Psalms is one of the longest and most fascinating books in the Bible. It contains 150 chapters and several authors, including Ethan, Heman, the sons of Korah, Moses, Solomon, and David. While it is classified as a book of poetry and song; it is so much more.
Introduction
In the Book of Psalms, there are great instructions and wisdom on how to live a righteous life. There are historical accounts put to song. There are lamentations for both the individual and for the nation of Israel. Furthermore, this book of praise has one of the highest concentrations of messianic prophecy in the entire Bible.
One can glean from this book right from the surface, or one can dig into the endless depths of its wisdom. A person can grab the low hanging fruit from these great trees or can take the time to climb into its vast crown and search for the hidden fruit that only the Holy Spirit can reveal.
There is a psalm that captures every point in a person’s life. If one is sad, happy, grieving, failed miserably, there is a psalm for that situation. There is something raw and real in this book of Hebrew poetry and it has a way of directing thoughts to praise, repentance, and confirmation of God working in one’s life.
The book was used by the Hebrew people for millennia, used by the Jewish people of today, and cherished by Christians around the world. The first chapter is a great introduction to the rest of the book.
Psalm 1 shows that blessings flow from a life of obedience to the Word of God and provide the only foundation for acceptable praise and worship.
Historical Context
The history surrounding the compilation of the Book of Psalms occurred over a thousand years and was written by several authors, some known and some unknown. This book stands out among the rest of the books of the Bible because it is a collection of individual poems written at various times through history.
It may not be the oldest book of the Bible, but it contains some of the earliest writings in the history of Israel. In modern circles, the Book of Psalms is often attributed to King David. As stated in Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, “This book is often called ‘The Psalms of David,’ he being the only author mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 20:42) and his name appearing in more titles than that of any other writer.”[1]
However, when one looks at known authors of the individual chapters, Psalm 90 may be the oldest of them, as it is attributed to Moses. This would date the contents of this book back to approximately 1500 BC.
During that time, the Bronze Age, Egypt was in its 18th dynasty and a major force in the known world, especially in North Africa and parts of the Middle East. The age of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob occurred some 500-700 years earlier.
Using Moses as one of the earliest authors would place the earliest writings before the era of the Israelite judges, about four to five hundred years before the reign of King David, and approximately nine hundred years before the Israelite’s exile into Babylonian captivity. The most recent psalms may date to the time during and after the exile.
When discussing the attempts at dating the psalms, the Lexham Bible Dictionary suggests that the Book of Psalms can be broken down into the following times; 1. Preexilic, 2. Exilic, and 3. Postexilic.[2] This would place the more recent psalms during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, between 539-331 BC.
The dictionary cited above stated that evidence of the postexilic time comes from certain clues within the psalms, such as “the petition for restoration from exile in Psa 106:47…”[3]
According to John D. Berry et al., “Some may date to the time of Moses (15th or 13th century BC; see Psa 90), many date to the united monarchy under David and Solomon (10th century BC), and some were written during the Babylonian exile or later (sixth century BC; see Psa 137).”[4]
It is possible that the historical context of the book of Psalms spanned from 1500 to 331 BC. While there is much debate about the exact dating of the psalms, it is likely that they fall in the above stated time.
Cultural Context
The origins of the culture that surrounded writers of the book of Psalms go back to the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It may even go back to the beginning of humanity with Adam and Eve.
It is a culture that developed in North Africa and the Middle East, an area often called the Fertile Crescent. It is a culture that had been ruled as a theocracy, ruled by judges, ruled by kings, and now a ruled by a democratic government. These first three cover the time in which the book of Psalms was written.
Israel was a theocracy during the times of Moses, ruled by judges during the times Othniel, Deborah, and Gideon, and ruled by kings during the times of Saul, David, and Hezekiah.
The Hebrew people were nomadic during the times of Abraham, up until the conquering of the land of Canaan. Even their sanctuary of worship was moved from place to place before they eventually settled down in one area and established a fixed temple.
They were no stranger to slavery as they were enslaved for approximately four hundred years in the land of Egypt. They were enslaved again during the Assyrian and Persian empires. They were conquered many times.
