Introduction to Psalms 

As we have seen, the early Hebrew arrangement of the Old Testament was in three parts—the Law, the Prophets and the Writings. Mentioning this arrangement, Jesus Christ referred to the last section as the Psalms (Luke 24:44). This was evidently a common designation for the Writings that arose from Psalms being the first book of this section and occupying a rather significant portion of it.

The English titles by which we know this great book of songs, prayers and poetry—Psalms and the Psalter—derive from Greek. Psalmoi is the book’s title in the Greek Septuagint translation of the Old Testament and the name used in the original Greek of the New Testament (Luke 20:42; Luke 24:44; Acts 1:20). Meaning a song sung to a stringed instrument (such as the harp, lyre and lute), the word was apparently a translation of the Hebrew mizmor, a term used in the introductory prescripts or superscriptions of 57 individual psalms. No original title for the book has been preserved in Hebrew. However, in rabbinic literature the accepted name was Sefer Tehillim (“Book of Praises”).

The predominant author of the book is Israel’s King David. Of the 150 psalms making up the collection, 73 are designated in the introductory superscriptions as le-David, translated “of David.” While the terminology is not clear, as it could mean by David, concerning David, for David or to David, it is traditionally understood to mean an attribution of authorship. Psalm 18’s superscription says explicitly that David “spoke to the Lord the words of this song.” This psalm varies only slightly from David’s psalm in 2 Samuel 22. And the end of Psalm 72 refers to preceding psalms in the book as “the prayers of David the son of Jesse.” The Psalms are referred to in one of the ancient Jewish histories as “the writings of David” (2 Maccabees 2:13). The Talmud likewise attributes them in the Midrash on Psalm 1. The New Testament confirms David as the author of at least seven psalms: Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25-26); Psalm 16 (Acts 2:25-28; Acts 13:35-36); Psalm 32 (Romans 4:6-8); Psalm 69 (Acts 1:16-20; Romans 11:9-10); Psalm 95 (Hebrews 4:7); Psalm 109 (Acts 1:16-20); and Psalm 110 (Matthew 22:41-45; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44; Acts 2:34-35).

David was certainly suited to this task. He is described as a “skillful player on the harp” (1 Samuel 16:16-23), an inventor of musical instruments (1 Chronicles 23:5; 2 Chronicles 29:26-30; Nehemiah 12:36; Amos 6:5), a composer of laments or dirges (2 Samuel 1:17; 2 Samuel 3:33), and “the sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). As king, David took on the task of organizing the singers and musicians for tabernacle and later temple worship (1 Chronicles 6:31-32; 1 Chronicles 16:4-7, 1 Chronicles 16:41-42; 1 Chronicles 25:1, 1 Chronicles 25:6; 2 Chronicles 7:6; 2 Chronicles 8:14; 2 Chronicles 23:18; 2 Chronicles 29:26-27, 30; Nehemiah 12:24).

Yet David is not the only composer of the Psalms. We also find some attributed to men David placed in charge of worship in Jerusalem—Asaph (with 12 psalms) as well as Ethan and Heman (with one psalm each). The name of David’s son Solomon appears twice. Ten psalms are attributed to the Levitical family of Korah (the designation “sons of Korah” meaning “descendants of Korah”). This is the same Korah who rebelled in the wilderness in Numbers 16, so obviously these descendants did not share his mindset. One composition, Psalm 90, is attributed to Moses—making it the psalm of oldest recorded origin.

Fifty psalms have no attribution, though two of these, Psalms 2 and 95, are referred to in the New Testament as the work of David, as noted above. A number of other anonymous psalms are probably also the work of David. Yet other people must have contributed as well, as Psalm 137 was written following the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem—centuries after the time of David and Solomon. Women, such as Deborah (see Judges 5) and Hannah (see 1 Samuel 2), are known to have written songs and poetic prayers. The prophet Habakkuk wrote a psalm to be used in temple worship (Habakkuk 3). King Hezekiah curiously declared, “We will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord” (Isaiah 38:20). Perhaps some psalms were composed as late as the time of Ezra, when the final compilation of the book of Psalms took place.

Actually, the book of Psalms is composed of five books, each ending with a doxology (expression of praise) to God:

• Book I (Psalms 1–41): “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen” (41:13).

• Book II (Psalms 42–72): “Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only does wondrous things! And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended” (72:18-20).

• Book III (Psalms 73–89): “Blessed be the Lord forevermore! Amen and Amen” (89:52).

• Book IV (Psalms 90–106): “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’ Praise the Lord!” (106:48).

