July 15: The Psalms

For many Christians the Psalms are the best-known and most-loved portion of the Old Testament. A great example is our opening reading, Psalm 8:

1 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.

2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,

4 what are mere mortals that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them? ^[c]

5 You have made them ^[d] a little lower than the heavenly beings ^[e]
and crowned them ^[f] with glory and honor.

6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their ^[g] feet:

7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,

8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth! TNIV

We think of the Bible as words from God to people, but the Bible also contains words spoken to God or about God (which is what the Psalms are) – and these words are also God’s Word. Throughout our discussion this Sunday, we explored different implications of this type of inspired text.

The Psalms can be misapplied. Many don’t yield their meaning at first glance, and our understanding can be confused by lack of clarity about the “then & there” as we use them “here & now.”

We talked about the nature of the psalms, their function, and some of the different types of Psalms.

Where did the names “Psalms” and “Psalter” come from?

• From the Septuagint (Greek translation of the OT), where they originally referred to stringed instruments (harp, lyre, lute), then to the songs sung with their accompaniment

• The traditional Hebrew title is tehillim (meaning praises), even though many of the psalms are tephillot (meaning prayers).
  

What are the Psalms? Psalms are poems – musical poems

Hebrew poetry was addressed to the mind through the heart. The language is intentionally emotive, and the structure and vocabulary drives an emotional response. Hebrew poetry is intended to appeal to emotions, to evoke feelings, to stimulate a response that goes beyond a mere cognitive understanding of facts.

Opening of Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they display knowledge

How might you express this in prose? “God is revealed in his creation, especially in the heavenly bodies.” - Pretty dry compared to the poetry!

A key feature of Hebrew poetry is parallelism:

• Synonymous parallelism: The second or subsequent line repeats or reinforces the sense of the first line

• Antithetical parallelism: The second or subsequent line contrasts the thought of the first, often reinforcing the first line by contrast

• Synthetic parallelism: The second or subsequent line adds to the first line in any matter that provides further information:

We need to embrace the rhythm of the parallels – the building of the imagery and message – to grasp the larger, emotive picture conveyed in the Psalms.

The vocabulary of Hebrew poetry is purposefully metaphorical

We have to learn to listen to the metaphors and understand what they signify – not to search for hidden meanings, but to embrace the imagery for what it invokes. In the book of Psalms, mountains leap like rams; enemies spew out swords from their lips; and God is variously seen as a shepherd, fortress, shield, rock, etc.

We should be careful not to press the metaphors or take them too literally. Psalm 23 doesn’t mean God wants us to be or act like sheep, or else wants us to live a rural, pastoral life – it’s not a treatise against modern city life.

And we need to appreciate the symbolic language of the psalms (metaphor and simile) for what it is intended to invoke and then think through the reality it is conveying. The form of the Psalms requires some cautious reading and interpretation; they can’t be read in the same way as a narrative, epistle, or book of law.

We also need to be careful not to overdo the exegesis, and thus force special meanings into specific phrases or words where the poet meant none. And we should be careful not to overdo the search for doctrine within the Psalms. While they may contain and reflect doctrine, they are not intended as repositories for doctrinal exposition. It’s dangerous and misleading to read a psalm as though it taught a system of doctrine – and thus miss the emotional, relational message it conveys.

Each psalm has its own integrity as a literary unit

Each psalm has a pattern of development by which its ideas are presented, developed, and brought to some kind of conclusion. Psalms are to be treated as wholes, not atomized into single verses

For an obvious example, Read Psalm 51:16. Taken out of context, the verse may seem to suggest that the sacrificial system has no real importance, but how does that fit with what you read later? – Read Psalm 51: 18 – 19. Understanding the overall message requires reading the whole psalm - Read Psalm 51. Taking any part of a psalm out of context may lead to wrong conclusions, and to missing the larger inspired message of the psalm.

Function of the psalms

The Psalms were created as functional songs composed for use in worship by the ancient Israelites.

• Commonly used as worship aids by Israelites when they brought sacrifices to the temple in Jerusalem

• Based on some of the titles (e.g., Psalm 80 & Psalm 81), it seems likely that professional singers sometimes sang the psalms during the time people were worshipping

• Obvious that the knowledge of the psalms spread beyond the temple, and that people began to sing them in all sorts of situations where the wordings expressed their own attitudes and circumstances

Psalms are individual hymns, and the book of Psalms served as the hymnbook for postexilic temple worship.

