Review Exodus 7—12 study

• Psalms were frequently commissioned and set to music
• Psalms galvanize the community of faith
• Psalms enable us to present our whole self on God—they are inspired by God, and directed to God for our benefit

• Psalms are deeply emotive in tone, imagery, and content
• Psalms express the wide range of experiences and emotions in the life of faith

• Two key imbalances:

• Psalms are purely doctrinal/prophetic statements which divorce the Psalm of its original contextual meaning (E.g.: Ps. 22, a lament)

• Psalms are purely emotional/devotional expressions devoid of deep theological content

"…. Psalms are poems, and poems are intended to be sung: not doctrinal treatises, nor even sermons…. Psalms must be read as poems …. [with] the emotional rather than logical connections…" -- C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms

• Psalms were written as a source of instruction, not merely expression

"The Psalms inform our intellect, arouse our emotions, our wills, and stimulate our imaginations" -- Tremper Longman, How to Read the Psalms

1. 1. Theological context: Israel’s unique covenant relationship with God

• Significant attention given to God’s special historical dealings with Israel where Psalms serve as a commentary on theological narrative in terms of salvation history
• E.g.: Ps. 78

• 1—4 Introduction as a word of instruction
• 5—8 Mosaic Law (Exodus 20ff)
• 9—42God’s blessing, Israel’s wilderness disobedience
• 43—53 Mighty deeds of God in Egypt (Exodus 1—18)
• 54,55Gift of the land
• 56—60Rebellion during the Judges era
• 61—64Babylonian captivity
• 65,66Rescue from captivity
• 67—69God chose Judah, not Joseph (Gen. 49:10—12)
• 70—72God chose David to shepherd his people

• Consider the importance of this psalm in post-exilic context
• See also Ps. 74, 111, 37, 89, 105, 106, 145, 136…in relation to the God of covenant

2. Prophetic dimension: Psalms advance our understanding of God’s plan. Expansion of the Davidic Covenant to the messianic reign of the Davidic King occupies much of the "Royal Psalms".

• Ps. 2 Universal realm of messiah’s rule
• Ps. 45, 110Uniqueness of Davidic King’s identity

Note: Psalms are the most frequently quoted OT texts in the NT

1. Lament. (3, 22, 31, 39, 42, 57, 71, 120, 139, 142, 12, 44, 8k0, 94, 137…)

• Most common type (60). Both individual and corporate laments expressing fear, distress, anger at circumstances and adversaries. Needed challenge to our stoicism.
• Structural elements of lament psalms:

• Address
• Complaint
• Trust
• Deliverance
• Assurance
• Praise

• Exercises: Ps. 3, 22, 142

2. Thanksgiving. (65, 67, 75, 107, 124, 136, 18, 30, 32, 34, 40, 66, 92, 116, 118, 138…)

• Gratitude for God’s specific acts of goodness, protection, blessing. A needed corrective to our infantile tendencies.
  
•  Structural elements of thanksgiving psalms:

• Introduction
• Distress
• Appeal
• Deliverance
• Testimony

• Exercises: Ps. 32, 51

3. Hymns of Praise. (8, 19, 33, 103, 104, 111, 114, 117, 145—149 … )

• According to God his worth for who he is: Creator, protector and benefactor, Lord of history… A needed corrective to our tendency toward naturalism.

  Exercises: Ps. 8, 111

 4. Salvation history. (78, 105, 106, 135, 136)

• These psalms review God’s work historically, and often include biting commentary on Israel’s spiritual state and God’s faithfulness.

5. Celebration and affirmation. Liturgy for corporate celebrations relating to:

• Enthronement Psalms, celebrating the new king and God as King (24, 29, 47, 93, 95—99)

Exercise: Ps. 24

• Reaffirmation of the Davidic Covenant (E.g.: 132)
• Royal Psalms addressing both David and messiah (2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 89, 101, 110, 144)

• Songs of Zion, Psalms celebrating the place where God is present and where his kings reign (46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122)

6. Wisdom psalms. (1, 36, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127, 128, 133 (cf. Prov. 8 is a psalm)

• Much like the proverbs, these psalms address practical life issues from the perspective of trust in God. Themes center on the righteous/wicked, wise/fool in terms of aphorisms.

7. Songs of trust. (11, 16, 23, 27, 62, 63, 91, 121, 125, 131)

• Affirming God’s goodness in difficult times—a choice to believe in God rather than circumstances. An important lesson that faith precedes feeling.

• Exercise: Ps. 11

Structure of Hebrew poetry

Like all lyrics, psalms use a variety of literary devices are used for the sake of memory, participation and reflection. For this reason, poetry is rich in memorable images (metaphor, simile, etc.) and concise, even terse.

• Acrostic (Ps. 119) Initial letter of each verse work through the alphabet
• Antiphonal (Ps. 136) Response of the congregation after each line

The most significant element of Hebrew poetry is parallelism: Grouping together two lines of a poem to complete a thought. Some basic examples of parallelism in poetic structure are:

1. Synonymous Parallelism. The second line repeats the first in words or ideas

• Ps. 24:1
• Ps. 19:2
• Prov. 1:20
• Gen. 4:23
• Mark 3:24, 25
• Luke 6:27, 28

2. Antithetical Parallelism. The second line contrasts with the first line in words or ideas

• Ps. 1:6

• Prov. 10:1

• Prov. 27:6

• Mark 8:35
• Matthew 7:17, 18

 3. Synthetic Parallelism. The thought of the second line supplements, or brings the first line to completion

• Luke 12:49—51

"Staircase parallelism" is an example of synthetic parallelism, in which a word or phrase is repeated to extend the thought of the first line:

• Ps. 92:9

• Ps. 93:3

• Ps. 96:1, 2a

 Applying psalms

Universal appeal: Psalms speak to the substance, struggles, and victories of the life of faith for all ages since they center on God’s relationship with his covenant people.

Key difficulties:

• Psalms often lack a clear historical context that enables readers to establish appropriate application guidelines.

• Structure is often limited to parallel construction of each verse or group of verses, rather than the Psalm as a whole (except for discernible patterns in lament and thanksgiving psalms). Main point is to be inferred from the overall picture.

 Assignment: Spend one hour examining and meditating on each of the four Psalms below. Explain in terms of your own experience how each Psalm expresses your spiritual state (both lament and thanksgiving). Be sure to make textual observations based on the structural elements covered in class. Your written assignment should be 2—4 pages.

Laments:

Psalm 142

Psalm 42

Thanksgiving:

Psalm 30