OLD TESTAMEMT PSALM
F INTRODUCTION/KEY TOPICS/THEMES
The Psalms are a collection of Hebrew
devotional poetry, they encompasses a broad range of religious responses to
Israel’s historical experience, particularly the prolonged theological crisis
that followed Babylon’s destruction of Judah in 587 B.C.E; with the attendant
loss of kingship, land and Temple. The collection of 150 poems, traditionally
divided into five separate books, representing a variety of literary genres
that are generally categorized by their form and/or content.
The most common classification includes:
F The hymn, or
song of praise (e.g. Pss. 8, 19, 78, 100, 103, 104, 114, 117, and 150),
F Psalms of
thanksgiving (e.g. Pss. 18, 30, 40, 66, 116, and 118)
F Lament both
individual and collective (e.g. Pss. 10, 22, 38, 42, 43, 44, 51, 58, 59, 69,
and 74)
F Royal psalms
associated with David as king (e.g. Pss 2, 45, 51, 72, 89, 110)
F Enthronement
psalms proclaiming Yahweh as King (e.g. Pss. 93 and 95 -99)
F Psalms of
blessing or cursing (e.g. Pss. 109, and 137)
F And psalms of wisdom, instruction, or
meditation (e.g. Pss. 1, 33-37, 49, 52, 73, 90, 112, 119, and 128).
Yahweh I King! Let the earth rejoice,
The many isles be glad!
For you are Yahweh
Most High over the world,
Far transcending all other gods
Ps. 97: 1, 9
A collection of 150 individual poems
composed at different times over the span of perhaps six centuries, the Book of
Psalms expresses virtually the full range of Israelite religious experience.
Whereas some of the psalms were written to commemorate events during the
Davidic dynasty, such as the coronation and enthronement of kings, others were
written long after the Babylonian exile had brought a permanent end to the
monarchy. The psalms are as diverse as in religious feeling as they are in
historical origin. Raging from declarations of complete trust and confidence in
divine protection (e.g. Pss. 23 and 91) to sorrowful complaints about God’s
apparent failure to shield his people from disaster (e.g. Pss. 44 and 89), the
psalms explore both the height and depth of Israel
The title comes from the Greek psalmoi, which refers to instrumental
music and, by extension, the words accompanying the music. In translating the
psalms, the editors of the Septuagint used psalmoi to render the Hebrew title Tehillim, which means “praises.”
Although each psalm has its own compositional history, as a collection the
Psalms represent the lyrics performed – to the accompaniment of pipes, flutes,
harps, and other musical instruments – at the second Temple as part of Yahweh’s
worship.
·
DAVIDIC
AUTHORSHIP
The tradition that David composed the
Psalms probably owes much to David’s popular reputation as a musician and poet (1
Samuel 16:23, Amos 6:5). Phrases such as “by David,” that are attached to
particular psalms are interpolations by later editors and may mean only that
the psalm thus denoted concerned one of David’s royal successors.
Besides ascribing many psalms to
“David,” editors attributed Psalm 72 to Solomon, Psalm 90 to Moses, and various
others to Asaph and the sons of Korah. Many others are clearly post-Davidic,
such as Psalm 72, which laments the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple Temple
Scholars believe that the present anthology
of the Psalms was put together by uniting several sub-collections. These
include Davidic psalms in which the name Yahweh predominated (Pss. 3 – 41),
Davidic psalms in which Elohim is the preferred term for God (Pss. 51- 72), two
sub collections of psalms ascribed to the sons of Korah (Pss. 42- 49 and Pss.
84 – 88), psalms attributed to Asaph (Pss. 83 – 93), psalms emphasising
Yahweh’s kingship (Pss. 93 – 99), “songs of ascents” (Pss. 120 – 134), and two subsets
of thanksgiving psalms using the imperative “Hallelujah” (praise Yahweh) (Pss.
111 – 118 and 146 – 150).
Combining these collections, as well as
other lyrics, into the present Book of Psalms, post-exilic editors then divided
this anthology of 150 poems into five separate books, perhaps to resemble the
Torah’s division into five books.
·
Book
1 contains Psalms 1 – 41, some of which may be among the oldest in the
collection
·
Book
2 includes Psalms 42 – 72
·
Book
3, Psalms 73 – 89
·
Book
4, Psalms 90 – 106
·
Book
5, Psalms 107 – 150.
Psalms 1 and 2 act as a general
introduction to the collection; Psalm 150 is a doxology, an expression of faith
that rounds off the collection as a whole.
