3-9ℝ [Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], 11-32ℝ [Psalms 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32], and 34-41ℝ [Psalms 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41]).
Eighteen times in Book Two (Psalms 51-65ℝ [Psalms 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65], and 68-70ℝ [Psalms 68ℝ, 69, 70]).
One time in Book Three (Psalm 86).
Two times in Book Four (Psalms 101, and 103).
Fifteen times in Book Five (Psalms 108-110ℝ [Psalms 108, 109, 110], 122, 124, 131, and 138-145ℝ [Psalms 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145]).
Interestingly the ancient Septuagint version does not include the term “of David” in the superscriptions of Psalms 122 and 124, but adds it to the superscription of thirteen other psalms (Psalms 33, 43, 67, 71, 91, 93-99ℝ [Psalms 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99], 104, and 137).
The term “of Asaph” is found in the superscription of twelve psalms (Psalms 50, and 73-83ℝ [Psalms 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83]). Asaph was a Levite actively employed in the sanctuary services. The Scriptures reveal him as a choir leader, a musician, and a ‘seer’ (a prophet) at the time of David (see 1 Chronicles 16:37; 1 Chronicles 16:4-7; and 2 Chronicles 29:30). The psalms that carry the name of Asaph in the superscription were either composed or arranged by Asaph, or members of his family, in their capacity as the official musicians and singers appointed for the worship services of the sanctuary. Interestingly, of the various groups of singers and musicians that took part in the sanctuary services, only the descendants of Asaph are mentioned as returning to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity ended around 536 BC (see Ezra chapter 2; verse 41).
The term “the sons of Korah” is found in the superscription of eleven psalms (Psalms 42, 44-49ℝ [Psalms 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49], 84, 85, 87, and 88). The Scriptures reveal that the sons of Korah were a family group, and that they and their descendants assisted in the temple services (refer to Numbers 26:9-11, and 1 Chronicles 9:19).
Therefore ninety-six, or around two thirds, of the entire collection of one hundred and fifty psalms that make up the Book of Psalms are associated with the names of David, Asaph, and Korah. Psalm 88 carries the following double designation in the superscription: “A Song. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah.”; and “A Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite”. Heman the Ezrahite was a Levite priest from the large Kohathite family group, and a leader of the temple music services (see 1 Chronicles 6:33; 1 Chronicles 15:17; and 1 Chronicles 16:41, 42).
Psalms 39, 62, and 77 contain the name of Jeduthun in the superscription of each of these three psalms. Because Psalms 39 and 62 also carry the title, “A Psalm of David”, and Psalm 77, “A Psalm of Asaph”, it is apparent that these three psalms were written for the use of Jeduthun and his fellow temple musicians. Psalm 89 is entitled “A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.”; (see 1 Kings 4:31). Psalms 72 and 127 contain the name of Solomon in the superscriptions, either as “A Psalm for Solomon” (Psalm 72), or “for Solomon” (Psalm 127). Psalm 90 is entitled “A Prayer of Moses” positively stating that Moses, the great man of God, was the author of this psalm. Fifty-five of the one hundred and fifty psalms include the phrase “To the chief Musician”; (King James Version and others), or, “For the director of music”; (New International Version and others), or, “To the choirmaster”; (Revised Standard Version and others), suggesting the psalm was composed by the author and then given to one individual appointed or entrusted as the overseer of the temple choir.
| Authors | Psalm Numbers | Sub-total | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| No author listed. | Book One: Psalms 1, 2, 10, 33. Book Two: Psalms 43, 66, 67, 71. Book Three: none. Book Four: Psalms 91-100ℝ [Psalms 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100], 102, 104, 105, 106. Book Five: Psalms 107, 111-121ℝ [Psalms 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121], 123, 125, 126, 128-130ℝ [Psalms 128, 129, 130], 132-137ℝ [Psalms 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137], and 146-150ℝ [Psalms 146, 147, 148, 149, and 150]. |
4 4 0 14 29 |
51 |
| Psalms of David. | Book One: Psalms 3-9ℝ [Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9], 11-32ℝ [Psalms 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32], and 34-41ℝ [Psalms 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41]. Book Two: Psalms 51-65ℝ [Psalms 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65], 68-70ℝ [Psalms 68, 69, 70]. Book Three: Psalm 86. Book Four: Psalm 101, 103. Book Five: Psalms 108-110ℝ [Psalms 108, 109, 110], 122, 124, 131, 138-145ℝ [Psalms 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143, 144, 145]. |
37 18 1 2 14 |
72 |
| Psalms of Asaph. | Psalms 50, 73-83ℝ [Psalms 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83]. | 12 | 12 |
| Psalms composed ‘of the Sons of Korah’. | Psalms 42, 44-49ℝ [Psalms 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49], 84, 85, 87. | 10 | 10 |
| Psalms of Solomon. | Psalms 72 and 127. | 2 | 2 |
| Psalm of Heman the Ezrahite ‘for the Sons of Korah’. | Psalm 88 | 1 | 1 |
| Psalm (‘Maskil’) of Ethan the Ezrahite | Psalm 89 | 1 | 1 |
| Psalm (‘A Prayer’) of Moses | Psalm 90 | 1 | 1 |
| Final Total 150 | |||
The superscriptions found throughout the Book of Psalms are introductory headings that were likely included by the author or composer of the psalm at the time it was written. These perform the function of outlining the intended use for the psalm, and they typically specify one or more of the following reasons:
The superscriptions of many of the psalms contain references to individuals such as David, Asaph, the sons of Asaph, and the sons of Korah that appear to indicate smaller collections that have been combined and are contained in the five books of one hundred and fifty psalms that make up the Book of Psalms. These are as follows:
(i). Seventy-three psalms in the Davidic Collection (that is, the collection of David).
(ii). Twelve psalms in the Asaphic Collection (that is, the collection of Asaph and his descendants).
(iii). Eleven psalms in the Korahite Collection (that is, the Sons of Korah).
(iv). As well as these collections, fifty-five psalms contain the Hebrew phrase lamnaeach in the superscriptions, translated in the various English versions of the Holy Bible as “To the Chief Musician”; (King James Version, New King James Version); “For the director of music”; (New International Version, New Century Version); “To the choirmaster”; (Revised Standard Version, English Standard Version), and “To the leader”; (New Revised Standard Version). Apparently the phrase is an instruction that the psalm was dedicated or entrusted to the leader of the sanctuary choir for use in communal worship.
Besides the formal divisions of the one hundred and fifty individual psalms into five books in the Book of Psalms as illustrated above, and in addition to the collections of psalms composed by David, Asaph, and the sons of Korah, several other smaller collections appear as minor Psalters.
(i). The largest collection found in the Psalms is what is known as the Davidic collection. It comes from Book One where thirty-seven of the forty-one psalms are attributed to David. These psalms arose from the king’s own experiences, and were probably first brought together as a personal collection by David some time before his death in around 970 BC. Of the remaining psalms in Book One, Psalm 1 constitutes the introduction to the Book of Psalms, Psalm 33 has no title, and Psalm 9 and Psalm 10 were possibly originally one psalm which has been divided into two, for when these two psalms are combined together, they appear to be one acrostic psalm, and are presented as such in the ancient Greek Septuagint version of the Hebrew Scriptures.
