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Books of the Bible |
While the book of Psalms is often credited to David, we can state with certainty that he was only one of several authors. He also is not likely to be the compiler of the collection since many psalms date to a much later time. Many of the psalms name their authors, so we know that in addition to David there are psalms by Solomon, Moses, the family of Asaph, the sons of Korah, Heman and Ethan the Ezrahite, most were priests or Levites who were in charge of the temple worship ceremonies. In addition 50 of the psalms are of unknown authorship.
The earliest Psalm was written by Moses about 1440 B.C. (Psalm 90) and the latest sometime during the Babylonian exile between about 886 and 538 B.C.
The psalms individually have many different purposes. Some show the way to worship God, others reveal the judgement of God on the wicked. A number of the psalms are clearly prophetic in nature, revealing the messiah to come. In its broadest sense the entire collection is the prayer and praise book of the nation of Israel.
Two general organizational systems:
1. 5 books each book may have a particular theme, but it is unclear exactly how the individual psalms were arranged into the books.
Book 1 (1-41)
Book 2 (42-72)
Book 3 (73-89)
Book 4 (90-106)
Book 5 (107-150)
2. By type:
Lament Psalms petitions to God for rescue and defense. (3-7, 12, 13, 22, 25-28, 35, 38-40, 42-44, 51, 54-57, 59-61, 63, 64, 69-71, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 86, 88, 90, 102, 109, 120, 123, 130, 140-143)
Thanksgiving Psalms thanks for what God has done or confidence in what he will do. (18, 30, 32, 34, 40, 41, 66, 106, 116, 124, 129, 138)
Praise Psalms general praise to God and praise for His attributes and acts. (8, 19, 29, 33, 36, 103-105, 111, 113, 117, 135, 136, 139, 146- 148, 150)
Enthronement Psalms describing the rule of God over all, some portray the kingship of Christ. (47, 93, 96-99)
Pilgrimage Psalms sung by the pilgrims on their way up to Jerusalem for the feasts. (43, 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 120-134)
Royals Psalms describing the reigns of the earthly king and the heavenly king. (2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101, 110, 132, 144)
Wisdom Psalms exhortation and instruction in the way of righteousness. (1, 37, 119)
If we want to really study the Psalms we need to get at least a reasonable grasp on the concept of Hebrew poetry and poetic forms. Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme, but on different structures in the individual verses, mostly centered in various types of parallelism. What we end up with is one line which is followed by another that may restate the original statement in a more colorful way (46:11), or the second line may state the idea as an opposite statement (see 1:6). Another variant is one where the second line repeats part of the first line with something added to it (93:3).
The Psalms are primarily a picture of human response to God. They reveal to us the depth of our dependence on Him and show how Godly men over a thousand years of Old Testament worship responded to Him. The Psalms also show the character of the coming Messiah and reveal many facts about his coming and ministry.