They went through several cycles where they followed God, walked away from God, worshipped other gods, were conquered and/or brought into captivity, cried out to God for salvation, and saved from their enemies.
They had seen great sorrow and suffering, but also miraculous salvation and victory over their enemies.
They have always been a monotheistic culture, except for periodic times of rebellion. They worshipped one God, as evidenced through the book of Psalms.
They were passionate people and were given to the arts of poetry, song, and playing musical instruments.
As a nation, they had seen God work on their behalf many times. They were meticulous about keeping records, genealogies, and passing on their stories from one generation to the next. They recorded historical accounts, the law and instructions of God, prophecy, and their vast array of poetry.
Literary Context
The Old Testament (OT) of the Bible is broken down into several parts, which include the Pentateuch, History books, Poetry and Wisdom books, Major Prophets, and Minor Prophets.
The Poetry and Wisdom books include Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Songs of Solomon, and Psalms. The latter book is comprised of 150 psalms and is the longest collection of biblical poetry in the Bible.[5]
Hebrew poetry comprises a large section of the OT and it is not just relegated to the above books. Only seven of the thirty-nine books in the OT are said to have no poetry.[6]
The Hebrew name for the book of Psalms is Telehim, meaning “praises” or “hymns.”[7] In the Septuagint, the Greek title is psalmoi, and it is from that translation that we get the English title.[8]
Psalms contain five different books: Book One-Psalms 1-42, Book Two-43-72, Book Three-73-89, Book Four-90-106, Book Five-107-150. Some have said that these five books correspond to the five books of the Pentateuch, though any purposeful link has been elusive.[9]
The Psalms have also been divided into other various sections, such as the Royal Psalms, Songs of Ascent, Songs of Zion, and Wisdom Psalms. They can also be broken down into their purposes such as didactic, praise, devotional, historical, and prophetic.[10]
The Israelites were passionate about their poetry and much of the Psalms were put to song, as evidenced by the psalms of David. These poems and songs are not just found in one book but are throughout the OT.
For example, the songs of Moses and Miriam from the book of Genesis, the song Hannah from First Samuel, the songs of David from multiple books, and the song of Deborah from Judges.
The Israelites were a singing people, and the psalms were a regular part of their praise and worship. They included poetry and song for all sorts of occasions, celebrations, and even during times of war.
In the New King James Version of the Bible, “sing” is mentioned 149 times, “song” 99, “singer” 39, “hymn” 5, “praise” 308, “worship” 197, “dance” 26, and “shout” 82. Poetry, song, and praise were at the center of their culture.
Hebrew poetry includes many literary devices to include similes, metaphors, and parallelisms. The latter is the chief characteristic of Hebrew poetry.[11] Robert Lowth describes this literary device as “The correspondence of one verse or line with another.”[12]
These correlations can be equivalent or contrasting and they can be described as a single thought stated in diverse ways. Parallelisms are important to understand as they are the key to getting a deeper understanding of Hebrew poetry and are seen in the very first chapter of Psalms.
Stay tuned for part 2 of 5.
References
[1] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 345.
[2] Craig C. Broyles, “Psalms, Book of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[3] Ibid.
[4] John D. Barry et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Ps 1:1–6.
[5] Craig C. Broyles, “Psalms, Book of,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary.
[6] Walter C. Kaiser Jr., “‘My Heart Is Stirred by a Noble Theme’: The Meaning of Poetry and Wisdom,” in Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, ed. Walter C. Kaiser Jr. and Moisés Silva (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007), 139.
[7] Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, 345.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid., 346.
[11] Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Introduction to Biblical Hermeneutics: The Search for Meaning, 138.
[12] Ibid., 140.
Dan Buteau has been married for the last 33 years and is a father of four adult children. He is also a grandfather to five children. He serves as a Pastor at a church in southern Maine. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Math Studies from Granite State University and he is currently a Master’s of Theology student at Liberty University. In addition, Dan served in the United States Marine Corps for four years and is retired from a 25-year career in law enforcement. He has a hunger and thirst for the Word of God and is continuing to obey the calling of his Savior, Jesus Christ, as he carries out the Great Commission.
