Biblical Studies

Among the books of the OT, there is but one that stands out in the company of them all when it comes to a persons faith in the Lord. The book of Psalms, or as known in the Hebrew title “Book of Praises”. And like the book of Job, this book also has it’s own uniqueness in which God encourages us to use the language of the Psalms in our prayers and worship of Him. The book is a collection of 150 hymns that Israel uses in worship, of prayer, and praise. This number differs between Protestant, Catholic Orthodox, and Hebrew traditions. The book of Psalms mirrors the faith of Israel as God’s revelation to Israel and Israel’s response in faith. When reading the Psalms, we as Christians today are able to see what those of the faith believed more than twenty-five hundred years ago and we can experience how God’s people in the past had related to Him. Many of the Psalms are recorded events, a large part of the Psalms are accounts of Israel’s history. Thirteen of the Psalms are related to David’s life and one of them is related to the dedication of the temple, although the latter may have also been a general use in dedication liturgies.

The Psalms inspire a relationship, a conversation between God and man. Communication through prayer in the book of Psalms usually takes the form of the individual lamenting the adversity, describing the on-going evils in God’s creation, and petitioning God to uphold His promises. The Alexanders describe these expressions of feelings and experiences:

The psalms express the whole range of human feeling and experience, from dark depression to exuberant joy. They are rooted in particular circumstances, yet they are timeless, and so among the best-loved, most-read, parts of the Bible. In our modern age we are stirred by the same emotions, puzzled over the same fundamental problems of life, cry out in need, or worship, to the same God, as the psalmists of old.⁠

Alexander, Pat and David Alexander 1999. Handbook to the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan. Zondervan. Pg. 359

The wholeness of our being is impacted by each and every Psalm. This is what Calvin called “An anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul”:

For there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror … the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs and sorrows, fears, doubt, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated. ⁠2

Calvin (1:xxxvii), The Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul.

The purpose for the book of Psalms has the same purpose as any other book of the Bible. This purpose is found in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 “All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God, and [is] profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.”

The Psalms were initially, separated through time, several collections that were eventually brought together through one book under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Smaller collections such as the Psalms associated with the sons of Korah and with Asaph, the second Davidic psalter, and the Hallelujah psalms were later added with larger collections such as the Psalms associated with David, the Elohistic psalter, the Korahite and the Davidic psalms, the Asaphite psalter, the Songs of Ascent, among others which eventually produced the 150 psalms that we have today. So it would seem that the Psalms ranged from the time of Moses till the return from the Captivity. Manuscripts that have been found at Qumran show that the complete collection as we have it today must have been finalized some time before the Maccabean period, 2nd century B.C. The final editor took the individual poems, collections and edited them into one book.