Purpose Of Psalms

There are 150 psalms in the Book of Psalms that were written over the span of 800 years. Most of the Psalms written were made to be sung. There are two main genres of Psalms, which are laments and hymns. David is know to have written 73 psalms, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 11, Solomon wrote 2, Moses wrote 1 and 50 are anonymous . Although 50 were anonymous, David was certainly the author of the majority of the Psalms.

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.

The word psalm is originated of the Greek word Psalms, which is a striking of pious song, according to www.biblestudytoll.com. The psalms are spiritual, hymn and the melody of the heart. They were originally composed to be accompanied by a musical instrument. David for example used the harp to go with them. The writing of the psalm took many centuries, going from the period where Moses was living through Salomon, the son of David. In fact, according to Chuck on his audio message, “Individual psalms were written as far back in history as Moses’s time, through the time of David, Asaph, and Solomon, to the time of the Ezrahites who most likely lived after the Babylonian captivity, meaning the writing of the book spans one thousand years. According to the fact that the psalms were written during a thousand years, that means

BIB-370 Themes and Psalms Worksheet: Social and Religious Analysis Instructions: Complete the following questions about Psalm 3 and Psalm 34 with a minimum of 75 words per question using complete sentences. Use required readings, one or more references for each psalm, and any information from the superscriptions of the psalm in your responses. Ensure that you properly cite references when answering the questions on this worksheet. Psalm 3 1.

What remains fascinating to me from this book is the Israelites ability to preserve these massive collections of psalms even after the destruction of the temple and subjection to a foreign religion in Babylon for a long time. Their discipline to pass on these psalms from one person to another through singing and reciting demonstrate how significant these psalms were to them. What adds value to this book more is the author’s ability not only to introduce the psalms, but offer tips to the readers on how to read the psalms better to understand them

The author is identified on all but thirty-four of the book of Psalms. The authors include, David; Asaph, David's choir leader; Sons of Korah, a family of Levitical musicians; Jeduthun; a Levitical choir leader; Solomon; Moses; The Ezrahite Ethan; Heman. Jewish tradition says Adam wrote Psalm one hundred thirty nine, Melchizedek wrote Psalm one hundred ten, Abraham wrote Psalm eighty-nine, Moses wrote Psalm ninety. The praise Psalms opens up with a call to praise and then has a reason to praise God. Finally, it has a concluding praise.

This book also discusses the connection to David and the Psalms. It is mostly assumed that David was the author of the majority of the Psalms . During the 19th century it was common to question that assumption, and wonder who the authors were . The Psalms are not only considered avenues of prayer, but also instruction on how to lead a godly life . The Psalms are prayers to be utilized during times of distress . The Psalter is considered holy, and memorization was encouraged . This book also stresses the importance of the scribes, and how their traditions were handed down from one generation to the next. The primary purpose of the scribes was to continue the Mesopotamian culture, and to show its lifestyle .

Barnes, Albert. Psalms. Notes on the Old Testament: Explanatory and Practical, vol. 1. Edited by Robert Frew. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1950.

In Psalms, we see a collection of lyrical poetry, songs and prayers. Many of these were written by King David himself. The book covers almost the entire gamut of human emotion, from sorrow to joy, from doubt to faith.

In the Christian Bible, King David penned psalm after psalm filled with sadness and despair. Psalm 6: 3: reads, “My soul is in deep anguish”, and Psalm 6:6-7: “All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow”.

The purpose of this section is to clarify major historical foundations of Christian worship practiced by the early church and its relation to the book of Psalms. The primary objective is to explain the influence of the Psalms on the worship life of the early church. By analyzing the New Testament context, believers can have a clear perception of the meaning of the book of Psalms in the worship life of the early church. Therefore, scholars assume that is fundamental to learn about the interaction between the book of Psalms and the New Testament in order to define Christian worship in the New Testament context. Moreover, this unit will exemplify aspects that influenced worship in the New Testament.

This psalm was written by David when he was in a distressful state, being chased by Saul who

The Book of Psalms is the Book of Prayer. Whoever wants to learn to pray let him pray to David and whoever prays with the psalms, David shall be a teacher for him, how he should pray as a father that shall hold his son's hand to teach him how to write. In the Book of Psalms we know ourselves and the weaknesses and pitfalls that are in us and we find in this travel fall and the advancement of prayers of repentance and thanksgiving and praise. Psalms are filled with many prophecies concerning the incarnation, pain and resurrection of the Lord. It is the greatest witness to the life of the Lord Jesus, so Peter said that David is a prophet (Acts 30: 2).

The authorship of Psalm 119 remains unknown. Most scholars believe the author to be King David because of its Davidic tone and expression. It is also assumed that this Psalm is written over a period of someone’s life, as it shows maturity as the Psalm progresses (Bible hub). Regardless of the identity of the Psalmist, Psalm 119 has very special and unique qualities. Psalm 119 is not only the longest chapter in the book of Psalms, but of the entire Bible. Some believe that since Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible, it shows the priority of God’s Word to God. (bible.org) Although Psalm 119 is quite a long chapter, it is written in a format that allows the reader to study and follow the structure of the psalm with ease. This specific Psalm is written in the form of an acrostic poem, meaning each section begins with a letter from the alphabet. In this case, each section, made up of eight verses, begin with each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus, the first eight couplets begin with aleph (A), the next eight begin with beth (B), then so forth in the same suit. (bible.org)

In the Old Testament, Heman the Ezrahite, the son of Joel and the grandson of Samuel the judge and prophet of Israel, wrote Psalm 88. This Psalm is a very unique one in that it is the only one that does not end with an assertion of comfort or joy. It is very sad and melancholy and you can tell that it was written by someone in a very depressive state: