Introduction to the Book of Psalms: Psalms 90, 126
Introduction to the Book of Psalms
I.
God in the Book of Psalms
A.
In the book of Psalms, God becomes a Person, not an abstract idea. If there is a problem today for many people, it’s the problem that God is too abstract Person relationship
B.
Throughout the Bible, each time an individual came face to face with God, and with the reality that God is a person, his life changed.
1.
() Joshua fell on his face before the angel of the Lord before the battle of Jericho, and he was changed from a man concerned about a formidable enemy to one who knew he served a Captain who could not be defeated .
2.
(; ) When Moses came face to face with God on the mountain, he became a changed man , and the change was visible (his face shined). The Hebrew word for “shone” is a peculiar one; coming from the word for "horn," it means, literally, “rayed.” Hence Moses has often been represented in art with horns coming from his head.
3.
(1 Kings 19:13-18) When God spoke to Elijah on the mountain following his flight from Jezebel, he was never the same again. He never felt depressed again.
4.
() When Isaiah saw God , he was never the same afterward. He was willing to go anywhere for God: “Here am I; send me” (vs. 8).
C.
We must come to the point in our lives where we realize that God is a person and not an influence. When we see God in His glory as a person, our lives will change . As long as God remains abstract, people have large gray areas in their lives. They have areas of indecision and uncertainty. But when God becomes a person, we also see another person much better: ourselves .
D.
When we come face to face with God, we see ourselves from His perspective (as we really are):
1.
() Job said, “I have heard of you by the hearing of my ear but now my eye sees you. Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes.” Job, when he came face to face with God saw himself as he really was : a sinner saved by grace.
2.
() Isaiah saw himself as a sinner when face to face with God. The teaching of this time: if anyone saw God, he would never see anything else. Read Supplementary Text: (#1)
E.
The book of Psalms lets you see God as a Person. He is a Person who is interested in (not removed from) His creation. He is involved in the minute-by-minute, second-by-second affairs of this earth, and has everything under control .
F.
God guided special writers to construct the Psalms.
1.
“Poetry” comes from the Greek words: “To do, to make.” It takes skill to write good poetry. As we read the book of Psalms, we recognize how the Holy Spirit guided wise and skillful men of old to create the masterpieces of poetic expression, which we have in our hands today in the form of 150 psalms . (Hebrew poetry is called parallelism. You will have a “Parallelism in Hebrew Poetry” page in your Prospector’s Report for Lesson 1. It describes and illustrates four of the six kinds of parallelism found in the book of Psalms. In this class, you will only encounter the first four kinds in the book of Psalms.) Our rhyming is called assonance (similar sounds of consonants or vowels). In Hebrew poetry, the writer matches ideas, not similar sounds. This rhyming is called parallelism, which is a shadowing effect. If you were in Proverbs Alive, you are well acquainted with parallelism as the Hebrew poetry.
2.
The Psalms, by virtue of their uniqueness, required God’s guiding hand and inspiration as the poets of old penned the words. A completed psalm is similar to a fine piece of embroidery: full of symmetry and balance and woven like skillful needlework. Each Psalm is a poetic masterpiece filled with golden nuggets of practical theology.
II.
The Five Books of Psalms
A.
The book of Psalms originally existed in isolation over a period of over 900 years. Until the book was assembled sometime after the exile in Babylon, there were five separate books of Psalms. Each of the books ends with a benediction .
1.
The first book of Psalms ends with , Amen and Amen .”
2.
The second book of Psalms ends with 72:19, “Amen and Amen.” And verse 20 adds: “The prayers of David .” (It is simply referring to the prayers of David in the second book, which ended in Ps. 70.)
3.
The third book ends at , “Amen and Amen.”
4.
The fourth book ends with , “Let all the people say, Amen. Praise the LORD! ”
5.
The fifth book ends with the last verse in Psalms (), “Praise the LORD!”
III.
Contents and Compilers of the Five Books of Psalms
D = David K = Korah A = Asaph S = Solomon
E = Ethan M = Moses H = Heman An = Anonymous
Book Psalms Compiler D K A S E M H An
1 1-41 4
2 42-72 Solomon 18 8 1 3
5 107-150 15 1
: 11 12 1 1 1
B.
Who were Korah, Asaph, Ethan, and Heman?
1.
