Bible U

back to Psalms

Introduction

The Psalms, penned by at least 8 different people over many generations, are essentially worship song lyrics or hymnals. They cover the span of human emotions in relation to God, and are generally divided into five “books”: 1-41, 42-72, 73-89, 90-106, and 107-150. But the New Testament seems to indicate that they also contain some prophecy, the primary topic of which is the Messiah and his coming kingdom.

Book 1 General Intro

Being poetic hymns, the Psalms make use of a literary device known as parallelism, as opposed to the English convention of rhyming. A pair of lines either expresses the same thought two ways, or the positive and negative of the thought. So we have to be careful not to misinterpret them. The Psalms of the 1st book are mostly those of David and his experiences with God.

Psalm 1

Psalm 1 contrasts the way of the righteous with the way of the wicked, which is the character of all the Psalms in general. It teaches and encourages holy living in practical terms, mainly that “bad company corrupts good character”. So as opposed to the practice of emptying the mind as meditation is in other religions, righteous meditation fills the mind with the instructions of God (the law or Torah), and of course for the writers it included obeying the law of Moses as well. Such a practice in daily life will be expressed in the way we live.

Psalm 2

Psalm 2 shows the folly of trying to win against God, who is no more threatened by people or angels than a boot is threatened by an ant. It’s widely held to be Messianic, which refutes the claim of critics that the Old Testament God is wicked and violent, while Jesus is holy and passive. Jesus, as Messiah, will return— not as a helpless infant but as the Lion of Judah, the Mighty God, as also stated in Isaiah 9:6. And as stated in Col. 1:16, he himself is the Creator. So it’s impossible to separate the God of the Old Testament from that of the New Testament.

Verse 7 says that this Messiah is one of the Persons of the Trinity, who also became human at a point in time called ’today’. This is the Son of God, and no son can be as old as his father! This Son will rule with an iron hand as shown in verse 9.

Psalm 3

Psalm 3 is a lament over the success of the wicked and God’s apparent inaction, but it’s coupled with confidence in God’s eventual action. Some commentators see Psalms 3-7 as describing the eventual sufferings of Israel in the Tribulation, but of course they can also apply to persecution of the righteous at any time. The word deliverance or salvation in most cases in the Old Testament refers to this life rather than eternity.

Though David had multiplied enemies, he was confident that God would rescue and vindicate him. Even today, those who see our many enemies, either personally or collectively, claim it as proof that we’re the guilty ones, because they all agree with each other. Likewise for the Jews as a people; critics say they must all be evil since many nations have driven them out.

Psalm 4-8

Psalm 4 adds to the previous one that the wicked should think twice before opposing those who call on God for help. >Psalm 5 continues the theme, adding that the wicked are liars with vain, shallow hearts. David implores God that these people would be caught in their own traps and schemes.

Psalm 6 is a personal lament and a plea for God’s discipline to come not in anger or wrath. We should never think that God disciplines us for any other reason than love and training. As for the question about Hades, David’s point is that the living need to hear the praises of God, which would be lost if the righteous were all in the grave.

Psalm 7 deals with being pursued by false accusers. As a righteous judge, God must both acquit the innocent and condemn the guilty. It is not loving or kind to deny victims the honor of being vindicated, nor to punish them twice by letting their attackers suffer no consequences for their slander.

Psalm 8 is a more general praise of God as Creator, whose existence is obvious even to children. But what exactly does it mean that God made people “a little lower than the angels”? The word there in Hebrew is Elohim (God), but in Greek, angelous (angel). The context is all about God, and the wonder of how we mortals have been placed in charge of everything else he made, so the meaning of angels seems out of place here.

Psalm 9-12

Psalm 9 praises God for what he has done, which we often forget to do. It also speaks of those who know God’s name and put their hope in him, which along with endurance and righteous acts was what “saved” a person before Jesus rose from the dead. The vast majority of Old Testament statements about salvation refer to peace and prosperity in this life, with only the most general references to eternity.

