The Book of Psalms Part 1

September 28, 2009 by Glenn McClure

Some of you requested I post notes from my teaching on the Psalms. So here you are…

The Book of Psalms; Overview, Historical Context, Assembling, Pattern of Book, Jesus in the Psalms

General information

Praise is the dominant note of the Book of Psalms
In Hebrew there are three basic words for the praise of GOD
- Translated-“praise”, “bless”, “give thanks”
The Hebrew translation of the title “book of Psalms” is “sayfer tehilleam” in English translation is “Book of Praises”
Praise should also be the dominant note of our lives
We should have hearts that overflow praise for God—for who He is and for what he has done in our lives
Interestingly there are more psalms of lamentation (sad psalms) then there are psalms of praise (happy psalms)—based on the statistically most frequent kind of Psalm, we would call it the Book of Lamentations.
The English title comes from the ancient Latin tradition-which called the book “Liber Psalmorum”, or Book of Psalms-the Latin title is based on the ancient Greek title “Biblo Psalmon” or Book of Psalms.
Ancient Greeks used the title “Psalterium” from which we get our word “psalter”
Book of Psalms is still referred to as the Psalter
Book of Praises—Praise the Lord is an exclamation but also a command

Historical Context

Both Jewish and Christian tradition made the Psalms part of the daily and weekly liturgy
Untold numbers have turned to the Psalms for encouragement and comfort in moments of crisis or despair
Origins—rooted in an Ancient Near Eastern World—(Bronze Age-1600-1200BCE)
Psalmist adopted formal system of poetry—tapped their predecessors—verbal formulas, imagery, elements of mythology and entire lines of poetry (some scholars even say Hebrew translations of pagan poems)
Psalmist adapted, transformed “polytheistic” poems and made them their own
Hebrew poems were formed for Israelite purposes
The Davidic authorship enshrined in Jewish and Christian tradition has no credible historical grounding
Editors ascribed psalms to different poets—Asaph, Ethan, Ezrahite, Heyman the Ezrahite, the Korahites, and others
David cannot be excluded from authoring several Psalms but there is difficulty in gauging how many
Many doubted David’s historicity (common place to attribute texts to famous figures of the past)
The editors identify David as the exemplary psalmist because in his story, he appears as a poet and the player of stringed instruments and at the end of the narrative is given the epithet “the sweet singer of Israel.”
Psalms are used as liturgical texts, both individual and national—the Psalms consist of a multi-faceted poetic form serving many different purposes

Sources

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