15/10/2009
F Classification of the Psalms
There are two basic classification of
the psalm as already mentioned above namely according to form and content. The
classification according to form is usually seen in the lamentation psalms
which could be either of individual person or communal. That of content is seen
in the creation psalm and the Messianic psalms.
F Analysis of Lamentation Psalms.
-
Complaint
-
Expression
of trust
-
Petition
-
Words
of assurance
-
Statement
of praise
Usually there are three actors in the
lamentation psalms:
·
The
psalmist himself
·
God
·
The
wicked
F Thanksgiving Songs/Psalms
The general theme is usually
thanksgiving for deliverance from enemies or the wicked. Thanksgiving in the
Bible does not simply mean to say thank you. It means a public proclamation of
what has happened and this proclamation arouses certain response from the
audience who in turn responds by giving thanks to God by expressing their trust
in him.
F The Hymn
Hymns in the Old Testament Psalm are
calls to worship. And the basis for this call to worship is usually “for” the
favours received from God – “Praise the Lord all you nations”, the psalm goes
down to give the reason why the nations should praise God and this is often
“for” what God has done.
F Date
If we believe that many of the psalms
were written by David then there must be date – time frame, under which they
were written. Most of the psalms has been dated before the exile began –
pre-exilic times. From the fact that one psalm has been attributed to Moses
indicate that the time frame we are talking about is quite large.
F Terms used in the Psalms
-
Mizmor
– used 57 times. This means a song accompanied with a stringed instrument.
-
Shir
– this means vocal music
-
Maskil
– used 13 times. It refers to the didactic nature of some psalms
-
Tepillah
– Deals with a play or a lament
-
Tehillah
– This is a song of praise
-
Sigaron
– Refers to the wandering psalm/song of the exile or wandering in the desert.
-
Miktam
– Refers to the penitential psalms; a song covering for atonement
-
Selah
– Means a break in-between the psalms
F Purpose of the Psalms
·
The
psalm are meant to express the faith of the community
·
They
help us to express our own emotions to God in prayer in the context of faith
·
The
psalms are song set to music. They are poems and poems are intended to be song.
·
The
psalms inform our intellect, arouse our emotions and stimulate our imagination
– Longman Tremper.
·
The
psalms are spontaneous in nature
·
They
convey our desire for God.
·
They
are for everyone
·
The
psalms are the most quoted part of the Old Testament scripture. Jesus Christ
himself used the psalms.
·
The
psalms do not contain formal theological doctrines such as the doctrine of the
Trinity. They are not doctrinal thesis but poems intended to be song; and there
is no logical sequence in them. The psalmist expresses his emotion freely. The
psalm s does possess some theological teaching but that is not the primary
purpose or aim of the psalmist. An example of this is found in psalm 78.
·
Verses
1 – 4, are words of instruction.
·
Verses
5 – 8, deals with Mosaic Law – cf Exodus 28
·
Verses
9 – 42, recounts God’ blessing on Israel
·
43
– 53, recounts the mighty deeds of God in Egypt
·
Verses
54 – 55, speak about the gift of the land to the sons of Israel
·
56
– 60, speaks of the rebellion during the time of the judges
·
61
– 64, recounts the Babylonian exile
·
65
– 66, God’s rescue of his people
·
67
– 69, God’s choice of Judah
F
Prophetic
Dimension of the Psalms
They help us to understand better God’s
deeds of salvation – cf psalm 2, a royal psalm. The early Church used or
explored the psalms to see which of them applied to Jesus.
F Hebrew Poetry
Hebrew poetry belongs to the Semitic
cultural background. It is not strictly for the Israelites. What is common to
Semitics is the use of imagery and parallelism, rather than rhyme for the sake
of memory and participation. English poems bear words that rhyme but Hebrew
poems are more concerned with imagery and parallelism.
·
Acrostic
An acrostic poem is an alphabetical
poem; each successive line begins with the next letter of the alphabet. Using
the Hebrew Bible, there are nine acrostic psalms – Psalm 9 -10, 25, 34, 37,
111, 112, 119, each stanza is acrostic because of the length. The acrosticism
in psalm 119 is not in lines but in the verses.
·
synonymous
In synonymous psalm two lines expresses
the same idea.
Psalm 24: 1 and 2, Genesis 4:23, 19: 1
and 2. Mark 3: 24
·
Synthetic.
Here the second line complements the
first line – Luck 12: 49-51
·
Antithetic
parallelism.