(ii). Psalms 51 to 72ℝ [Psalms 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72] are called “The Prayers of David son of Jesse”; (see Psalm 72; verse 20).
(iii). Psalms 52 to 55ℝ [Psalms 52, 53, 54, 55] are a collection of what are termed in the Hebrew ‘maskils’.
(iv). Psalms 56 to 60ℝ [Psalms 56, 57, 58, 59, 60] are a collection of ‘miktams’ in Hebrew.
(v). Psalms 57 to 59ℝ [Psalms 57, 58, 59] are termed in the Hebrew ‘al-taschiths.’
(vi). Psalms 113 to 118ℝ [Psalms 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118] are known as the ‘Egyptian Hallel’, because of the first phrase of Psalm 114—“When Israel came out of Egypt”. Jewish tradition points to the Egyptian Hallel being used in ancient times as an integral part of the Passover ceremony in the temple. Apparently these psalms were sang by those in attendance, at the same time as vessels containing the blood of the Passover lambs were passed along the rows of priests, before being poured out by the ministering priest at the foot of the altar. The faithful attending the Passover joined in by shouting hallelujahs and repeated select verses of these Egyptian Hallel psalms at different intervals.
(vii). Psalm 119 can perhaps be considered to be not just one, but twenty-two individual short psalms of eight verses each, which together form a cleverly crafted acrostic meditation on the Law.
(viii). Psalms 120 to 134ℝ [Psalms 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134] are called the ‘Songs of Ascents’, or the ‘Pilgrim Psalms’. They are a collection of fifteen sacred Hebrew pilgrim folk songs believed to have been used by the Jews on pilgrimages to Jerusalem for the three annual festivals. These psalms have the term “A Song of Ascents”; (translated as ‘A Song of degrees’ in the King James Version) in the superscription, although the origin of this phrase is obscure.
In the Hebrew they are termed ‘shiyr hamma’aloth’, however Psalm 121 is termed ‘shiyr lamma’aloth’. The root word in the Hebrew language is ‘ma’alah’, meaning ‘to go up’. This word is used in the context of the return or ascent back to Judea after the Babylonian exile, recorded in Ezra chapter 7; verse 9. The word is also used in Exodus chapter 20; verse 26, and in 1 Kings 10:19 for ‘steps’ or ‘stairs’, and in 2 Kings 20:9 for the ‘steps of a sundial’.
In the superscription of the Songs of Ascent the word ma’alah possibly refers to the pilgrimages to Jerusalem three times a year for the great feasts that God had directed them to keep in the writings of Moses (see Exodus 23:14-17; also 1 Samuel 1:3; Isaiah chapter 30; verse 29; Psalm 122; verse 4; and Psalm 42; verse 4). The city of Jerusalem is located in hilly and mountainous terrain (see Psalm 121; verse 1; Psalm 125; verse 2; and Psalm 133; verse 3), and therefore the pilgrimages to Jerusalem did actually involve ascending there. Jewish teachings in the Mishnah, the ‘Oral Torah’ written around 220 AD suggest that the Levite priests sang these Songs of Ascent during the night-long feast on the first night of the Feast of Tabernacles, and much of their contents appear to be well suited for use on these festive occasions.
(ix). Psalms 145 to 150ℝ [Psalms 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150] are a collection known as the ‘Triumphant Psalms’. They are rich in praise to God, and form the grand doxology of the Book of Psalms, finishing with Psalm 150, a type of grand finale, which sums up the spiritual content of the entire book, and serves as its fitting conclusion.
(x). The Triumphant Psalms contain another collection known as the ‘Hallelujah Psalms’, that is, Psalms 146 to 150ℝ [Psalms 146, 147, 148, 149, 150]. Each psalm commences and finishes with the Hebrew word of praise to God—‘Hallelujah’, meaning, ‘praise the Lord’. Together these Hallelujah psalms constitute a magnificent Hallelujah Chorus. These smaller collections or lesser Psalters have aspects and components incorporated into their construction that make them well-suited for use in the roles they were composed for, whether it was for personal or communal songs of praise, worship, or devotion.
The superscriptions of many of the psalms contain key words or phrases that appear to indicate the nature or type of psalm being introduced. These introductory terms are as follows:
(i). Psalm. The word used in the original Hebrew language is ‘mizmor’. The term defines the psalm as a song to be sung with the accompaniment of stringed instruments. It is found in fifty-seven psalms (Psalms 3-6ℝ [Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6], 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 19-24ℝ [Psalms 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24], 29-31ℝ [Psalms 29, 30, 31], 38-41ℝ [Psalms 38, 39, 40, 41], 47-51ℝ [Psalms 47, 48, 49, 50, 51], 62-68ℝ [Psalms 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68], 73, 75-77ℝ [Psalms 75, 76, 77], 79, 80, 82-85ℝ [Psalms 82, 83, 84, 85], 87, 88, 92, 98, 100, 101, 108-110ℝ [Psalms 108, 109, 110], 139-141ℝ [Psalms 139, 140, 141], 143), and is always used with other qualifying remarks, such as “of David”. The Hebrew word mizmor comes the root word ‘zamar’, meaning ‘to sing’, or, ‘to praise’, or, ‘to play a musical instrument’. The ancient Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament translates the Hebrew term mizmor with the term ‘psalmos’ (yalmov); from the root word ‘psallein’ (yallein), meaning ‘to pluck’. This is the origin of the name for the sacred collection of poems and songs that we call the Book of Psalms.
(ii). Song. The term is a translation of The Hebrew word shir. It appears in the superscription of twenty-nine psalms (Psalms 18, 30, 45, 46, 48, 65, 68, 75, 76, 83, 87, 88, 92, 108, and 120-134ℝ [Psalms 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134]). In Psalm 18 the feminine form of shir is used. This word, Hebrew ‘shirah’ is translated ‘song’ in English versions of the Bible, while in Psalm 45 English versions of the Bible translates shirah as ‘love song’, or, ‘wedding song’. The superscriptions of Psalms 120-134ℝ [Psalms 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134] follow the word ‘song’ by the phrase ‘of degrees’, indicating that these psalms at one time formed a minor collection of sacred songs.
(iii). Maskil. The Hebrew term ‘maskil’ is of unknown meaning, and is always used to define the psalm, such as ‘A Maskil of David’ (Psalm 55). It occurs in the superscription of thirteen psalms (Psalms 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55ℝ [Psalms 52, 53, 54, 55], 74, 78, 88, 89 and 142). The root Hebrew word from which the term maskil originated is ‘sakal’, meaning ‘to be prudent’, or, ‘to have comprehension’. Because of this some scholars have suggested that a psalm that is termed as a maskil was composed to be used for didactic purposes (that is, for the purpose of instruction). Other scholars, however, believe that the term maskil may indicate a type of musical performance, although the first explanation seems more likely. The translators of the King James Version used the term ‘maschil’, while later translations commonly use the spelling ‘maskil’.
