The psalms are a collection of different kinds of poetry spanning many centuries of history. Some of the psalms may date to 1100BC; the collection reached its present form around 300 BC. Evidences of the collective nature of the Psalter are seen in its division into different books (for example, 72:20), the references to various authors (for example, 89), as well as the different time periods represented (137 is clearly from the period of Exile, c. 550 BC).
The Psalms are divided into five ‘books’ by four doxologies, which stand out as being separate from the psalms at the end of which they come.Book 1 (Psalms 1–41)
Authors | Names of God | Psalm Types | Themes |
David: 37 Jeduthun: 1 | Lord: 278x God (Elohim): 49x | 25 laments 7 hymns | · Two ways: godly/ungodly. · Troubles of God’s people. · Faith and trust in the Lord. · Prayer |
While the Davidic ascription is not certain, this book is probably the oldest part of the psalter.
Book 2 (Psalms 42–72)
Authors | Names of God | Psalm Types | Themes |
David: 18 Sons of Korah: 7 Asaph: 1 Solomon 1 Jeduthun: 1 | LORD: 32x God (Elohim):198x | 17 laments 5 hymns | · Troubles of God’s people. · Faith and trust in the Lord. · God, our refuge. · The Lord is king and judge. · Prayer |
Book 3 (Psalms 73–89)
Authors | Names of God | Psalm Types | Themes |
Asaph: 11 Sons of Korah: 3 David: 1 Jeduthun: 1 Heman: 1 Ethan: 1 | LORD: 34x God (Elohim): 63x | 10 laments 3 hymns | · God is king and judge · God’s mercies for Israel in spite of her rebellion · Prayer for Israel’s restoration · God’s covenant · Forgiveness |
Book 3 has been linked with exile in Babylon. It opens with a complaint about the success of the wicked and closes with a complaint that the promise made to David in 2 Samuel 7:8-16 has not yet been fulfilled.
Book 4 (Psalms 90–106)
Authors | Names of God | Psalm Types | Themes |
David: 2 Moses: 1 | Lord: 115x God (Elohim): 24x | 2 laments 11 hymns | · The Lord is king · Israel’s praise. · Experiencing God’s grace and mercy · Salvation · Prayer |
The fourth book of the Psalter commences with the ‘Prayer of Moses (90) and concludes with two historical psalms (105 and 106). Book 4’s theme is primarily that of the sovereignty of God – He always has been, is, and always will be in control, even in view of the failure of the Davidic dynasty as lamented in Psalm 89.
Book 5 (Psalms 107–150)
Authors | Names of God | Psalm Types | Themes |
David: 15 Solomon: 1 | Lord: 236x God (Elohim): 31x | 15 pilgrim songs 5 Hallelujah psalms | · The Word of God · The Lord’s steadfast love · Zion and God’s presence · Salvation · Thanksgiving · The world’s praise · Prayer |
Books 1–3 are a Davidic macro-collection:
David | Korah | Asaph | |
Book 1 | Psalms 3–41 | — | — |
Book 2 | Psalms 51–65; 68–70 | Psalms 42–49 | Psalm 50 |
Book 3 | Psalm 86 | Psalms 84–85; 87–88 | Psalms 73–83 |
Books 4 and 5 are less clearly structured, though have some discernible collections within it, such as the Songs of Ascent (120-134) and the Davidic collections of 108-110 and 138-145. Psalms 93 and 95-99 are united by the theme of Yahweh’s kingship, and psalms 146-150 all begin with the word ‘Hallelujah’.
The fivefold division of the psalter is late. The psalms originally existed in small collections, and coalesced. Psalms 1 and 2, dealing with divine and human kindship, were probably added at a late stage as an introduction to the entire collection.
The fivefold division of the Psalter was probably based on the five books of the Torah.
The duplicates (eg 14 and 53, 40 and 70, 108 and 57 and 60) may be explained by the fact that they were originally from different collections.
Within the books, there are smaller collections:
· the Davidic collections (3-41, 51-70, 108-110, 138-145)
· the Asaph Psalms (73-83). The Asaphite priests had a pre-exilic role to provide musically-based or induced prophecy (see 1 Chronicles 25:1-2), and a post-exilic role singing praise to God (Ezra 2:41).
· the Korahite Psalms (42, 44-49, 84-85, 87-88). 2 Chronicles 20:19 suggest that this group took a leading role in cultic singing.
· the Songs of Ascents (120-134) – Israel’s going up to Jerusalem, which was high up on a hill, for the three annual festivals. The word translated ‘ascents’ can be ‘step’, so the psalms may have been recited on the steps leading up to the gates of Jerusalem.