This is the case where the second line
expresses the opposite of what is expressed in the first line.
·
Staircase
Parallelism
A word or thought extended to build upon
an idea – Psalm 93: 3, 96:1 and 2
·
Chiastic
arrangement
Here the main focus is in the middle.
The psalm beings and ends with the same idea. The idea that comes before the
middle is repeated at the end with the same idea.
The sequence is as follows:
 |
A A
B
B
C
C
B
B
C
C
Psalm 110: verse 4 is the main point –
God has made a promise that cannot be reversed.
v 22/10/09
F
The Psalms a
Microcosm – (small version of
something larger)
When we talk about microcosm, we are
talking about something like a summary. Through microcosm, we can have a
summary of a whole reality. The psalm is therefore a microcosm of the Old
Testament. It is also a microcosm of theology, of liturgy, humanity in the
sense that it describes human life experience, of music and it has also been
called a Christian microcosm. The psalms are also symbolic.
·
It
is a microcosm of the Old Testament because it summarises God’s dealing with
the people of Israel
·
As
a microcosm of liturgy, the psalms are filled with liturgical directives. The
psalms have a cultic orientation. In other words, they are composed for
liturgical celebration. Even when they are used for private purposes, they are
later incorporated into the liturgy of the people/public usage. In order words,
though some of the psalms have private characteristics in usage, it cannot be completely
separated from the “Qahal” (Hebrew) or “Ekklesia” (Greek).
Liturgy therefore is the public function
of the psalms. The individual can use them because he/she is a member of the
larger community. God chose the community and not the individual. When an
individual is called by God, it is always in view of the larger community. The
psalms also do not just focus on the people of Israel
As a microcosm of music, the psalms call
for the use of musical instrument in praising God. The instruments used here
are often addressed to God – cf, psalm 150 – “Praise him with harp and lyre”
etc.
·
In
the psalms, it is the man who does the talking; unlike other passages of the
Old Testament where you find words such as: “It is the Lord who speaks”, or
“the word of the Lord”.
F
The theme of
“REMEMBER” in the psalms
The theme of remember is a fundamental
aspect of alliance between God and his people. The first aspect is that the
people are calling on God to remember his promises and to do something for
them. The second aspect is that the people say that they remember what God has
done in the past. Consequently they will still be faithful to God now. The
theme is an efficacious calling on God to remember – cf. 78:4-5, 105:1. The
Biblical ‘remember’ is the profession of faith which renders actual and temporal….
·
NAGATIVITY
In the psalms also we find words about
the negative things that plague man. Themes like abandonment, sin, punishment,
retribution, God’s silence often due to the sins of the people etc –cf. psalm
88:1-3, 4, 7, 10, and 11.
·
Symbolic
Microcosm.
The psalms are filled with symbolic
languages. Psalm 1:1, 3 talks about the man but not just any man but the man
who follows the ways of the Lord. Such a man is like a tree planted near
streams and it bears fruit in season. Here the imagery that is being evoked is
that of fertility.
·
Images used for
God in the psalms
Cloud, fire etc. The image of the cloud
used in the Old Testament signifies the greatness of God above all.
The image of mount Sion
v 29/10/2009
F Horizontal life
F
Analysis
of individual Psalms
F Psalm 1
-
Known
as the two way: the good and the bad, the righteous and the wicked; life and
death, stability and non-stability
-
It
is like a creed, for profession of the people’s belief
-
It
is used both for individual and community
-
It
showed/teaches that the will be rewarded while the wicked will be punished
-
It
is a didactic psalm
-
It
begins by showing the distinctive life of the righteous
-
The
verb ‘walks’ shows the journey towards perfection and God not to sit and be
comfortable with sinner/scorner because he is comfortable with God.
-
The
word ‘way’ in two ways simply depict the manner of living or manner of life and
moral conduct; not any geographical way.
-
By
contrast, the wicked one is life chaff ‘not so are the wicked, not so.
-
By
form, we have: Praise/song/hymn
Thanksgiving
Lament
-
By
content –
·
Imageries
used – the image of river, tree
F
Psalm 2.