(iv). Miktam. A Hebrew term of unknown meaning, it appears in the superscriptions of six psalms: Psalms 16 and 56-60ℝ [Psalms 56, 57, 58, 59, 60], all of which are psalms of David related to the need for deliverance. One concept for the meaning of the term ‘miktam’ (written as michtam in the King James Version) draws reference to the Akkadian root word ‘katamu’; definition: ‘to cover’. This suggests a psalm of atonement (that is, the covering up and forgiveness of sins). Another proposal is that the term miktam may be a musical title. The ancient Greek Septuagint version, however, translates it as ‘an inscription’ .
(v). Prayer. The word is a translation of The Hebrew word tephillah. It suggests that the psalm was composed for use by either a congregation or an individual as a meaningful prayer to God. It is used in the superscriptions of Psalms 17, 86, 90, 102, and 142.
(vi). Praise. The word is a translation of ‘tehillah’ in the Hebrew language. It is found only once in the superscription of Psalm 145. The Hebrew word tehillah in its masculine plural form ‘tehillim’ is the name given to the whole collection in its translated form—Psalms.
(vii). Shiggaion (Hebrew ‘shiggayon’). The term is used in the superscription of Psalm 7. It is of uncertain meaning. In the context of the term ‘shiggaion’ the psalm has been explained as a sacred poem of wild irregular and impassioned strain composed for singing. The root word for the term is probably The Hebrew word shagah, meaning ‘to swerve’, ‘to stray’, ‘to meander’, or, ‘to stagger’, suggesting a wandering irregular rhythm, with frequent change.
(viii). For instruction. The phrase is the English translation of The Hebrew word lelammed. It occurs once in the superscription of Psalm 60 in this manner ‘A Miktam of David; for instruction’, and suggests that the psalm was composed for the purpose of spiritual and religious instruction. David likely composed it for use in the sanctuary by the Levite priests for this purpose. This certainly fits in with the role of the Levites in the sanctuary and in synagogues as instructors of the people in spiritual and religious matters.
(ix). To bring to remembrance. The phrase is the English translation of The Hebrew word lehazkir. It occurs in the superscription of Psalms 38 and 70. The New Revised Standard Version translation of the term is ‘for the memorial offering’, while the New International Version translates the term as ‘a petition’. In other places in the Bible the word lehazkir is translated ‘to make petition’, ‘to celebrate’, or, ‘to record’ (kjv)—1 Chronicles 16:4, ‘remember’—1 Chronicles 16:12, or, ‘recorder’ in the context of an individual appointed to keep official records—1 Chronicles 18:15. The Hebrew word lehazkir is derived from the root word ‘azkarah’, meaning a ‘memorial offering’. Because of this some scholars have conjectured that Psalm 38 and Psalm 70 were intended to be sung in the sanctuary service while the sacrificial service took place.
(x). Of thanksgiving. The phrase is an English translation of The Hebrew word lethodah. It appears only once in the superscriptions of the Book of Psalms in Psalm 100. Perhaps the composer intended it to be used by the sanctuary choir at the time of the thank offering, or, ‘peace offering’ as it is called in the King James Version (see Leviticus 7:11-15). Psalm 100 is introduced in the superscription in some Bible versions as ‘A Psalm of Thanksgiving’; the New International Version superscription is ‘A psalm for giving thanks’, and the King James Version, ‘A Psalm of praise’.
Many of the Psalms were originally composed as hymns and spiritual songs for use in worship services in the sanctuary on the Sabbath day. One, Psalm 92, is designated in the superscription ‘A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath Day’. They were constructed in the Hebrew parallelism style of poetry, and many of them have musical scores and directions that render them well suited for singing. Because of this, a number of the superscription introductions contain Hebrew phrases that specify musical melodies to accompany the psalms, tunes that were probably well-known at the time of their original use. Some of these melodies may have even been popular tunes that were adapted for use in public worship.
(i). Muthlabben. This term occurs once in the superscription of Psalm 9. It is of uncertain meaning. The literal translation from the Hebrew is ‘death of the son’. Some English versions of the Holy Bible retain the original phrase Muth-labben without translation, such as the King James Version, the Revised Standard Version, and the New Revised Standard Version. Other translations, however, assume the phrase refers to a melody the composer of the psalm intended to accompany its singing, and render the phrase ‘To the tune of ‘Death of the Son’, such as the New King James Version and the New International Version.
(ii). Shoshannim. This term is found in the superscription of Psalms 45 and 69. Its literal interpretation is ‘lilies’. It probably refers musicians and performers to a melody or song pattern that was to be employed in their original usage. The superscription of Psalm 60 contains the phrase ‘shushan-eduth’, literally meaning ‘lilly of the covenant’. The superscription of Psalm 80 contains the phrase ‘shoshannimeduth’, literally ‘lilies (plural) of the covenant’. It appears quite likely that these references to lilies refer to a well known and much loved melody in the days when the psalms were written, although some commentators suspect that the reference to lilies may refer to a musical instrument the shape of which is similar to the flower of the same name.
(iii). Aijeleth Shahar. The Hebrew phrase means literally ‘the doe (or deer) of the dawn’. Found only in Psalm 22 it is translated ‘To the tune of The Doe of the Morning’ in the New International Version and ‘Set to ‘The Deer of the Dawn’ in the New King James Version, while the King James Version retains the phrase ‘Aijeleth Shahar’. Most of the English translations interpret the phrase to indicate the melody that the psalm was to be set to in its original usage. According to the Jewish Targums (the Aramaic-Hebrew Bible translation in use between circa. 500 BC-1000 AD), Psalm 22 was sang at the time of the morning sacrifice, however it is not known when this custom was introduced.
(iv). Jonath-elem-rechokim. This phrase is found in Psalm 56 and is of uncertain meaning. Apparently it is of ancient-origin, and suffers from the partial loss of the meaning of the some of the original Hebrew words used in the phrase, for it is the subject of several different interpretations in various English versions of the Holy Bible.
While the King James Version retains the original phrase, the translators of the New International Version apparently considered the literal interpretation to be ‘to dove on oaks distant’, and subsequently have translated the phrase in the superscription, “To the tune of A Dove on Distant Oaks”.
On the other hand the translators of the New King James Version apparently have agreed with another literal interpretation perhaps ‘dove of the dumbness of the distance’, or, ‘the silent dove of the far ones’ (either of far-off lands, or among aliens). Consequently their superscription reads “Set to ‘The Silent Dove in Distant Lands’ ”.
Conjecturally the translators of the Revised Standard Version and the New Revised Standard Version have substituted The Hebrew word elem for ‘alam’ in the original text, and subsequently have arrived at the expression “According to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths”.
Some have also suggested the phrase ‘Jonath-elem-rechokim’ to be a quotation from, or reference to, the song found in Psalm 55; verses 6, 7; while another suggestion is that it is an allusion to David’s years of homeless wanderings when he was constantly on the move escaping from the murderous intentions of the jealous King Saul.
(v). Al-taschith. This phrase is found in Psalms 57-59ℝ [Psalms 57, 58, 59], and 75. It means literally ‘do not destroy’. The King James Version of the Holy Bible retains the original phrase in the superscription, while modern English versions translate it into English, most often referring to it as the name of a musical tune specified to accompany the particular psalms in their original use.
