Light & Shade: An Exegetical Brief of Psalms 27

This paper provides a summary and an assessment of the approach for determining the relationship of a psalm to Jesus the Messiah proposed by Richard P. Belcher Jr. in his book The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from all the Psalms . This paper also provides an analysis of Psalm 45 and whether Psalm 45 should be used to teach on the church as the bride of Christ. Lastly, this paper provides an analysis of Psalm 22 and whether Psalm 22 speaks of the Messiah.

"I pray to the God within me for the strength to ask Him the real questions." (p.5)

The overall structure of the Psalm is that it is broken into two halves. The first half of the psalm is God’s creation. The second half deals with God’s Word. Though they are both different they both share the common theme of god revealing Himself to mankind. Inside of these halves the author uses different parallelism. In the first verse we see synonymous parallelism, using the heavens and skies to make the point that they are telling of God’s Work. In the seventh verse we see synthetic parallelism showing the progression from perfection to restoration of the imperfect.

6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,

Satan. Satan is believed to be the enemy of God, who rules in Hell and

Now, in contrast to the “mirror” witnesses referenced below, it is significant that the “translator” and “mixer” psalms witnesses are not stichometrically arranged, whereas the “mirror” psalms witnesses are.6 This observation further supports the validity of the groupings identified in chapter 4. “Mirror” witnesses: 
8QPsalms (0.00), 5/6HevPsalms (0.02), 4QPsalmsc (.10), and 4QPsalmsb

“I pray to the God within me that He will give me the strength to ask Him the right questions.” (5)

He is unsure how he should call upon the Lord (3). He points out that it is his faith,

Since Psalm 119 is a Psalm of reverence go God and His Word, Scripture is referenced repeatedly. The Psalm is unique and outstanding for its recurring reference to God’s written revelation. Scripture is

The attendance of the Lord as shepherd is present throughout the Holy Bible. Whether being accountable of the primary duty of providing animals with sufficient food and water, protecting the sheep, or just plain caring for the sheep like David, the responsibility of the shepherd is making sure every facet of a sheep’s life is taken care of. The rationale of this paper is to give an exposition of Psalm 23, while reflecting on Psalms as a whole, in order to give adequate evidence for arriving at a conclusion that proves the LORD is the only necessity in an individual’s life in regards to the role of a servant.

The last segment of the Psalm is Moses’ appeal to God for him to return his presence to his people: “Return, O LORD, how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.” Not only should God return, but Moses asks for complete restoration and for God to bless the work of man: “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.

Observation: According to the superscription, For the director of music. A Psalm of David we know the psalmist is David although superscriptions were added later. This psalm can be classified as an individual lament, presenting the aspects representative of that genre that is scattered about in the passage. It is believed it was written when David was persecuted by Saul; various passages correspond specifically to the inadequate escapes he had. There is no historical context to know if it was written upon any of the occasions of David's attempted escapes at Keilah, then in the wilderness of Maon and also in the cave in En-Gedi. This Psalm is a mixture of prayer, praise, and declaration of confidence in God. Although the writer of this

The author of Psalm 78 writes with intentions of giving hope to people after the Northern disaster in 721 BCE. He is attempting to get the people to not lose their faith in God. He does this by reminding his readers of three key things, the first being how much both they and their ancestors disobeyed God. This is an attempt by the author to show the people it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. You cannot continue to disobey God and expect him to keep providing for you. The second reminder is about Gods power. Throughout this Psalm the reader is reminded of Gods divine power, and the past miracles that have been bestowed on the Israelites. The third and final reminder comes at the end of the Psalm, where the people are reminded that God handpicked the tribe of Judah, and handpicked David. This reminds the people to never forget they are the chosen people and God handpicked them. All three of these themes combine to produce the authors message-- As long as we trust in God we will be ok, we are the chosen people, and we have the greatest and most powerful God there could be.

Where the Psalm speaks of the human life that we must spend with our Lord and also refers to evil and the devil

Eight major theologies in the Book of Psalms include: Hamartiology, Salvation, Pneumatology, Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Angelology, and Theology. Another significant theology is the, “conception of God as an all-powerful and all-knowing being who always existed and who would always exist,” (“Psalm Themes”). This theology is seen in a number of Psalms, specifically those sung with adoration and joy but also those sung in pain and distress. In addition to this, “The psalms portray God as the creator, ruling over and delighting in all that exists. They also portray God as the redeemer who works in history and delivers the people from their enemies” (The Oxford Encyclopedia…). As seen throughout the Psalms, God is the Creator, Deliverer, and