An Introduction to the Psalms

In the Old Testament books of 1 and 2 Samuel, we are told the story of David, the shepherd who became a king. We learn of David's soothing the anxiety and anger of King Saul by playing the lyre for him. We learn, in 2 Samuel 22, of at least one praise song by David. Prior to David, we are given a praise song by Moses in Exodus 15, a song of victory by Deborah in Judges 5 and a praise song by Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. The worship of YHWH by the Hebrew nation was filled with praise songs.  At some point, probably in the second temple period, the many praise songs of Hebrew worship were collected into one document, which we call the Psalms. Many of these songs were written by David but many more were written by other worshipers, including some involved in the worship in the temple built during the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, after the nation had returned from Babylon.

The Hebrew book of Psalms (see this Wikipedia article) were called, in Hebrew, Tehilim, which means "Praises". The English word, "psalm" (the p is silent) comes from the Greek word "psalmos", meaning "plucking of the harp". The collection of psalms is often call the psalter.

The book of Psalms is itself broken into five books. The books were most likely earlier compilations of the songs. Book I covers psalms 1-41, Book 2 psalms 42-72, Book 3 chapters 73-89 and Books 4 and 5 cover chapters 90-106- and 107-150.  Many of the psalms come with an explanatory header. These headers (which are numbered as verse 1 in the Hebrew scriptures but unnumbered in the Christian Bible) often give the author of the song and sometimes give additional information about the setting of the song or instructions for its performance.  Many psalms have no heading at all.

The Bible Project guide on Psalms summarizes the five books as follows. (It separates out Psalms 1 and 2 as introductory material for the entire book.)

• Psalms 1-2: Introduction to the Key Themes of Psalms
• Psalms 3-41: The Foundation of Covenant Faithfulness
• Psalms 42-72: Hope for the Messianic Kingdom
• Psalms 73-89: Hope for the Messiah After Exile
• Psalms 90-106: The God of Israel as the King of All Creation
• Psalms 107-150: Songs of Ascent and Poems of Praise

Problems and Questions

English poems occasionally use an archaic word or two. Someone reading a nineteenth century poem may need to understand the meaning of a sixteenth century word. This is apparently not unique to English poetry. According to Robert Alter, the psalms, already thousands of years old, occasionally use Hebrew words that were probably archaic even in the day of their writing. Unusual words or phrases are common and the interpretation of a phrase may be made more difficult by a possible copy error in which a letter may have been dropped or added. (A notoriously unknown Hebrew word in the Psalms is selah, appearing from time to time as a separate word at the end of a stanza. It probably represented a musical interlude or meditative pause. One edition of the NIV, sadly, leaves that word out completely.)

The psalms were clearly collected at some point into a single document and most likely some editing occurred at that time. This explains the various headers and the arrangement of some psalms. Psalm 1 is an introductory piece, intended to explain why one might read or sing through the Psalter.

The collation and editing of the Psalms is especially interesting in several places. Psalm 18 is the same song as that sung by David in 2 Samuel 22. Psalm 14, in Book I of the Psalms, is the same psalm as Psalm 53 in Book II of the Psalms.

Resources and References

My practice is to read through the text from the New International Version (NIV), copied into the blog and italicized in blue.  At the head of each blue paragraph of text I place a short title; after the text I place my thoughts or comments in black.  I begin this process with my own reactions and thoughts and then supplement these comments with gleanings from a commentary or two.

The real goal of this blog is to force me to read every verse thoughtfully. I hope that you, too, read the passages thoughtfully!   Feel free to disagree -- or to react in other ways! (I place hyperlinks in pink, created so that one can click on a link and see the linked site open in another window... and go down a rabbit hole if you wish!)

For the book of Psalms I have found two commentaries helpful. 

• Old favorites are the monographs Psalms 1-72 and Psalms 73-150 by Derek Kidner (Tyndale Press, 1973.)  
• A second text is the delightful The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary, by Robert Alter (2007.) 
  

In addition, in the online commentaries provided by EasyEnglishBible, is an online commentar on Psalms.  Robert Utley has an online commentary on the Psalms here. Mike Mazzalongo has a preaching series on Psalms which begins here. (Mazzalongo's first video introduces the psalms and suggests there are roughly nine different psalm types, expressed in videos that follow. I have only lightly skimmed through most of the videos that follow.) A friend has recommended Psalms by the Day, A New Devotional Translation by Alec Motyer but I have only begun to look at that book. 

The Gospel Coalition has onlinr commentaries by Bruce K. Waltke: Book I, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4, Book 5.

The Blue Letter Bible has an introduction to the Psalms.

The Bible Project has a number of videos on the Psalms:

• A summary video outlines the book and argues that Books I through Book V should be read in that order, with a deliberate escalation that progresses through the books.
• An introduction to the Psalms as an example of Old Testament Hebrew poetry.
• A guide to studying the Psalms, including some additional videos.

As always, the Bible Project material is excellent.

The psalms have served as hymns in the Christian church for several millennia. A number of modern artists, such as John Michael Talbot and Michael Card have spent time putting the psalter to song. There is also a musical group, Sons of Korah, who focus on the psalms.