The Psalms were composed to be songs for worship, and the composers themselves were skilful and talented musicians. Consequently their psalms were constructed to be sung with a musical or orchestral accompaniment. Some of the psalm introductions in the superscriptions appear to make references to the kind of musical instruments to be used to accompany the delivery of the psalm in song or chanting on the day of worship.
(i). On Neginoth. The phrase is used in the superscription of six psalms (Psalms 4, 6, 54, 55, 67, 76). The meaning of the phrase is not certain. Many commentators believe the literal meaning to be ‘with stringed instruments’. This is also the interpretation used for the Hebrew term ‘neginoth’ in modern English Bibles in other Old Testament passages where it occurs (see Isaiah chapter 38; verse 20; and Habakkuk chapter 3; verse 19). The term is used in the singular in Psalm 61 (that is, ‘negeenaw’). The Psalmist’s specification of stringed instruments to be used to accompany the psalm points to the popularity of the musical accompaniment with the ancient Israelites in their worship services. They regularly used stringed instruments, as well as percussion and wind instruments in the sanctuary services in which the Psalms and other Scriptures were sang or chanted. The stringed instruments were of three principles types, the lyre (Hebrew ‘kinnor’), the psaltery or harp (Hebrew ‘nebel’), and the zither (Hebrew ‘aor’).
(ii). On Nehiloth. The phrase is used only once, and is found in Psalm 5. The literal meaning is ‘for flutes’. This is also the standard translation in modern English Bibles. It apparently indicates that the composer intended the psalm to be accompanied only by flutes, probably setting it apart while it was sang or chanted in its original use.
(iii). Upon Sheminith. The term is of uncertain meaning. It appears in the superscription of Psalms 6 and 12, and is found again in 1 Chronicles 15:21 where it is used in with a musical instruction in connection with harps or lyres. Josephus records in his writings that the Jewish harp (Hebrew ‘nebel’) had eight strings. Scholars tend to believe that the Hebrew term ‘sheminith’ refers to a melody for playing or a style of singing. The term is closely related to the Hebrew word shemini meaning ‘eight’. It could have been intended by the composer of the psalm that the Hebrew term sheminith was an instruction to the choir to raise or lower their voices when singing that particular psalm. There is, however, no indication in the Scriptures that the Hebrews knew of, or practiced the concept of the eight note octave, although it is possible.
(iv). Upon Gittith. This is a musical term that is of uncertain meaning. It is recorded in the superscription of Psalms 8, 81, and 84. It is possible that it is an instruction for the psalm to be accompanied by a musical instrument from the Philistine city of Gath, or that the musical accompaniment to the psalm is to be structured after the manner of the Gittites. Jewish tradition holds that it referred to a harp that David brought back from Gath. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for wine press is ‘gath’. Perhaps the Psalm was to be set to a musical tune that was concerned with the wine harvest.
(v). Upon Alamoth. The term is of uncertain meaning. It is found only in the superscription of Psalm 46 and in 1 Chronicles 15:20. It is a musical term, probably outlining a method or tune for playing stringed instruments to accompany the psalm when it was sang originally. In 1 Chronicles 15:20 the term appears in reference to stringed instruments, either harps or lyres. Perhaps the psalm composer intended that the lyres were to be tuned to follow the lead of the harps.
(vi). Upon Mahalath. The term is found in the superscription of Psalms 53 and 88, and is of uncertain meaning. In the Hebrew language the word ‘mahalath’ means ‘sickness’, or, ‘suffering of affliction’. It was possibly intended by the Psalmist that the song should be sung in a sad, gloomy manner, or to a mournful tune, as the mood of both Psalms 53 and 88 is sad and mournful. The superscription in Psalm 88 carries the Hebrew phrase ‘Mahalath Leannoth’. The Hebrew word leannoth is of uncertain meaning. It may possible mean ‘to sing’, or, ‘for the sick’. In Psalm 88 the phrase Mahalath Leannoth was possibly referring to the name of a musical tune named, ‘The Suffering of Affliction’, to which the psalm was sung.
Because the Book of Psalms consists of individual songs that are all religious lyrical poetry, normally the occasion or reason for the compilation of the individual psalms are not listed, however there are fourteen psalms that do. These are Psalms 3, 7, 18, 30, 34, 51, 52, 54, 56, 57, 59, 60, 63, and 142.
(i). Psalm 3. The superscription in the psalm reads: “A Psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom”. It indicates that Psalm 3 was written by David on the occasion when he fled Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s uprising. This event happened some time earlier on during his forty year reign between around 1010-970 BC. The account is detailed in 2 Samuel 13:1 - 2 Samuel 19:23.
(ii). Psalm 7. The superscription in Psalm 7 reads: “A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite”. The person named Cush is unknown in Jewish history outside the use of his name in the title of this psalm. It is apparent from Psalm 7 that David was in great danger when he wrote the psalm, and it has been suggested that David was in fact referring to the jealous King Saul, by whom he was ruthlessly pursued and persecuted for a number of years, as King Saul desperately sought to kill David.
(iii). Psalm 18. The superscription in Psalm 18 reads: “For the director of music. A Psalm of David, the servant of the Lord, who addressed the words of this song to the Lord in the day the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul”. Before he ascended to the throne of Israel, David spent many years trying to escape the murderous intentions of King Saul. Apparently it was from this harsh and perilous background that David penned the words of Psalm 18.
(iv). Psalm 30. The superscription in Psalm 30 reads: “A Psalm. A song for the dedication of the house. Of David”. The phrase is of uncertain meaning. The song may have been intended to be sang at the dedication of David’s palace, or perhaps for the occasion of the dedication of the altar at the future site of the temple that David had purchased off Araunah the Jebusite at the time of the terrible plague (1 Chronicles 21:1 - 22:1).
(v). Psalm 34. The superscription in Psalm 34 reads: “A Psalm of David, when he feigned insanity before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he left”. According to the introduction David wrote Psalm 34 to commemorate his successful escape from Abimelech by feigning insanity. The name Abimelech here probably refers to Achish, the king of the Philistine city of Gath to whom David fled in order to escape Saul, only to find that Achish himself was a substantial threat to David (see 1 Samuel 21:10 - 22:1).
(vi). Psalm 51. The superscription in Psalm 51 reads: “For the director of music. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba”. Apparently David composed Psalm 51 after he had been chastened by the prophet Nathan for committing adultery with the woman Bathsheba, a scandalous sin that brought great shame and disgrace to David (see 2 Samuel 12:1-24).
(vii). Psalm 52. The superscription in Psalm 52 reads: “For the director of music. A Maskil of David. When Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him: ‘David has gone to the house of Ahimelech’ ”. The incident mentioned in the superscription of Psalm 52 relates to an episode when David was on the run from the psychopathic and melancholic King Saul, who was desperate to find and kill the one who was chosen by God to be the next king—David.
David had gone up to Nob, the city of the Hebrew priests, and consulted the Lord God with the help of the priest Ahimelech, as well as being given food and Goliath’s sword. An Edomite named Doeg was there and saw David when he visited Nob. Doeg was the head shepherd working for King Saul and he betrayed David to Saul. Saul then went to the city of Nob with soldiers, and ordered his soldiers to kill all the priests, because they had assisted David. When they refused his command, Doeg volunteered and taking his sword killed all the priests, numbering eighty-five in total, by thrusting them through with a sword, a vicious and brutal crime (see 1 Samuel 21:1-9 and 1 Samuel 22:9-23).