Psalms are of several different types - Each type of psalm was intended to have a given function in the life of Israel:

1. Laments

• Largest group of psalms in the Psalter – more than 60, including individual and corporate laments
• Express or presuppose deep trust in Yahweh, help a person to express struggles, suffering, or disappointment to the Lord
• Read Psalm 88 – Read in many chapel services immediately after 9/11

2. Thanksgiving psalms

• Expressed joy because something had gone well, because circumstances were good, or because people had a reason to render thanks to God for his faithfulness, protection, and benefit
• Six community psalms of thanksgiving, ten individual psalms of thanksgiving
• Read Psalm 124 – corporate thanksgiving

3. Hymns of praise

• Center on the praise of God – as Creator of the universe, as protector and benefactor of Israel, as the Lord of history
• Read Psalm 100

4. Salvation-history psalms

• A few psalms that focus on a review of God’s saving works among the people of Israel, especially deliverance from Egyptian bondage and the creation of them as a people (78, 105, 106, 135, 136)

5. Psalms of celebration and affirmation

• Several kinds of psalms fall under this category - Covenant renewal liturgies, psalms celebrating/affirming the kingship, psalms for enthronement of the king, songs of Zion

6. Wisdom psalms

• Eight psalms (36, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127, 128, 133) praising the merits of wisdom and the wise life

7. Psalms of trust

• Ten psalms (including the 23^rd Psalm) focused on the fact that God can be trusted and that even in times of despair, his goodness and care for his people ought to be expressed
• Read Psalm 27: 1-5

To illustrate how knowing a psalm’s form and structure helps us appreciate the message, look at examples of a lament and a thanksgiving psalm:

Lament - Psalm 3 example

Scholars have identified six common elements in the lament psalms – not formal structures, but common elements that may be in different order or emphasis from psalm to psalm

1. Address – the one to whom the psalm is prayed, the Lord
2. Complaint – pours out a complaint honestly and forcefully, identifying what the trouble is and why the Lord’s help is sought
3. Trust – psalmist immediately expresses trust in God. Trust is presupposed in making the complaint. Why pour out a complaint to God if you don’t trust him?
4. Deliverance – cries out to God for deliverance
5. Assurance – expresses assurance that God will deliver, parallels the expression of trust
6. Praise – offers praise, honor, thanksgiving to God for the blessings of the past, present, future

What can we learn from a lament like Psalm 3?

• Importance of balanced prayer – requests/appreciation, complaints/expressions of confidence
• Example of openness and honesty – willing to be open and not cover over our problems
• Use as a guide - use the psalms themselves to express our feelings

Thanksgiving – Psalm 138 example

Thanksgiving psalms have a different structure; scholars have identified five common elements

1. Introduction – testimony of how God has helped is summarized
2. Distress – situation from which God gave deliverance is portrayed
3. Appeal – psalmist reiterates the appeal that he or she made to God
4. Deliverance – deliverance God provided is described
5. Testimony – a word of praise for God’s mercy

Order may vary considerably – this is analysis after the fact, not a stylistic form or structure

What can we learn from a thanksgiving psalm like Psalm 13?

• Encourages reflection on what God has done for us
• Again, a guide or direct tool – use the psalm itself to express thanksgiving

Wrap-up/Recap

The Psalms show us inspired Scripture through beautiful, emotional words of relationship. The poetry, the imagery, the authentic emotion before God are all part of the overall God story - all part of the truth of God.

We can use the psalms as a means of expression of our thoughts and feelings. When a psalm addresses topic or theme we wish to express, it can help us express our feelings despite our inability to find the right words.

The psalms demonstrate how we can relate honestly to God, and be open in expressing joy, disappointment, sadness, anger and other emotions. The psalms also demonstrate the importance of reflection and meditation on what God has done for us. They invite us to prayer, to thoughtful reflection on God's Word, and to reflective fellowship with other believers.

Closing Reading: Psalm 67- a communal prayer for God’s blessing, perhaps used near the conclusion of worship

1 May God be gracious to us and bless us
and make his face shine on us— ^[b]

2 so that your ways may be known on earth,
your salvation among all nations.

3 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you rule the peoples with equity
and guide the nations of the earth.

5 May the peoples praise you, God;
may all the peoples praise you.

6 The land yields its harvest;
God, our God, blesses us.

7 May God bless us still,
so that all the ends of the earth will fear him. TNIV

Next week: Revelation