Regarding the identity of Korah, a Levite of the family of Kohath , according to , Korah’s grandson was David’s temple musician . Temple musicians, according to verse 32, served from David ’s to Solomon ’s times. In , Korahites were temple musicians in the time of Jehoshaphat (896 BC). Book 2’s Sons of Korah were temple musicians in Solomon 's time. The exilic Sons of Korah in Book 3 were temple musicians in the time of the last kings of Judah : Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.Read Supplementary Text: (#2)
2.
2. Regarding the identity of Asaph, according to ; ; ; and , Asaph was a Levite who headed the ministry of David and Solomon ’s times. In , an exilic Asaph is mentioned. Book 2 features an Asaph from Solomon’s time. Book 3’s Asaph is a musician who was exiled to Babylon after Zedekiah ’s time. (Asaph belonged to the Levite family of Gershon.)
3.
Regarding the identity of Ethan, according to , he was a wise man (an Ezrahite of the tribe of Judah), whom Solomon was compared to and said to greatly exceed in wisdom .
4.
Regarding the identity of Heman, according to and , he was the son of Joel, grandson of Samuel , and a member of the Levite family of Kohath ; ; , he was called “Heman the singer,” and was the first of the three chief Levites appointed to conduct the vocal and instrumental music of the Tabernacle during David’s time. He was an instrumentalist himself and the father of 17 children. Heman was also the author of the melancholiest of the Psalms (88).
C.
Evidence of Psalm Compilers
1.
Book 1 was mainly written by David, who was close to God. God’s personal name (Jehovah) occurs often (it is the predominate way God is referred to in Book 1). 37 Psalms by David; 4 by anonym. godly men.
2.
Book 2 was compiled during the time of Solomon, who was not close to God in his later years. God’s generic name (Elohim) predominates in this book. David wrote 18 Psalms in Book 2 of 31 Psalms.
3.
Books 3 and 4 were compiled during the exile. Book 3 is mainly by Asaph and Book 4 is mainly by anonymous compilers. Books 3-4: David wrote 3 Psalms of 34 Psalms.
4.
Book 5 was compiled after the return , and referred to specific events of the exile in — the Babylonian captivity in , and return to Jerusalem in . (“Zion” means “citadel” and refers to a hill in Jerusalem as a significant city.) Zion occurs 40 times in Psalms. David wrote 15 Psalms in Book 5 of 44 Psalms.
5.
Psalms is quoted in the New Testament more than any other Old Testament book.
D.
Psalm Statistics
1.
Most of these Psalms were written or compiled by David (73, which is 48 %).
2.
The next most prolific source is the anonymous psalms (50 and 33 %).
3.
The next most prolific compiler was Asaph (12 and 8%).
4.
Next was Korah (10 and 7%). 4 by various known people.
5.
But Psalm 90 was written by Moses (the only one he wrote) and is the oldest Psalm. (Pss. 89-90 were added to the Psalter during the exile [586-538 B.C.])
6.
Moses died in 1406 BC. So Psalms extends from the time of Moses (he wrote in 1446 B.C) down to the post-exilic period (at least 500 B.C). Our oldest Psalm is 90 and most recent Psalm is 126 .
a.
Psalm 126 is about Israel. It is a post-exilic Psalm written about 500 B.C. that dealt with the exile and return. The Jews had been in captivity in Babylon for 70 years. (They knew from prophecy that they would return to the Promised Land.) Now, having returned, they were asking God to turn again their captivity. They promised God that they were going to sow seed of crops, reap the harvest, and cry because they were so happy. They were happy that they had been released from captivity. This is a fantastic psalm of fulfilled prophecy .
b.
In Psalm 90, Moses looked back on a long period of history to arrive at his concept of God's wrath. In view of man's frailty and brevity, he pleaded for restoration to God's favor.
(1)
Verses 1-6 contrasted man's life with God's eternity. The psalmist began by citing his confidence in God's everlasting nature (cf. ). Truly all generations have found this to be true. The Lord is immortal; man is mortal. The Lord is above time; man is ever time-conscious. The Lord is from everlasting to everlasting; man, like grass, is short-lived . The similes (comparisons) of verses 4-6 emphasize not merely the brevity or frailty of life, but man's dependence upon the eternal God. Man is surely at God's disposal, returning to dust at His command and being swept away as by a flood. (Verses 5-6 demonstrate Antithetic Parallelism and 5 demonstrates Emblematic Parallelism.) Read Supplementary Text: (#3)