(viii). Psalm 54. The superscription in Psalm 54 reads: “For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went to Saul and said, ‘Is not David in hiding among us?’ ”. Psalm 54 is another of the psalms that David wrote when he was hiding from Saul, this time in the Wilderness of Ziph, south of Hebron. Saul travelled to the region with three thousand picked men hunting for David to kill him. The inhabitants of the area, the Ziphites, twice disclosed David’s hideouts to Saul (see 1 Samuel 23:14-19; 1 Samuel 24:1, 2).
(ix). Psalm 56. The superscription in Psalm 56 reads: “For the director of music. To the tune of ‘A Dove on Distant Oaks’. A Miktam of David. When the Philistines seized him in Gath”. As in Psalm 52, the superscription in Psalm 56 connects the psalm with David’s flight from Saul. David fled from Nob, the city of the Hebrew priests, to the Philistine city of Gath (around 1020-1015 BC), only to be seized there by the Philistines and made to appear before Achish, the king of that city. David feigned insanity, and was released at the king’s command, thus avoiding the chance of imprisonment or even slavery there. Read the account in 1 Samuel 21:10-14.
(x). Psalm 57. The superscription in Psalm 57 reads: “For the director of music. Set to the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. A Miktam of David. In the cave after he had fled from Saul”. David composed this beautiful psalm when he was taking refuge in the Cave of Adullam (see 1 Samuel 22:1).
(xi). Psalm 59. The superscription in Psalm 59 reads: “For the director of music. To the tune of ‘Do Not Destroy’. A Psalm of David. A Miktam. When Saul sent men to watch David’s house and kill him”. According to the superscription David wrote Psalm 59 after his wife Michal (who was also Saul’s daughter) helped save him from certain death by letting him down from a window so he could escape. David’s house was being watched by King Saul’s men, who had been sent to watch the house and arrest David so he could be put to death (see 1 Samuel 19:11-18). The name of the musical melody specified in the superscription is fitting to the composer’s predicament. The psalm is similar in background to Psalms 57 and 58.
(xii). Psalm 60. The superscription in Psalm 60 reads: “For the director of music. Set to the tune of ‘Lily of the Covenant’. A Miktam of David; for instruction. When he fought with Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt”. According to the superscription David wrote Psalm 60 during Israel’s wars with the Edomite nation. Although historically the Israelites were related to the Edomites through the patriarchs Abraham and his son Isaac, nevertheless up until the time of David’s reign and beyond these two nations were constantly at enmity and frequently at war against each other. However during the reign of David the Edomites were effectively defeated and subdued by the success of David’s military campaigns against them, and during the remainder of his reign they continued to be subject to Israeli domination, along with the Philistines, the Amalekites, the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Syrians. Psalm 60 is a prayer of appeal for help from God.
(xiii). Psalm 63. The superscription in Psalm 63 reads: “A Psalm of David. When he was in the wilderness of Judah”. According to the superscription David composed this psalm when he was in the Wilderness of Judah, surviving as a fugitive on the run who was trying to escape the wrath of Saul. (Read about his experiences in 1 Samuel chapters 23 and 24).
(xiv). Psalm 142. The superscription in Psalm 142 reads: “A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer”. Although the superscription does not identify the cave David was seeking refuge in, it may have been Adullam (1 Samuel 22:1), or En-gedi (1 Samuel 24:1-3) when he was hiding from Saul.
The Hebrew term ‘selah’ appears seventy-one times in the Book of Psalms. The subject of much conjecture, it remains an Old Testament Hebrew term of uncertain meaning. It has been interpreted in a number of different ways:
The Hebrew language term selah does not appear in the superscriptions of the Psalms, but instead is always located in the contents. Some scholars have also claimed that it was not incorporated into the text by the composer of the original psalm, but was added in later. Unfortunately there is no way of finding out if this was the case, although considering that the individual psalms were written as songs for use in the sanctuary worship services by people who were highly musically proficient, it is also possible that it was the word selah was contained in the original work. Certainly the inclusion of the word selah in the Book of Psalms is of ancient practice. The translators of the ancient Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament may have not fully known the meaning of the word selah, for they translated it ‘diapsalma’ (meaning a musical interlude). This name suggests that they believed it to be a prescribed musical notice for the liturgical rendition of the psalm in the place of public worship. Selah is found only in the Psalms and the poetry of Habakkuk chapter 3. The word selah is probably derived from the Hebrew root word ‘salal’, meaning ‘to lift up’, or, ‘to elevate’. Selah is usually only used in psalms that are very hymn-like in nature, and most often at the end of a passage of thought.
Selah appears seventy-one times in the Book of Psalms:
Seventeen times in Book One:
Psalm 3; verse 2; Psalm 3; verse 4; Psalm 3; verse 8; Psalm 4; verse 2; Psalm 4; verse 4; Psalm 7; verse 5; Psalm 9; verse 16; Psalm 9; verse 20; Psalm 20; verse 3; Psalm 21; verse 2; Psalm 24; verse 6; Psalm 24; verse 10; Psalm 32; verse 4; Psalm 32; verse 5; Psalm 32:7; Psalm 39; verse 5; and Psalm 39; verse 11.
Thirty times in Book Two:
Psalm 44; verse 8; Psalm 46; verse 3; Psalm 46; verse 7; Psalm 46; verse 11; Psalm 47; verse 4; Psalm 48; verse 8; Psalm 49; verse 13; Psalm 49; verse 15; Psalm 50; verse 6; Psalm 52; verse 3; Psalm 52; verse 5; Psalm 54; verse 3; Psalm 55; verse 7; Psalm 55; verse 19; Psalm 57; verse 3; Psalm 57; verse 6; Psalm 59; verse 5; Psalm 59; verse 13; Psalm 60; verse 4; Psalm 61; verse 4; Psalm 62; verse 4; Psalm 62; verse 8; Psalm 66; verse 4; Psalm 66; verse 7; Psalm 66; verse 15; Psalm 67; verse 1; Psalm 67; verse 4; Psalm 68; verse 7; Psalm 68; verse 19; and Psalm 68; verse 32.
Twenty times in Book Three:
Psalm 75; verse 3; Psalm 76; verse 3; Psalm 76; verse 9; Psalm 77; verse 3; Psalm 77; verse 9; Psalm 77; verse 15; Psalm 81; verse 7; Psalm 82; verse 2; Psalm 83; verse 8; Psalm 84; verse 4; Psalm 84; verse 8; Psalm 85; verse 2; Psalm 87; verse 3; Psalm 87; verse 6; Psalm 88; verse 7; Psalm 88; verse 10; Psalm 89; verse 4; Psalm 89; verse 37; Psalm 89; verse 45; Psalm 89; verse 48.
The word selah does not appear in Book Four.
Four times in Book Five:
Psalm 140; verse 3; Psalm 140; verse 5; Psalm 140; verse 8; and Psalm 143; verse 6.
