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DAY 4 – PSALMS PART II 

The five “books” found in the Psalms, in their general outlines, also tell a story. They trace Israel’s history in its successive stages: monarchy, exile, and return. The first two books consist mostly of psalms by David, whom God established as king over Israel and as the head of its royal line. Taken together, these two books begin and end with psalms about God establishing the king on the throne (2 and 72). But the third book then begins with the question of why the wicked prosper (73) and with a lament over the destruction of Jerusalem (74). This book ends with a similar complaint that God has abandoned David’s line (89). In other words, book three recalls the situation of exile. The fourth book then opens with a reminder that God is the true dwelling place of the people of Israel (90). The psalms in this section state repeatedly that “the Lord reigns” (93, 97, 99)—in other words, Israel’s true king is still on the throne. This fourth book nevertheless ends with a plea for God to bring the exiled people home (106). The fifth book begins with a declaration that God has indeed brought the exiles back (107). It includes many “songs of ascents” (120–134), psalms that were sung by travelers going up to the temple in Jerusalem. This suggests a context in which the people have returned to the land. Therefore, appropriately, this fifth book (and the whole collection) ends with a call to praise God (at the end of 145), followed by five songs of praise (146–150). In other words, the very form in which Israel’s worship songs have been collected illustrates one foundational reason for its worship: God has been faithful to the nation, judging it by means of exile but then bringing it back home again.

Within this larger framework, some other structuring principles are also evident. For example, the whole collection seems to have been assembled from several smaller ones organized by author, type of song, and the divine name that is used: “God” or “the Lord.” (In some cases these principles of organization lead to psalms appearing out of place in the overall historical order of the book. Psalm 44, for example, is grouped with other compositions of the “sons of Korah,” but this leads to an exilic psalm being placed in the midst of the monarchy section.) Some psalms seem to have been attracted to one another by word association, for example, “dove” in Psalms 55 and 56. A pattern of morning, evening, and morning appears in Psalms 3, 4, and 5. And so forth. However, none of these principles is as significant for the structure and meaning of the whole book as the two larger ones already noted: the call to read and meditate upon the Psalms in the same way as the law of Moses, and the call to remember God’s historical faithfulness and to respond to it with continuing praise.

PRAYER: Let Your Word be a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.