-
Psalm
2 is a messianic psalm
-
What
is found in psalm 2, is also found in 2 Samuel 5:3
-
It
deals with the coronation of one of the Kings of historical background
-
One
important factor is that the entire created order is in opposition to the reign
of God but the opposition is futile because God will continue to reign. This
psalm expounds on the universal reign of God
-
It
is an important psalm because it has many themes
-
It
is classified as:
-
Form:
Lament
-
Content:
Expression of trust in God and of sorrow
F
Psalm 6
-
By
form is a lament
-
By
content: It expresses trust in God
v 05/11/09
F
Psalm 8
-
It
is a psalm of David
-
It
is a psalm of praise
-
Classification:
-
By
form: praise
-
By
content: it is a creation psalm(the mighty deeds of God and the dignity of man)
F Characteristics of a lamentation psalm
·
For
of lament
·
Call
to God
·
Complaint
·
An
expression of trust
·
A
petition
·
Praise
and/or a promise to praise God
F Psalm 9
-
In
some Bibles, psalm 9 is divided into two 9 and 10
-
It
is regarded as an “I” psalm because it uses I or first person pronoun
-
It
is one of the alphabetical psalms
-
It
is a royal psalm
-
References
to sheol are made in this psalm and as we have noted before, going down to
sheol means to be inactive
F
Psalm 12
-
It
is called a liturgy of lament because it is more a prayer inviting God to
deliver them
-
It
is therefore a lamentation psalm
-
It
is a community psalm/prayer
-
It
concludes with the praise of God.
F Psalm 13.
-
Psalm
13 is an individual lament
F
Psalm 14 and 53
-
The
two psalms are the same with little variation in words here and there
-
By
form, it is a lamentation psalm
-
A
complaint about the fool
-
A
request
F
Psalm 19
-
Contains
6 verses about nature
-
Contains
5 verses about the law
-
Contains
4 verses about personal prayer
-
The
psalm focuses on the Sun and the Torah (Law)
-
According
to Nahum Sarna the writer of this psalm is probably suggesting that the light
of the Torah is brighter than the sun
-
It
is one of the borrowed psalms
-
29
references are found in the Canaanite literature about the sun god
-
In
Psalm 104, references to the Egyptian sun god is mentioned
-
In
psalm 19, the sun in the Hebrew poetry is presented as a creature of God and as
a god; unlike the Egyptian poetry that see the sun as a god
-
Psalm
19 and 119 are sometimes called wisdom psalms
-
Psalm
19 is also a creation psalm
-
It
is composed of two psalms:
-
Verses
1 – 7 is one and 8 – 14 is another
F
Psalm 24
-
By
form, it is a psalm of praise
-
It
is technically a hymn
-
It
is known as a processional hymn of praise
-
The
psalm has a close relationship with our liturgy especially during the
penitential rites when the priest says ‘to prepare ourselves to celebrate the
sacred liturgy…’
-
The
whole idea of the psalm is that the Lord is holy and supreme and for us to
approach him, we must be purified to make us worthy to appear before his throne
of mercy to receive blessings
-
The
washing of hands by the priest I another resemblance
-
The
priest prays before the proclamation of the Gospel
-
According
to Fulton J Sheen, in other religions, one purifies himself before he/she goes
to worship. In Christianity however, we go as we to knock at the door and it is
the person or the one that opens the door who purifies us.
F
Psalm 35
-
According
to content, it is a cursing psalm
-
According
to form, it is a psalm of complaint
v November 12, 2009
F
Psalm 27
-
There
is an adaptation of ugaritic themes in the psalm
-
This
psalm is used for the celebration of enthronement
-
Verse
3 to the end shows the building up of event till it reaches the climax
-
Expression
used in the psalm portrays the awesomeness of God
-
Verse
2 is significant for us as priests or priests to be. It admonishes us to give
God his due glory in the celebration of the Eucharist and the sacraments
-
The
garment we wear is significant. It signifies who we are before God as priests
-
An
echo of genesis’ creation story is alluded to in the psalm
-
There
are diverse themes in the psalm: praise, petition, prayer, sorrow.
v
November 19,
2009
F
Psalm 37
(Similar to psalm 1, 49 and 92)
By content: This psalm makes
comparison between the upright and the wicked. Compare psalm 1 and psalm 49.
By form: It is a didactic psalm
-
It
is one of the alphabetical psalms.
-
It
is a didactic psalm
-
It
compares the life of the upright and the wicked
-
This
feature is found in psalm 1, 49 and 92
-
The
issue of retribution – Good will be repaid and evil will also be repaid.
-
Though
the wicked flourish, they will soon be destroyed. Their success is temporal;
hence we should not turn away from the right path.
F Psalm 73
-
Talks
about the two ways – see psalm 1
-
Scholars
opine that it marks the beginning of a new collection.
-
Takes
up the themes in psalm 1.