It is not easy to categorize the individual psalms. Although many of the psalms have similar content, the Psaltery is essentially a hymnbook, a collection of prayers and songs, and not a historical narrative. Many of the psalms carry no details of the circumstances or events around their composition, and we have no way of finding out what occasioned the writing of them. But the Psalms are bound together as songs for worship, and the Book of Psalms is perhaps over all the most frequently used book in the Bible. Its verses have inspired the readings, the preaching, and the songs of worship for thousands of millions of people, both Jews and Christians, since the majority of them were composed around three thousand years ago. Much of this outstanding success is due to the individual psalms themselves. Their contents display deep emotion and heartfelt praise for God, elevating the mood and spiritual experience of the faithful, whilst adding a religious and godly atmosphere to the worship ceremony. Some categories of Psalms are listed below according to their contents (as separate from the superscriptions).
Psalms 2, 22, 69, 72, and 110.
The Lord’s Messiah, the Sacred Anointed One of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is intimately portrayed throughout the Psalms. Jesus Christ in Old Testament times was the powerful Divine, immortal, supernatural, living God, who was active and manifest Himself amongst the Hebrew race of the Old Testament for nearly two thousand years, while He actively kept the sacred covenant that He had in place with them during that age. Because of His close connection and interaction with the ancient Hebrews over that long period of time, a vast amount of dramatically vivid and rich information about many aspects of His Divine and human ministries are contained and interwoven throughout the precious tapestries of the Psalms. Indeed such is the extreme depth of Divine revelations contained in the Psalms, a detailed outline of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ could even be gleaned and written from the Book of Psalms alone.
In the Book of Psalms our Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in His human condition and in His Divine glory, in His humility and in His exaltation, in His ministry on earth and in His priestly ministry before the Throne of God, in His suffering and in His royal dignity, in His crucifixion and in His resurrection, and in His final triumph and in the blessedness and permanence of His eternal reign. The New Testament portrayal of Jesus Christ as the great Teacher, Prophet, Priest, Redeemer, and King is foretold in the Psalms.
The authenticity of Jesus Christ as the true Messiah can be established from the fulfilment of the numerous Messianic prophecies found throughout the Psalms and the rest of the Old Testament. In the days when Jesus Christ came down to carry out His Messianic mission and live for a time on the earth in the form of a mortal man, many of the Hebrew prophetic writings were by then already ancient. For example, the prophetic Messianic psalms contained in the Book of Psalms were written ten centuries before the Lord came to the earth in His Messianic mission to fulfil them. Conversely, the authenticity of the Psalmists and prophets of the Old Testament as holy men of God can be established from the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, in that He, as the Lord’s Messiah, really did fulfil everything they foretold. These facts then shed considerable light on one more powerful and profound attribute that God possesses: that is that clearly God intimately foresees and foreknows the distant future fully and accurately, projecting Himself into future events with ease, and with great power and enormous impact, according to His will, and in His time. This fact indicates that undeniably the Lord God the Almighty owns, controls, and has designed everything in existence, including even time itself also.
Commentators have devised five categories of Messianic psalms:
(i). Purely prophetic psalms. Psalm 110 fits into this category, for it refers in powerful terms to a king like David who would be Lord. Jesus Christ is confirmed as this King in the New Testament. Psalm 110; verse 1 is directly quoted in the New Testament in Matthew chapter 22; verse 44, Mark chapter 12; verse 36, Luke 20:42, 43; Acts 2:34, 35; and Hebrews chapter 1; verse 13. The reference to Psalm 110, verse 1—“The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand until I make your enemies your footstool’ ”—is also inferred in Matthew chapter 26; verse 64; Mark chapter 16; verse 19; Luke chapter 22; verse 69; Acts chapter 5; verse 31; Romans chapter 8; verse 34; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians chapter 1; verse 20; Hebrews chapter 8; verse 1, Hebrews 10:12, 13; Colossians chapter 3; verse 1; and 1 Peter 3:22.
(ii). Eschatological psalms. Psalms 66, 67, 68, and 69 are considered to be eschatological, because they describe the Lord God in His power and glory at the time when He will consummate His Kingdom. Although these particular psalms make no mention of a Davidic king, the lofty descriptions of the Lord God on His day are in harmony with the numerous other Scriptures in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible that predict and describe the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
(iii). Typological-prophetic psalms. In this form of psalm the author describes his own suffering with language that is so graphic it goes well beyond his own experience and became historically true and fulfilled much later in Jesus Christ. Psalm 22 is the classic example of this type of prophetic Messianic psalm.
(iv). Indirect Messianic psalms. These are royal psalms, written for a king or a royal occasion. They can also be readily understood to be referring to Jesus Christ and God the Father in much of their content (see Psalms 2; 45; and 72).
(v). Typical Messianic psalms. This category of psalm can commonly cover one or more of a range of topics, yet distinct verses or sections describe the Messiah, while other parts of the passage do not apply. Psalms of this category typically have aspects of the experiences and ministry of Jesus Christ incorporated into them without specifically referring to Him. Writers of the New Testament, knowing personally that Jesus was the Christ, quoted from, or referred to Old Testament texts and the Psalms freely to verify the authenticity of Jesus Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. Many of these Hebrew Scriptures they referred to were already quite ancient by that time. This Old Testament evidence written about or preached by central New Testament figures such as Peter, Paul, John, Mark, and others had a powerful impact on many Jews early in the New Testament period, and clearly influenced belief and acceptance in the new Christian religion right from the outset, as it burst onto the scene and then rapidly spread from Jerusalem, across Judea, Palestine, much of the Middle East, the region around the Mediterranean Sea, and eventually across the whole Roman Empire.
