BOOK OF PSALMS 9

of His people. In the history psalms, the poet recounts the history of Israel and asks for a renewed commitment to God—even in the face of a history of rebellion.
Some of the most troubling psalms are those that contain prayers asking God to curse the wicked. These imprecatory psalms are sometimes thought to conflict with the sentiment of the gospel, but in fact they accurately reflect God’s abhorrence of evil.
In contrast to the imprecatory psalms are the joyful and prophetic Passover psalms that became a part of the Passover celebration in Judaism. These psalms are a remarkable celebration of the great acts of the Lord in delivering His people from Egypt, the theme of the Passover celebration. They point forward to the deliverance that would come through the Savior Jesus.
A final group of psalms is clustered at the end of the book. These are the Hallel psalms, named for the principal Hebrew word for praise, hallel. As their name suggests, these psalms praise God for His character and saving works.
Characteristics • In order to fully appreciate the Psalms, a certain number of their characteristics should be kept in mind.
First, the psalms were written for singing. These were songs for public worship in the temple of ancient Israel. They are not merely poems, but lyrics for music from the ancient world. As such they contain musical conventions peculiar to music and worship during that time.
Second, the poems in the Psalms were written over a period of a thousand years, from the time of Moses in the fifteenth century B.C. to the time of Ezra in the fifth century B.C. Although David is the main author associated with the composition of the Psalms, many other authors from various time periods contributed psalms to what would become the Book of Psalms.
Third, the psalms were collected and arranged over a long period of time. This process involved some editorial additions to the poems, some cutting and expanding, and some rearranging and restructuring of various psalms. The Holy Spirit who had inspired these poems in the beginning oversaw this process of restructuring them for temple worship.
Fourth, the psalms were written in the language of the human spirit, the utterances of the soul. The psalms are not cool, reasoned prose, but deeply emotional works that use wrenching language, dramatic exaggeration, and figurative speech.
Fifth, psalms and the writing of psalms were part of ordinary life for the Israelites. The Scriptures record a number of times when the Israelites spontaneously responded to the Lord with a psalm of praise. Moses sang a psalm in praise of God (Ex. 15); Deborah and Hannah did the same (Judg. 5; 1 Sam. 2); and David blessed the Lord with a psalm (1 Chr. 29). Through a psalm the Israelites would express their devotion and thanks to their Lord. This tradition continued into the New Testament period, for Mary in Luke 1 responded to the angel’s message with a psalm (see Rev. 5). This Israelite tradition of psalm writing was confirmed by the discovery of a number of original psalms among the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947.
Sixth, individual psalms were written for different purposes. Some began as works of private devotion, while others were designed from the beginning to be used in public worship. Ultimately, all the psalms became the treasure of all the people in temple worship, for no matter what subject they addressed, they always led the people to the worship of the living God.
Finally, it must be remembered that the psalms were written in the language of response. Each psalm records in powerful, poetic language one individual’s response to God. From a desperate cry to an ecstatic shout of joy, each psalmist responds to God in the middle of a particular situation. Even though the psalms became a part of the community’s worship life, they remained a vehicle for individual expression as well. Even today, the psalms are used both in public worship and in the devotional moments of individual Christians.
PsalmsOutline
Book I: Ps. 1–41
Book II: Ps. 42–72
Book III: Ps. 73–89
Book IV: Ps. 90–106
Book V: Ps. 107–150