-
A
microcosm of the canonical form of the Psalter
-
It
might be called the journey of a soul
-
Begins
with the positive tone of psalm 1
-
To
the disorientation caused by human perfidy
-
Comes
to acknowledgement of divine providence
-
Ends
with complete trust in God
-
Microcosm
of the theology of Israel
F
Psalm 78
-
This
psalm is rather difficult to classify
-
It
recounts many events in the life of Israel
-
Have
many themes: Good and the bad, Theme of the Torah
-
It
is a microcosm of the history of Israel
-
It
is a historical psalm showing considerable influence
-
It
does not conform to the usual pattern of content and form we have been
considering in other psalms
-
Verse
1 and 2 resembles psalm 49: 1-4, Proverbs 1:8
-
The
mention of ancestors is made three times
-
It
talks of God’s mighty deeds
-
Infidelity
of his people and the consequences of unfaithfulness.
-
It
demonstrates that God does not punish his people for nothing
-
It
has unique message on the theme of remember.
F Psalm 111
-
Speaks
of the fear of the Lord (the fear of the Lord in the content of the psalms is
understood to mean the keeping or observance of God’s commands).
v Assignment
Find
ten images used for God in the psalms
v
November 26, 2009
(Study
psalm 77 for exams – theme is on ‘remember’)
-
The
images used for God in the psalms shows God’s dominance over all creation.
There is no aspect of life that is outside of God’s dominance.
-
God
of Sabaoth (Lord of Host). This title was used for God during the time when the
Israelites were in the wilderness. Afterwards, it was no longer used.
-
God
as horn of salvation: this is more like catechesis – katechein – invitation to
sound the horn.
-
Redemption,
lost glory, reclaim, bought back – implies that the people were slaves and
needs to be redeemed – the Israelites in Egypt
v
14/01/2010
F
Penitential
Psalms – 6, 32, 38, 102, 130, 143.
They
are called penitential psalm because they deal with remorse and sorrow for
sins.
F
Psalm 81 and 95
These
two psalms are similar in nature. They are about liturgy. They are equally
associated with the feast of the tabernacle and are used in the enthronement
ceremony. They are placed side by side because of the similarity of their theme
content.
In
psalm 81 verses 2 – 6, we have a call to rejoice
In
psalm 95 verses 2 – 6, the same is repeated but here a reason for rejoicing is
added
81
verses 6 – 17: Here we have the message: calling the people to obedience to
God. It also recalls God’s goodness to the people in the past.
F
Psalm 84
This
psalm is called the song of Zion
2
– 4: longing for the temple
5
– 8: the beatitude
In
verse 7 – 8, we have the account of the pilgrim’s journey. This can be likened
to our own journey of faith.
F
Psalm 106
This
psalm is called the historical psalm.
-
It
talks about the sins of the people
-
It
is also the community’s lamentation psalm
-
Verse
1 – 5 is a call to praise; and prayer for Israel
-
Verse
6 – 46 deals with the confession of sins; it reflects the exodus and what
happened in the past.
-
Verse
47 deals with a prayer for restoration.
-
The
psalm follows Deuteronomical tradition
F
Psalm 118
-
This
psalm is a hymn of thanksgiving to the Saviour of Israel
-
It
is also used in the liturgy
-
It
is divided into three
-
Verses
1 – 4 deals with Israel
-
Verses
5 – 14 is a thanksgiving that have an individual nature – (B)
-
Verses
19 – 20 justice – God of justice – (C) cf psalm 15
-
Verse
24 talks about the day of the Lord, meaning the day God intervened in the lives
of the people to bring them salvation
-
Verses
28 and 29 is a theme of parallelism
F Psalm 137
-
This
psalm is called an implication psalm
-
It
recalls a particular phase in the life of the Israelites – their exile: verse 1
v 21/01/2010
F
Psalm
144
-
Difficult
to classify
-
An
echo of other psalms/themes of other psalms are found in this psalm
-
It
is compared to psalm 18
-
It
is called a royal psalm – vv. 10
·
structure
-
verse
1 – 2, gives thanks for victory
-
3-8
man’s finite nature
-
9
– 11 vow of thanksgiving
-
Imagery
of water: symbol of chaos
-
12
– 15 deals with the blessing
F Psalm 139
-
Difficult
to classify as well
-
Called
a hymn
-
Attributes
of God found in it
F Psalm 119
-
Called
an acrostic psalm
-
Divided
into different stanzas
-
A
Torah psalm – deals with the Law
-
The
psalm is in praise of the Lord and the joy of observing them.
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