Key verses from the Book of Psalms that were quoted by New Testament authors in reference to Jesus Christ are demonstrated in the table below as follows:
| The Messiah in the Book of Psalms | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Psalm Reference | Portrayal | New Testament Fulfilment | |||
| Psalm 2; verses 1, 2. | Christ would be opposed. | Acts chapter 4; verse 25. | |||
| Psalm 2; verse 7. | Christ is the Son of God. | Matthew chapter 3; verse 17; Acts chapter 13; verse 33. |
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| Psalm 8; verse 2. | Christ would be praised by infants and children. | Matthew 21:15, 16. | |||
| Psalm 8; verses 5, 6. | Christ as Ruler of all. | Hebrews 2:6-9. | |||
| Psalm 16; verse 10. | Christ rises from death. | Matthew chapter 28; verse 7; Acts 2:29-32; Hebrews chapter 13; verse 20. |
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| Psalm 18; verses 8-11. | Christ is exalted beyond death. | Acts 2:25-28. | |||
| Psalm 22; verse 1. | Christ would be forsaken by God at His time of suffering. | Matthew chapter 27; verse 46; Mark chapter 15; verse 34. |
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| Psalm 22; verses 7, 8. | Christ was to be derided by His enemies. | Matthew 27:39, 40; Mark 15:29, 30. |
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| Psalm 22; verse 16. | Christ was to have His hands and feet pierced. | Matthew chapter 27; verse 35; Mark chapter 15; verse 25; Luke chapter 23; verse 33; John chapter 19; verse 18; John chapter 20; verse 27. |
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| Psalm 22; verse 18. | Christ would have lots cast for His clothes. | Matthew chapter 27; verse 35; Mark chapter 15; verse 24; Luke chapter 23; verse 34; John chapter 19; verses 23, 24. |
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| Psalm 34; verse 20. | Christ would not have any of His bones broken. | John chapter 19; verses 32-36. | |||
| Psalm 35; verse 11. | Christ would be accused by false witnesses. | Matthew 26:59-61; Mark 14:55, 56. |
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| Psalm 35; verse 19; Psalm 69; verse 4; Psalm 109; verses 3-5. |
Christ would be hated without cause. | John chapter 15; verse 25. | |||
| Psalm 40; verses 6, 7. | Christ came to the earth as a mortal man. | Hebrews 10:5, 6. | |||
| Psalm 40; verse 8. | Christ delights in doing God’s will. | Hebrews chapter 10; verse 7. | |||
| Psalm 41; verse 9. | Christ was to be betrayed by a close friend. | Luke 22:47, 48; Acts chapter 1; verse 16. |
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| Psalm 45; verses 6, 7. | Christ the righteous King exalted. | Hebrews 1:8, 9. | |||
| Psalm 68; verse 18. | Christ ascends to Heaven. | Acts 1:9-11. | |||
| Psalm 69; verse 9. | Christ always lives to please God. | Romans chapter 15; verse 3. | |||
| Psalm 69; verse 21. | Christ was given wine and gall to drink in His time of suffering. | Matthew 27:33, 34; Mark 15:22, 23; Luke 23:36, 37. |
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| Psalm 82; verse 6. | Christ as the Son of God. | John chapter 10; verses 34-36. | |||
| Psalm 109; verse 4. | Christ prays for His enemies. | Luke chapter 23; verse 34. | |||
| Psalm 109; verse 8. | Christ would replace His betrayer. | Acts chapter 1; verse 20. | |||
| Psalm 110; verse 4. | Christ is a priest forever like Melchizedek. | Hebrews chapter 5; verse 6. | |||
| Psalm 118; verses 22, 23. | Christ is the Chief Cornerstone of God’s building. | Matthew chapter 21; verse 42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17, 18. |
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| Psalm 118; verse 26. | Christ comes in the name of the Lord. | Matthew chapter 21; verse 9; Matthew chapter 23; verse 39; Mark chapter 11; verse 9; John chapter 12; verses 12, 13. |
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| Blessed be the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord our God, forever and ever. Amen, and Amen. | |||||
In addition to the prophetic references to Jesus Christ from the Book of Psalms listed above, the books of Matthew and Luke record the temptation of Jesus Christ, when the wily one, Satan, in his failed bid to defeat the Messiah by causing Him to sin, misquoted from Psalm 91, verses 11 and 12 (recorded in Matthew 4: 5, 6; and Luke 4:9-11). After His resurrection, Jesus Christ, in reference to the authenticity of the Psalms as the Word of God, and part of the prophetic accompaniment to the Messianic mission verbally affirmed them when He said to His disciples, “ ‘These are My words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms must be fulfilled’ ”; (Luke 24:44).
Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143.
Penitential psalms are the lament of the Psalmist for his sins. They are an expression of request to God for forgiveness, and the realization of the need for God’s forgiveness. David stands apart as one of the great Bible characters; a man who is a mere mortal, sinning vigorously, yet repenting with relentless zeal; a man of survival, sensitive to God’s leading, and made fully aware of his sinfulness. David’s penitential psalms speak to the reader of their own need for repentance and forgiveness, while expressing the earnest belief of the Psalmist that the sinner can repent and be forgiven for his sins, and still retain the blessings of God in his life.
Psalms 47, 93, 95, 96, 97, 98, and 99.
The Enthronement Psalms celebrate the universal reign of God over all Creation, and His future judgment over the earth. They are characterized by expressions of praise and exaltation to God the King, and are powerful in their content. God is rightly given pure praise, expressing the elevated spiritual joy of the Psalmist. Through the use of these psalms we acknowledge and worship God as the all-powerful and glorious Creator and sovereign Ruler over all He has created.
Psalms 18, 23, 30, 32, 34, 40, 66, 92, 107, 116, 118, and 124.
Thanksgiving is one of the major themes of the Psalms. The Psalmist, after having his prayer of lament answered by God, returns with a gracious ode of thanks. Thanksgiving psalms often read like a hymn at the beginning, but they differ from regular psalms of praise because of the inclusion of narrative of the plight of the Psalmist, with thanksgiving for the deliverance given by God.
Psalms 1, 15, 34, 37, 49, 71, 73, 78, 111, 112, 119, 127, and 128.
Didactic psalms are essentially psalms of wisdom and righteous instruction, and they are termed as such because they abound with moral, ethical, and religious counsel. They may be a prayer song or praise song. They reflect the traditional and religious wisdom the Hebrews possessed and are written in instructional language. The writers showed great commitment to the Law of God as given through Moses, with its profound theological, moral, and spiritual implications, and this is reflected in the didactic psalms. They were written to be stand-alone songs, and therefore do not combine into a manual or structured guide.
Psalms 2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 61, 72, 110, and 132.
Psalms that are centred on the anointed king are called ‘Royal Psalms’. These psalms refer to a major event in the life of the king, like his coronation (Psalm 2), his wedding (Psalm 45), his guarantee of God’s protection (Psalm 21), the sealing of God’s covenant with the king (Psalm 110), or God’s covenant with the royal line of David (Psalm 132). Three of the royal psalms are also Messianic psalms (Psalms 2, 72, and 110), because the descriptions of the king also prophetically outline the glory of Jesus Christ, and the nature of His kingship.
Psalms 8, 19, 29, and 104.
The Israelites were a nation of farmers, and as such they lived close to the land and to nature. Although they were lovers of nature, yet for the Hebrews, nature was not an end in itself, but was a continual reminder of the God of nature. In keeping with their rural lifestyle, the cultivation of their crops and the shepherding of their flocks and herds involved constant outdoor labour and effort and frequent nights out under the stars leading and protecting their livestock. They saw God’s creative excellence in the things of nature, and His majesty in the heavens. The Psalmists praised God the Creator, and rejoiced in Him for the giving and sustaining of life, and reached out to Him through the worshipful merit of the nature psalms that they composed.
Psalms 46, 68, 78, 79, 105, 106, and 114.
The historical and national psalms review God’s dealings with His people and depict the history of Israel. From the rich experiences of the Hebrew nation of the past, whether painful or exhilarating, the Psalmists have penned warnings from the national history, and vital lessons for the generations of faithful to follow, lest they make the same mistakes. Typically these psalms describe national events and the faithfulness of God in Israel’s time of need. As much as the Psalmists are loyal to God and are centred on Him, so also God remained faithful to the Hebrew nation, keeping His covenant with them. Through God they could have confidence in the time of crisis, and inspiration for the future.
Psalms 17, 35, 52, 69, 79, 83, 109, 129, 137, and 140.
Psalms in which the writer invokes judgment or curses on his enemy are known as ‘Imprecatory Psalms’. The word ‘imprecate’ means ‘to invoke evil on’, or, ‘to utter curses’, hence the name for these prayer songs. Frequently these psalms feature language that is graphic and powerful, with the Psalmist calling on God to bring down judgment and wrath on those who attack or betray him. This type of psalm can be a source of consternation and perplexity to Christian readers, who are called upon by the Lord Jesus Christ to exercise love towards their enemies, such as in Matthew 5:43-48.