· the Hallel (praise) Psalms (113-118, 146-150)
· songs of Zion (46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122)
· psalms of Yahweh’s kingship, also known as enthronement psalms (47, 93, 96-99 and possibly 95) – all contain a variant of the phrase ‘the Lord is king’.
· coronation psalms (2, 110)
· songs of trust – individual (4, 11, 16, 23, 62, 91, 121 131) and communal (67, 107, 124)
· gate liturgies (15, 24) – the worshippers ask who may enter the temple, the gatekeeper responds, and the worshippers affirm their acceptance of the conditions.
Genre of psalms
1.)Lament Psalms | |
Community | 12, 44, 58, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 89*, 90, 94, 123, 126, 129 |
Individual | 3, 4, 5, 7, 9-10, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 26, 27*, 28, 31, 36*, 39, 40:12-17, 41, 42-43, 52*, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 61, 64, 70, 71, 77, 86, 89*, 120, 139, 141, 142 |
Specialised Lament Psalms | |
1a) Penitential | 6, 32*, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143 |
1b) Imprecatory | 35, 69, 83, 88, 109, 137, 140 |
2.)Thanksgiving (Todah) Psalms | |
Community | 65*, 67*, 75, 107, 124, 136* |
Individual | 18, 21, 30, 32*, 34, 40:1-11, 66:13-20, 92, 108*, 116, 118, 138 |
Specialized Thanksgiving (Todah) Psalms | |
2a) Salvation History | 8*, 105-106, 135, 136 |
2b) Songs of Trust | 11, 16, 23, 27*, 62, 63, 91, 121, 125, 131 |
3.)Hymnic Psalms | |
Hymn and Doxology | 8*, 19:1-6, 33, 66:1-12, 67*, 95, 100, 103, 104, 111, 113, 114, 117, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150 |
4.)Liturgical Psalms (for public worship) | |
4a) Covenant Songs | 50, 78, 81, 89*, 132 |
4b) Royal/ Enthronement | 2, 18, 20, 21, 29, 45, 47, 72, 93, 95*, 96, 97, 98, 99, 101, 110, 144 |
4c) Songs of Zion | 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122 |
4d) Temple Liturgies | 15, 24, 68*, 82, 95*, 115, 134 |
5.)Community Psalms | |
5a) Wisdom Psalms | 1*, 36*, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127, 128, 133 |
5b) Torah Poems | 1*, 19:7-14, 119 |
*These Psalms can fit into more than one group.
1) Lament Psalms
I. Address to God, Invocation
a) first person address to God (I, you)
b) an initial plea
II. Complaint to God
a) description of problem, questions asked of God
b) crisis of any kind; in penitential psalms it is sin
c) claim of innocence
d) often includes an initial plea for help
e) condemnation of ‘wicked’ or ‘enemy’
III. Affirmation of Trust
a) "But as for me" or "Nevertheless"
b) turning point of the psalm; theological focus
IV. Petition
a) plea for God’s intervention
b) often uses the words "save" or "deliver"
V. Acknowledgment of Response
a) assurance of hearing
b) vow of praise, worship
VI. Doxology: blessings, praise
Laments deal with the range of crises, yet at the same time follow the same basic pattern. This relative stability of structure provides a framework within which to express the deepest of human emotion.
Individuals or the community can pray laments. Some laments were written for the king to pray on behalf on the community or nation. There is little difference theologically between individual and community laments, especially since the same metaphors occur in both, the structure is similar, and the same theological conclusions are expressed in both.
A lament arises from an immediate crisis or emotional state that faces the worshipper. This can range from physical threat either externally (an invading army) or internally (physical illness), to interpersonal conflict with others in the community, to betrayal or injustices perpetrated by friends or family. All of these can be referred to metaphorically as ‘the enemy’ or ‘foes’. In this same vein, ‘death’ is a frequent metaphor for this crisis, whether or not the crisis is physically life threatening. Also the metaphor of water, drawn from the cultural language of the Baal myths where water is the metaphorical imagery of chaos that threatens the order and stability of the world, frequently occurs to describe the problem facing a person of the community.
Laments express a trust in God in the absence of any evidence that He is active in the world. The lament moves from articulation of the emotion of the crisis, to petition for God to intervene, to an affirmation of trust in God even though there has been no immediate deliverance from the crisis.
1a) Penitential Psalms
There are seven psalms that the church has traditionally understood as Penitential Psalms, prayers specifically for forgiveness from sins committed (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143; see also Jeremiah 14:1-10). While there is contact in some psalms with the cultural idea that sickness or tragedy is the result of sin in the life of a person or the community, most laments do not approach the crisis from the perspective of sin. Instead, they appeal to God as protector of the weak and defender of the oppressed, drawing on traditional understandings of God built from the exodus experience.
