BIBLE STUDY --- BOOKS OF THE TANAKH {KETUVIM}

BOOK OF PSALMS --- PART 2

THE AFTERLIFE

The Psalms maintain the traditional Hebrew view of Sheol as the abode of the departed, without distinction between the good and evil, where all but mere existence has perished. The chief complaint of the devout man was that, in Sheol, all meaningful relationship with YHVH ceased {Psalms 6:5; 88:10-12}. However, it was recognized that, since YHVH was almighty, even Sheol was not exempt from his reach {Psalm 139:8}. Added to this was the preciousness and strength of fellowship with YHVH, which could not be terminated even by death. Psalms 16:9-11; 49:15; and 73:23-26 well illustrate this insight. The Psalter, therefore, witnesses to an important transitional phase in Israel’s belief.

UNIVERSAL RECOGNITION OF YHVH

Passages like Psalms 9:11; 47:1-2, 7-9; 66:8; 67; and 117:1 call upon all nations to acknowledge and praise YHVH and show an awareness of his sovereignty over all nations. But this universalism does not appear to involve any desire to convert the heathen nations and, indeed, it is balanced by strong particularistic elements. YHVH’s Covenant relationship with his people and his mighty deeds on their behalf are the chief items for which the praise of all nations is summoned {Psalms 47:3-4; 66:8-9; 126:2}. As elsewhere in the Old Testament, the role of Israel is passive; her continued existence witnesses to YHVH’s faithfulness and brings glory to him.

LASTING VALUE

Whatever the emotion of the psalmists, be it bitter complaint, anguished lament, or joyous exultation, all the psalms reflect one or other of the many aspects of communion with YHVH. The reader may look “into the heart of all the saints” as they faced life’s experiences in the awareness of a YHVH who was all-seeing, all-knowing, and all-powerful. The strength of that personal relationship with YHVH that typified Old Testament worship at its best is exemplified here, and the many echoes of the psalms elsewhere in Israel’s literature show the powerful influence of these testimonies on the faithful. The fact that, almost invariably, little specific detail is given of the psalmists’ actual conditions has made it easier for the Psalter to become the universal hymnbook and devotional treasury of YHVH’s people, in both public and private worship, until and including the present day. Modern life, materially, is vastly different from that of ancient Israel, but YHVH remains unchanged and so do the basic needs of the human heart. The Holy Spirit therefore, can still use this spiritual treasury as a means of revelation and communication between YHVH and man. Few books in the Bible have exercised so profound an influence or been so widely used.

CONTENT

INTRODUCTION

It is more helpful to describe the psalms in categories than to explain them one by one in canonical order. The psalms can be categorized as follows:

1 -- Psalms of praise
2 -- Royal, messianic psalms
3 -- Passion psalms
4 -- Psalms about Zion
5 – Laments
6 -- Imprecatory psalms
7 -- Penitential psalms
8 -- Wisdom psalms and historical psalms
9 -- Psalms of trust

PSALMS OF PRAISE

The Hebrew title, “Praises,” defines accurately a large part of the contents of the book. Each of the first four sections concludes with a doxology, while the fifth section concludes with five psalms, each of which begins and ends with one or two “Hallelujahs.” The last of these, Psalm 150, sounds the call to total praise. YHVH is to be praised for his being, for his great acts in creation, nature, and history on both the individual and the communal level.

1 -- Individual praise. In comparison with the number of individual laments, there are relatively few psalms in this category. Those normally included are Psalms 9; 18; 32; 34; 116; and 138. This may, in part, be due to the universal tendency to complain rather than to express thanks. But a number of the laments do, in fact, include the note of thanksgiving for the anticipated deliverance, and the normal round of congregational thanksgiving would allow the individual to express his personal praise. However, it was customary in temple worship to give a verbal act of thanksgiving before the whole assembly whenever a vow offering or a thank offering was made. Such public testimony, and the communal meal associated with this type of sacrifice, is indicated in Psalms 22:22-26; 66:13-20; 116:17-19. The inclusion of such opportunities for personal praise and testimony must have added warmth and significance to worship. Each act of deliverance and every experience of YHVH’s mercy became part of salvation history, which was a cumulative, ongoing concept, not simply a recital of YHVH’s deeds in earlier centuries.

2 -- General communal praise. This is sometimes entitled “hymns” or “descriptive praise,” its main feature being linked to a particular act of deliverance. YHVH is usually referred to in the third person, not directly. Psalm 103 may be taken as representative of this group. It begins and ends with individual references {verses 1-5, 22b}, but the central section {esp. verses 6-14} shows that the psalmist was part of a worshiping community. There is first of all the imperative call to praise YHVH for the full range of his mercy to each individual, including physical and spiritual deliverance and his sustaining and satisfying grace. Then the focus changes to his great works in history {verses 6-7}. This forms a natural basis for the recital of those gracious qualities revealed so consistently during the course of the national history, especially his tender, fatherly care {verses 8-14}. The frailty of humanity contrasts with YHVH’s constancy {verses 15-18}, and his rule, being universal and absolute {verse 19}, merits the praise of all things, living and inanimate, in heaven and on earth {verses 19-22}. There is, however, a great number of possible variations in the way in which YHVH is celebrated, as Psalms 113 and 136, which come within this class, illustrate.