This distinction displays one of the fundamental differences between the teachings of Christianity and the frequent hostilities that were a historical feature of Hebrew life as portrayed in the Old Testament. The verses of Deuteronomy 20:10-18, and Joshua chapter 6; verse 21 demonstrate that the Israelites were instructed by God to wage war and destroy their enemies, which they did. In like fashion the Psalmist calls for the condemnation and destruction of his enemies. But there are a number of reasons why this situation came about:
(i). The history of the ancient Middle East reveals the nations to be in an almost continual state of war with the other nations surrounding them. It is apparent that any tribal, racial, or national group who wanted to live as pacifists, and so refused to fight their enemies, would have been quickly annihilated.
(ii). God was completely committed to maintaining a presence among the people of the earth that later would lead to the coming of the Lord’s Messiah, the Christ. The Jewish race was His chosen instrument, and He maintained His sacred covenant with them for more than two thousand years. Because of this it was necessary that He established and sustained the Israelites in Canaan (Palestine) through centuries of ongoing strife and hostilities. So it was vital that the Jews engaged in warfare with their many enemies merely in order to survive.
(iii). Unfortunately this also resulted in much violence, bloodshed, and hostility from within the Hebrew race itself, for numerous generations of Israelites were blooded, weapon-trained warriors who were descended from a historically warlike people, who had traditionally engaged in weapons-based warfare, fighting brutal hand to hand, bloody pitched battles on numerous battlefields. The majority of the Psalms were written by people living close to the centre of power, or even the king himself, especially David. The times were treacherous, dangerous, and bloodthirsty, and this frequently hostile situation could easily result in the king, or would-be king, being threatened with death. Consequently the Psalmists wrote the imprecatory psalms out of their own experience in their service to God and the nation of Israel, and the need for their own survival.
The reader can also better understand and relate to the imprecatory psalms if they consider a number of other factors concerning the situation with the Hebrew race and the way they thought. There are a number of suggestions listed below that might be of assistance in better understanding the reasons for the Psalmists invoking curses against their enemies:
(i). Hebrew thought is essentially concrete, or reality based, and because of this the Hebrews associated the sin and the sinner as one. The abstract concept of evil bore only limited significance to them outside the entity of the evildoers; the two were one and the same thing to them, therefore the removal of the sin could only be achieved by the destruction of the sinner.
(ii). The Hebrew people were mindful of, and recognized, the significance of the covenant that their God kept with them. Because they were God’s chosen people, any attacks made against them they considered to be made against God also, and they felt obligated to inflict punishment for such an attack. The Psalmists were aware of their role as people anointed by God to live with an elevated level of close relationship, association, and interaction with God the Divine Person, a situational way of life that was unknown among the godless nations surrounding Israel. When the Psalmist speaks, he speaks on God’s account. When the enemy attacks the Psalmist, he is also attacking God.
To illustrate the nature and closeness of the relationship between the God of the Hebrews and the writers of the Psalms, consider that a number of psalms are written in a manner whereby God is directly addressing the user of the psalm in the first person form (for example Psalm 2; verses 7-9, Psalm 50; verses 7-21, Psalm 68; verses 22, 23). The Psalmists were prophets and seers, spiritual men, men of God, men who were devout, upright, and holy. They were members of a peculiar race, for the God of the Hebrews was centred around, and focused on, the Hebrew race on earth. God dwelt among the Hebrews powerfully in their sanctuary and worship systems, and the Spirit of God dwelt within the living persons of the Psalmists themselves. So when God chose to speak directly through them, they acted as the go-between mediums for the sacred communication transmissions that God intended to communicate to His people on earth. This is why the Psalmists in some of the psalms write on God’s account, with God directly addressing the reader. These psalms can be readily interpreted as being authentic and real life, because in truth, they actually are. So too, because the Psalmists were themselves prophets and spokesmen for God, they were thereby made fully eligible and completely qualified to pronounce judgment and call down God’s wrath against their enemies where applicable.
The use of imprecatory writings is not limited to the Psalms alone. They are found in a number of places throughout the Bible. For example, in the Old Testament books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus, Moses warned the Israelites of the many disasters that would overtake them and their descendants if they rebelled against God (see Deuteronomy 27:14-26; Deuteronomy 28:15-68; and Leviticus 26:14-45). Likewise the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah both wrote imprecatory warnings of impending disaster for the Israelites of Jerusalem and Judea (see Isaiah chapter 5; verses 8-30; Jeremiah 6; Jeremiah chapter 7; verse 20; and Jeremiah chapter 7; verses 32 - 8:3).
In the New Testament Jesus Christ used strong language in His condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees (see Matthew 23), as well as passages by other New Testament authors (see Acts 5:3-10; Galatians 1:8, 9; Galatians 6:12-15; and James chapter 5; verses 1-3.
(iii). The imprecations of the Book of Psalms may be interpreted as being predictive of disaster to befall the enemy, rather than the calling down of a curse and destruction on the enemy.
(iv). The reader needs to be mindful of the circumstances and conditions that existed when the Psalmists composed their imprecatory prayer songs.
The Book of Psalms is perhaps the most prolific source of spiritual material made available by God for mankind in a single book, and it is eminently suitable for worship, and deservedly fully acceptable in the sight of the Almighty God. This fabulously inspirational collection of sacred Hebrew songs and poetry is the premium deluxe version par excellence of all that constitutes high quality, spiritually uplifting material richly suitable for use in effective worship, facilitating that excellent experience for the user when the human soul communes with the Divine! God is delighted to be honoured by His cherished people on earth through their use of the Psalms and through all the other sacred material that is both sang by the congregations and preached from the pulpit, in everything that constitutes true worship acceptable in the sight of God.
In fact, many of the phrases of praise and honour to God found in the Psalms are also a reflection and a parallel to the ceremonies of worship to God that regularly take place before the Throne of God in heaven.
To the Most High God, the Lord God the Almighty, the great and glorious Creator and the Giver of all life, the worship of angels and of earth’s people rises up and reaches the heart, the mind, and the soul of God as He dwells in the courts of heaven above, in the majesty of His glory, in the place where He conducts the systematic organization and governance of the entire Universe. The worship of God in heaven is paralleled by the worship of God on earth. The sanctuaries of the churches of God on earth are made sacred by the Spirit of God, in like fashion to the interaction between God and angels when they too worship God before His face in all His very great power and glory also.
Truly God has given us a taste of heaven in the Book of Psalms, supplying to His people on earth for all time a great amount of material fully suitable for use in church, sanctuary, and tabernacle worship services. In the Psalms God has given us so many sacred songs, prayers, and verses, it is as though the Book of Psalms is a reflection of the joyous worship services that are regularly held before the very Throne of the Almighty God Himself in the sacred realm in heaven above. So read these Psalms, use them freely every day and learn to cherish them, be assured of their authenticity, and grow in grace and in the presence of the Spirit of God within you, for you will certainly meet God and receive His rich and abundant blessings from all the beautiful spiritual knowledge and material that is contained and generously revealed to us throughout the Book of Psalms.