Psalm 10 pleads for God to put a stop to the success of the wicked when he seems far away. Though we should know, as in the previous Psalm, that God can be trusted to avenge and rescue us in his time, there’s nothing wrong with pleading for that, as long as it’s pleading rather than scolding.

Psalm 11 seems to have been written during a time when David was being pursued by enemies. But he is confident that even if all other allies were to fail, God will bring rescue and justice in time.

Psalm 12 is another expression of despair at the times when God seems distant, but again David also expresses his confidence that God will come to his aid. Though he was chosen by God to be king, the path to his destiny was anything but smooth. So we shouldn’t give up on God; it’s a test of our faith and loyalty, the plan of God to make his enemies overconfident.

Psalm 13-16

Psalm 13 continues the theme of despair and desperation, and it shows us that there is nothing wrong with honestly admitting this to God. David, like many of the patriarchs before him, appeals to God to defend his own honor by delivering his people. Though God already knows our words before we think them (Ps. 139:4), we see many instances in the Old Testament of God waiting for the people to cry out before he acts, which teaches us that God is one in whom we can confide and be close to.

Psalm 14 begins with the familiar phrase, “The fool has said in his heart, ’There is no God’.” But this could apply as easily to the one who hates God as to the one who believes no God exists. It’s followed by statements also seen elsewhere in the Psalms, that some take out of context to mean everyone who ever lived is a vile sinner deserving of eternal torment. But this is a lament over unrestrained evil, a cry for kindness and compassion, not a dissertation on eternal salvation. Consider the prophet Elijah in 1 Kings 19:10, who whined to God that he was the only prophet left in Israel, and God told him in verse 18 that he had 7,000 reserved. Elijah was in the depths of despair then, and so was David here.

Psalm 15 is another list of contrasts between the godly and the wicked, and in Psalm 16 David shows how he has lived a righteous life, though of course not a perfect one. Verses 6-11 were quoted by Peter on Pentecost as a Messianic prophecy, but of course it also applied to David, in that he would be spared from his present struggle. Paul also quoted verse 10 in Acts 13:35 as a prophecy of Jesus’ resurrection.

This is the nature of Biblical prophecy, like a spiral. If you look at a spring on-end, it looks like a circle, but you can see by looking at the side that the circle moves as it revolves. So though there is an immediate fulfillment, there may be others as time goes on. But we don’t know how long the spring is until the end.

Psalm 17-19

Psalm 17 is another lament for God to act quickly on his behalf. Just as the wicked had David in the center of their vision, so also David pleads for God to do the same. And at the end, David expresses his confidence that he will one day see the face of God.

Psalm 18 was, per the title in the Psalm itself, written after God had subdued all David’s enemies, so it’s a hymn of gratitude and relief. There’s no peace without gratitude, and no gratitude without humility. Just as God treats the merciful with mercy, so also he treats the treacherous with treachery. Many who fault God for this are all too willing to practice this themselves.

Psalm 19 begins with familiar praises to God as the Creator. As also Paul wrote in the first chapter of Romans, people are without excuse for acknowledging that this realm was designed by an intelligent and powerful being. And the identity of this Creator is made clear in fulfilled prophecy, and especially Jesus rising from the dead.The one true God created the heavenly bodies other people worshiped as gods. The rest of the Psalm then compares the instruction of God to the glory of creation, which in comparison to both, should make us humble and respectful of God.

Psalm 20-24

Psalm 20 is basically a pep talk before battle, and an intercessory prayer, and Psalm 21 expresses gratitude for God’s deliverance.

Psalm 22 returns to lament the times when God seems far away. This is one Jesus quoted on the cross, so we can’t think that he was actually saying God had actually forsaken him, but that it’s an expression of deep pain and loneliness. The details here are clear evidence of divine prophecy, since David could not possibly know as a mere human that this would be literally and physically fulfilled in the Messiah. Even so, the Psalm ends in confident hope of victory, restoration, and rest.

