Introducing Psalms

Psalms 1-6

            Ah, Psalms! We’re going to read it in just over 4 weeks, and that’s no way to read this delightful book. Until we started Today’s Light, I had been in a discipline that included reading the psalms in 6 months—twice a year.

            Psalms is at once a hymnal and a prayerbook, a combination that makes sense once we think about how often our hymns speak to God in prayer. Israel sang the songs in the temple and in the synagogue and there is clear evidence that some psalms were assigned to certain festivals, too. (The church has used the psalter the same way, although in our modern, time-conscious times they have fallen more and more into disuse. More’s the pity!) Here you will find expression of all sorts of human experience: praise, thanksgiving, anger, lament, guilt. If you’re feeling it, chances are there is a psalm that expresses it.

            Like any good hymnal, the psalter is a sort of greatest hits album. Psalm 90 is attributed to Moses, 3500 years ago. About half of the psalms are attributed to David, a good 500 years later. Still others come from the period after the exile, still another 500 years. So, we have the best prayers and songs of Israel from a period of about 1000 years.

            So much more could be said about the psalms! Last time I did a Bible study on this precious book, it took thirty weeks. I’ll try to hit some of the high points as we go. But I would strongly suggest that you make this collection a part of your regular devotion. For what it’s worth, this is the schedule I have followed the past few years:

 

Week 1            Psalms 1-8

Week 2            Psalms 9-15

Week 3            Psalms 16-19

Week 4            Psalms 20-25

Week 5            Psalms 26-31

Week 6            Psalms 32-36

Week 7            Psalms 37-40

Week 8            Psalms 41-46

Week 9            Psalms 47-52

Week 10          Psalms 53-59

Week 11          Psalms 60-67

Week 12          Psalms 68-70

Week 13          Psalms 71-74

Week 14          Psalms 75-78

Week 15          Psalms 79-85

Week 16          Psalms 86-89

Week 17          Psalms 90-96

Week 18          Psalms 97-103

Week 19          Psalms 104-106

Week 20          Psalms 107-111

Week 21          Psalms 112-118

Week 22          Psalm 119

Week 23          Psalm 120-132

Week 24          Psalms 133-140

Week 25          Psalms 141-146

Week 26          Psalms 147-150

 

With that, let’s take a brief look at today’s psalms. Psalms 1 and 2 are usually considered as a pair, introducing the major themes of the psalter. Reasons for this include the fact that neither has any attribution or introductory comment; they are framed by a statement of blessing (1:1, 2:12); and they introduce two major themes.

The first major theme is about wisdom, a gift which is found in delighting in the Lord’s law (1:2). Law here is used in a different way than Lutherans typically use it. We hear “law” and think of God’s condemnation for our sin. Here, as in many other places in the Old Testament, the underlying word is torah, which often refers to the first five books of the Bible. So, here, to delight in the torah of the Lord is to delight in His act of creation, his choice of Abraham (and hence Israel), and especially the deliverance from Egypt and the joy of being God’s holy people, expressed in the laws of Moses.

            The second major theme encompasses God’s reign over all the earth. Here, as often, it is expressed in terms of His anointed. God’s anointed often refers in the first instance to the Davidic king, but equally often we hear messianic overtones in that language.

Psalm 3 laments that although David is the Lord’s anointed, his enemies surround him. (The introduction specifically tells us David wrote this psalm while he was fleeing during Absalom’s revolt.) Typical of many psalms, Psalm 3 juxtaposes David’s frustration with his circumstances with his confidence in the Lord.

Just a few quick notes on the remaining psalms today. Psalm 4: I love verse 8. For a guy who has a hard time turning his brain off and sleeping, this is a promise I cherish. Psalm 5:8-9: a visceral description of one’s enemies. Psalm 6:7 expresses a common sentiment in the psalms, namely, that no one sings God’s praises from the grave. Keep this one in mind. Hopefully at a future point we can talk about Israel’s understanding of the afterlife.