• Book V (Psalms 107–150): No similar short closing formula. Rather, the entirety of Psalm 150 apparently serves as the doxology.

The doxologies ending Books I, II and III do not appear to have originally been part of the final psalms to which they are appended. It seems that the three books once formed independent collections—separate hymnals so to speak. The note concluding Book II stating that the prayers of David end with Psalm 72 supports this since there are at least 19 psalms of David in later books. (Thus the prayers were ended as far as that particular collection went.) The repetition of psalms also supports this. Psalm 14 in Book I reappears as Psalm 53 in Book II. Psalm 40:13-17 in Book I reappears as Psalm 70 in Book II. Parts of two psalms in Book II, Psalm 57:7-11 and Psalm 60:5-12, become Psalm 108 in Book V.

Many believe Book I of Psalms to have been compiled before David’s death. Perhaps it was initially put together early in his reign to serve as the hymnal for tabernacle worship. This does not rule out later additions and rearrangement—as Psalm 3 concerns events late in David’s life. Some have speculated that Book II was also compiled before David’s death—shortly before it, with the total of 72 psalms (3 x 24) intended to be sung in succession by the 24 priestly courses David appointed for temple worship. There is some disagreement about this numbering however, with a few psalms as we currently have them appearing to have originally been one psalm and some questioning whether Psalms 1 and 2 originally served as an introduction to Book I. Another issue concerns the superscription of Psalm 72, the last psalm in Book II. It is labeled as le-Solomon. Since the end of this psalm concludes with “The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended,” some see it as a psalm of David concerning Solomon or intended for Solomon to use. But it could well be that Solomon wrote it prior to David’s death and that David simply included it in his own collection. It could also be that, following David’s death, Solomon appended his own psalm to the end of his father’s psalms—either having received the compilation of Book II from David or having authorized the compilation himself.

Book III is often considered to have been compiled during the Babylonian Exile, while the compilation of Books IV and V appears to have come after the return from Babylon (though some place Book IV during the Exile). It should be noted that the break between Books IV and V might have been artificial. The doxology ending Book IV seems to be integral to Psalm 106 and may not originally have applied to the entire collection. There is no “Amen and Amen” to conclude Book IV as in previous divisions. Books IV and V share common distinctions from the other books. For one, many more psalms have no superscriptions (18 of the 61 as opposed to only six without superscriptions in the preceding 89). For another, Books IV and V have a near absence of musical references and technical terms like la-menasse’ah (“To the Chief Musician”) and selah (probably indicating a pause or interlude).

Also, Hallelujah (“Praise the Lord” in the NKJV) occurs only in Books IV and V. And these latter two books share similar subject matter—psalms of praise and thanksgiving suitable for temple worship services. All of this leads us to suspect that Books IV and V were originally one collection that was later divided into two. This may have been done to fit the pattern of the five books of the Law, as they were apparently read according to a weekly schedule in conjunction with the Law and Prophets in a three-year cycle—a practice that seems to have begun in Ezra’s time. The Talmud in its Midrash on Psalm 1 draws a correspondence between the five books of the Law and the five books of Psalms. There are thematic correspondences here as well, as we will see.

The Psalms give us the heart and feeling of God’s law. God’s law is an expression of His character—revealed in Scripture as love. For us, living this way of love means following His commandments. The first four of the Ten Commandments tell us how to love God, and the last six tell us how to love our fellow man. God’s commandments are further delineated and demonstrated through the first division of the Old Testament, the five books of the Law. The next division, the Prophets, gives an added dimension. The Former Prophets (the books of Joshua through 2 Kings) show us how, historically, blessings came by obedience to God’s law and curses came through disobedience. The Latter Prophets (the books of Isaiah through Malachi) carry the same lessons of blessing and cursing into the future. The next Old Testament division, the Writings, gives further and finer specifications of the application of God’s law.

The book of Psalms in particular gives the whole heart, feeling and approach one needs to have toward God’s law. God looked on David as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22), and the outpouring of David’s (and others’) thoughts and feelings in prayer, or in song, before God is a tremendous example to be carefully studied and personally applied.

Here are five specific applications of the Psalms:

1. Prayers: Psalms can provide examples of how to pray. They can be a guide to getting started in prayer, or become your own personal prayers in particular cases.

2. History: Many psalms show what went through David’s mind in certain situations in his life. The Psalms even contain added details about the history of Israel.

3. Songs and poetry: Hymnals used in the Church of God today are a prime example of this, as they often make use of the translated lyrics of the psalms.

4. Prophecy: Psalm 22, for example, is a prophecy of the Messiah’s sufferings. Others speak of His return and other future events.