Psalm 23 is one of the most familiar and memorized passages of scripture. It teaches us to rest confidently in God, whether in good times or bad, and that we are assured that he will keep us close to himself. The sheep are safe, but only if they follow the trustworthy Shepherd.

Psalm 24 begins with a phrase used in 1 Cor. 10:26 to teach that Christians are not bound by dietary laws. God, as the supreme sovereign of the whole world, can change rules for people without his own nature changing. But the message of the Psalm overall is that only the righteous can approach God, and as Christians our righteousness comes only from belonging to Jesus.

As noted in the commentary, Psalm 22 is about the cross, 23 the Shepherd, and 24 the crown.

Psalm 25-30

Psalm 25 is a plea for God to guide us, to forget our shortcomings, and to remember his promises and the honor of his name. Some wonder why we should bother to pray, since per Mat. 6:8 God already knows what we’ll say. But not only is it for our own benefit since it reminds us of our humble position, it also seems from scripture that God sometimes waits for us to ask before he acts.

Psalm 26 is another plea for vindication, for justice against false charges, while Psalm 27 goes from confident trust, to despair and lament, then back to confident trust and encouragement.

Psalm 28 is a cry for immediate rescue from dire circumstances, as well as an imprecatory prayer against evildoers. We need to remember that the love of God is not in conflict with the holiness of God; both good and evil must be paid their wages.

Psalm 29 teaches that though the heathen believed storms and other natural events were caused by local gods, the real God was in command of all the forces of nature.

Psalm 30 is a praise song for the dedication of the temple, along with relief that God had rescued David once again. The temple had not been built, so it probably refers to the tabernacle, though it could also have been intended for the time when the permanent temple would be finished. Verse 5 is familiar to most Christians; though we may experience either persecution from enemies or discipline from God, it won’t last forever, but God’s love will.

Psalm 31-34

Psalm 31 is yet another plea for vindication, and it includes expressions of revulsion for those who worship false gods. David’s teachings, such as not to be quick to think God has abandoned us, come from his own experiences good and bad, not from dry philosophy or imagination.

Psalm 32 expresses David’s relief that forgiveness came, but only after he admitted his sin. To forgive the unrepentant is to encourage more sin and deny justice to the victim, which in this case was God.

Psalm 33 is filled with praise, especially for God’s creative power. The use of instruments was clearly encouraged, as opposed to the belief of some that worship should only ever be with our voices. As for the familiar phrase in verse 12, it likely only refers to Israel in context, as only Israel had a covenant relationship with God and the church is not a nation. A similar phrase is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, and again, it’s in the context of the people and land of Israel.

Psalm 34 is another praise song for God’s deliverance. But can we take verse 10 as a guarantee that godly people never suffer lack in this life? Even David lamented at other times that this is not the case at all, so it reminds us that this is poetry, not systematic theology. And of course, verse 20 is clearly another Messianic prophecy, cited in John 19:36.

Psalm 35-41

Psalm 35 is another plea for help and vindication, as well as for paying back the wicked, who had repaid David’s compassion with violence and treachery.

Psalm 36 is primarily an appeal to wisdom, and Psalm 37 continues with an emphasis on keeping faith in God when all seems lost.

Psalm 38 revisits the theme of repentance and appeals to mercy after sin, and Psalm 39 adds the determination to keep from returning to sin.

Psalm 40 is another look back at how God had always delivered David through all his trials, as a testimony for others. Psalm 41 is a practical lesson in kindness, which matches up with some of the Beatitudes. But then David cries out to God against those who keep wishing for his demise. And verse 9 is clearly prophetic of Jesus’ betrayal by Judas, as cited by Jesus in John 13:18.

That takes us to the end of Book 1, so we’ll continue with Psalm 42 in the next lesson.