3 -- Specific communal praise. Occasionally termed “declarative praise,” this type of psalm connects with particular outstanding evidence of YHVH’s mercy and would most naturally follow soon after the event itself. Deliverance from an enemy provides the occasion for most of the psalms in this category {e.g., Psalms 124; 129}. Psalm 66:8-12, now the nucleus of an expanded recital of YHVH’s goodness, was possibly once complete in itself. Psalms 46–48 may form a trilogy connected with the remarkable deliverance of Jerusalem from Sennacherib’s Assyrians in 701 BC {2 Kings 18:17–19:37}. Psalm 67 was probably composed in gratitude for a particular harvest. It is easy to see how psalms of this type could, in the process of time, acquire a more general usage.

4 -- Praise for the YHVH of nature. The first part of Psalm 19 pictures the praise of YHVH sounding from the heavens; Psalm 29 celebrates him as the YHVH of the thunderstorm, which, sweeping in from the Mediterranean near Lebanon, pursues its awe-inspiring path southward into the wilderness of Kadesh, with the result that “in his temple” {the created world?} all are praising, “Glory, glory to Adonai” {verse 9}. His sovereignty and self-sufficiency in this world are celebrated in Psalm 50:10-12; he is the YHVH of growth and harvest {Psalm 65:9-13}; in Psalm 104, often called the “Hymn of Creation,” he sustains and supplies everything on the earth and in the seas and is the absolute Adonai of all life {verses 29-30}. There is no confusion between YHVH and his creation; even the seemingly permanent heaven and earth will perish, but “you go on forever” {Psalm 102:25-27}. Nature’s role is to proclaim the glory of YHVH {Psalm 19:1} and to praise him {Psalm 148}. People see themselves as insignificant when set against those forces of nature, which are themselves dwarfed by YHVH -- hence, the awareness of the immeasurable gulf between YHVH and people that YHVH has bridged by his grace {Psalm 8}.

5. Praise for YHVH’s kingship. A relatively small group of psalms {Psalms 47; 93; 96–99} celebrate the kingship of YHVH in a way that goes beyond the ascription of praise noted in the foregoing groups. They are marked by acclamation, by both shouting and clapping when YHVH “ascends.” Presumably, the reference is to his throne {Psalm 47:1-5; cf. 99:1-2}. “Adonai reigns” {Psalms 93:1; 97:1; 99:1} is the frequent cry, and the nature of his reign is extolled {Psalm 99:4-5}.

ROYAL, MESSIANIC PSALMS

Psalms 2; 18; 20; 21; 45; 61; 72; 89; 101; 110; 132; and 144 are usually included as the royal psalms. They do not form a literary category, since psalms of various types are included, but they all have some reference to the king, the nature of his rule, and his relationship to YHVH. Since the Davidic monarchy was terminated in 586 BC, these psalms, almost certainly, were composed before that date. The language in these psalms often shows the king as being YHVH’s vice-regent. For example, Psalm 45, a royal marriage psalm, contains the assertion “Your throne, O YHVH, endures for ever and ever” {45:6}. But this is best understood in terms of the throne being regarded as Adonai’s, occupied by the king as his representative. Similarly, the wording in Psalm 110:1, “Sit at my right hand,” indicates the privileges and prerogatives that the king enjoys as YHVH’s vice-regent. The balance of the Old Testament evidence concerning the king shows that the monarchy in Israel was qualified by the nature of YHVH’s Covenantal relationship with his people; the king did not enjoy the absolutism claimed by most of the rulers of surrounding kingdoms. Most of the royal psalms can also be called messianic psalms. They were interpreted as such in the early church, as witnessed in Yeshua Moshiach’s general statement that the psalmists wrote of him {Luke 24:44} and by particular New Testament quotations. The main psalms concerned, and the New Testament references, are the following:

1 -- Psalm 2 {Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; 5:5}, while linked with the Davidic king, nevertheless speaks of a universal vindication and rule, which far transcended even David’s rule. Further, the picture of the Davidic king, anointed to rule on the earth as the representative of YHVH, who is enthroned in heaven, strongly suggests Moshiach’s mediating, incarnate ministry.

2 -- Psalm 45 {Hebrews 1:8-9}, a marriage psalm for one of the Davidic kings, possibly Solomon, speaks not only of love and marriage but also a permanence and quality of rule. In the most obvious translation of verse 6, the writer addresses YHVH, “Your divine throne endures for ever and ever.” The writer to the Hebrews clearly accepted this interpretation {Hebrews 1:8-9} and used it in contrast to the exalted status of even the Angels, reinforcing it with two other quotations from the psalms that originally applied to YHVH {Psalm 97:7; 102:25-27; cf. Hebrews 1:6, 10-12}.

3 -- Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted messianic psalm {Matthew 22:43-45; Acts 2:34-35; Hebrews 1:13; 5:5-10; 6:20; 7:21}. The language, speaking of the privileges, universal victory and continuing priesthood of David and his successors, would be considered hyperbolic and possibly misleading except for its fulfilment in “great David’s greater Son.” In contrast to the Angels, who are privileged to stand in YHVH’s presence {Luke 1:19}, the Moshiach, the Son sits in the place of power and authority {Hebrews 1:13}. Other psalms that could also be designated messianic but are not specifically included among the royal psalms are Psalm 8 {1 Corinthians 15:27}; Psalm 40 {Hebrews 10:5-10}; Psalm 72, with its idealized picture of the nature, consequences, and extent of the rule of YHVH’s representative; Psalm 118:22-23; and Psalm 132 {Acts 2:30}.