5. Practical: The Psalms contain direct how-to instruction, though not typically in the same specific way as Proverbs.

The five books of Psalms, like the five books of the Law, cover an interesting progression of historical and prophetic themes. The historical themes of the Psalms by book respectively appear to be: (I) Man and creation; (II) Israel and redemption; (III) Public worship and the temple; (IV) The sojourn of God’s people on the earth; (V) Praise and the Word of God. The prophetic themes appear to be: (I) The beginning of salvation; (II) God’s relationship with His Church; (III) The time of the Great Tribulation; (IV) God’s Kingdom; (V) Mankind’s complete salvation. Correspondence has also been shown with the five Megilloth (“Scrolls”)—i.e., the festival scrolls read by the Jews during particular festivals. These are as follows:

1. Song of Solomon: Read at Passover.

2. Ruth: Read at Pentecost, the time of the wheat harvest, though there may also be a connection with the closely related Days of Unleavened Bread commencing the earlier barley harvest. Both harvests are mentioned in Ruth.

3. Lamentations: Read on the fast of the 9th of Ab commemorating the temple’s destruction, though there could be a thematic connection with the Feast of Trumpets.

4. Ecclesiastes: Read in conjunction with the Feast of Tabernacles, though this sober reflection seems to correspond with the Day of Atonement’s focus in the run-up to the Feast.

5. Esther: Read in conjunction with the Jewish feast of Purim commemorating the deliverance of the Jews as told in the book, yet this may prefigure on some level the ultimate deliverance of all mankind foreshadowed in the Eighth Day following the Feast of Tabernacles, often referred to today as the Last Great Day.

Time and space prevents us from exploring all the parallels with the five books of Psalms here, but this makes for a fascinating study.

At the outset, we should take a moment to consider the literary quality of the Psalms. The Bible Reader’s Companion says in its introduction to the book: “The Psalms are lyric poems, heart songs that touch us deeply. Much of their power derives from a distinctive form of Hebrew poetry, which does not rely on rhyme but on rhythmic patterns of thought. Ideas, emotions, and images are repeated or developed in a variety of ways to create an intuitive response in the reader. While it is not necessary to understand Hebrew poetry to be captivated by the Psalms or to sense their impact, it’s important to grasp its principles if we try to interpret them.

“Simply put, the key to Hebrew poetry is parallelism. That is, its tendency to arrange ideas, emotions, and images side by side in a variety of ways. The three simplest forms of parallelism are synonymous, antithetic, and synthetic. In synonymous parallelism a thought is repeated in different words:

“‘Our mouths were filled with laughter,

our tongues with songs of joy’ (Psalm 126:2).

 

“In antithetic parallelism the initial thought, emotion, or image is emphasized by contrasting it with an opposite:

“‘A kind man benefits himself,

but a cruel man brings himself harm’ (Proverbs 11:17).

 

“In synthetic parallelism the second line completes the thought of the first:

“‘I will lie down and sleep in peace,

for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ (Psalm 4:8).

“There are more complex types of parallelism found in Psalms. Yet the basic concept is simple. The power of Hebrew poetry flows from the arrangement and repetition of the emotions, ideas, and images presented by the poet” (p. 346).

A note on the superscriptions or prescripts of the Psalms is also in order. In the psalm of Habakkuk 3, the phrase “A prayer of Habakkuk the prophet, on Shigionioth [apparently denoting a poetic style]” appears at the beginning, while appended to the end are the words “To the Chief Musician. With my stringed instruments.” It has been suggested by some that this is the proper formula for psalms in general and that it should be extended to the book of Psalms. This would mean that the beginning of many a superscription actually belongs to the previous psalm. For instance, Psalm 3 would begin with the superscription “A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son” and end with what Bible translations place at the beginning of Psalm 4: “To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments.” Psalm 4 would begin with “A Psalm of David” and end with the beginning of the next superscription, “To the Chief Musician. With flutes.” And on it goes.

In his New International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties, Gleason Archer cites a treatise (J.W. Thirtle, The Titles of the Psalms, Their Meaning and Nature Explained, 1905) suggesting “that many of the Psalms had not only a prescript but also a postscript. Some of the ancient Egyptian and Akkadian hymns have been preserved to us with a final notation. This makes it quite possible that in the later compilation of the canonical Psalms the scribes became confused by the presence of postscripts and assumed that they should be taken as part of the prescript for the psalm following” (1982, p. 243). Bear this in mind through the readings, as we will not always touch on this in commenting on individual psalms.