However, in these seven psalms moral or covenantal failure is at the heart of the lament. The prayer is specifically for forgiveness for that failure, even when the immediate problem is some other crisis. While there may be petition for deliverance from those other problems, the forgiveness of sin is at the heart of the prayer.
1b) Imprecatory Psalms
The Imprecatory Psalms or Cursing Psalms are a more radical version of the lament. In this handful of psalms, there are curses pronounced on those who have caused the crisis. Sometimes these are people within the community who have committed injustice, and sometimes people outside who, like the Babylonians, have invaded the country and brought destruction on the nations (Psa 137).
2) Thanksgiving or Todah Psalms
I. Summary of the Testimony of the Psalmist
a) recalls plea for help
b) recounts God’s intervention
II. Narration of the Psalmist’s experience
a) the original problem
b) the cry for help
c) God’s deliverance
III. Acknowledgement of God’s aid in Praise/Thanks
a) worship, with the word todah: praise, sacrifice, blessings
b) cry of praise
Todah Psalms offer thanksgiving in the form of worship. They feature praise for a specific deed God has done or a specific experience of God by the Psalmist. The tone is one of joyous immediacy in response to God’s grace or goodness.
Thanksgiving is the next step after lament. In lament, the petitions are brought to God with an affirmation that he will act. The thanksgiving prayer is the response to God’s actions, acknowledging that he has heard the petition and answered in some way that has been experienced by the worshipper.
The sequence of lament-todah is not ‘please-thank you,’ but petition-praise. The real impact of todah is that God is acknowledged as the source of all goodness in life. This moves todah psalms to theological confession rather than simply ‘thanks’ for positive experience.
Todah is really a kind of praise offered to God that arises out of personal or communal experience, in the context of overall commitment to God. The experiential dimension of todah psalms is easily seen in the middle section of the psalm as the worshipper recounts or gives testimony of his experience. This fact places this ‘thanksgiving’ firmly in community worship as a visible sign of praise to God for his grace.
2a) Salvation History
Salvation History psalms recount the story of God’s creation of the people of Israel. Most often, this includes an abbreviated version of the exodus story, concluding with praise to God for his deliverance, or calling the people to respond in praise and faithfulness to God’s grace. They move to exhortation based on Israel’s experience of God in her history, and can call for praise that comes very close to hymn.
2b) Songs of Trust
The Songs of Trust are todah psalms that move even closer to hymn. There is still some sense of the immediate experience of God, yet they usually are focused more on reflective praise that is generalised into affirmations about God. They are experience generalised to trust.
3.) Hymnic Psalms
I. Call to Praise
a) uses an imperative
b) addressed to the community (plural)
II. Reason for Praise
a) "because" or "for"
b) God described with participial clause, "God, who [activity]"
c) God’s deliverance
III. Renewed Call to Praise (balances beginning)
a) uses an imperative
b) addressed to the community (plural)
The function of a Hymn is to praise God because He is God, and we know He is because we have cried to Him and He has acted. While Thanksgiving Psalms begin with the deliverance of God in history and end in praise, hymns assume deliverance and God’s actions in history, and praise God for being the kind of God who acts in certain ways.
Hymns are one step removed from dynamic contact with God’s actions in history and are not in response to any particular or immediate experience of God. While they are firmly grounded in the understanding that God has acted in the past in the lives of people and the community, hymns have moved beyond the immediate experience to a stability in life that allows reflection on the nature and character of God as the one who delivers and provides.
While not related to immediate experience, Hymns still exhibit features of description, the reason or ground for praise. Yet, they often move to Doxology, a type of hymn in which there is usually no reason given for the praise. There is simply a repeated call to offer praise to God. Doxology moves to the most abstract form of praise, where God is honoured in joyful abandon simply because he is God.
4) Liturgical Psalms
There are several other types of Psalms that are well represented in the Psalter. They do not exhibit a stable pattern and so are usually grouped by topic and content rather than by internal structure. That also allows a few to fit into one category by structure and another by topic.
One of the largest groups of these are the Liturgical Psalms, so called because they were most likely used in special festivals or services of worship in the life of Ancient Israel. For example, the Royal Psalms likely had their original setting in the coronation of Israel’s king. While they were preserved and adapted to other uses long after the monarchy came to an end, the remnants of their original purpose is often obvious and helps understand some of the features in the Psalms. The Covenant Psalms may have had their original setting in an annual covenant renewal ceremony, while the Songs of Zion and the Temple Liturgies could be used for any of several festivals celebrated in Jerusalem.
S. Mowinckel (The Psalms in Israel’s Worship, 1962) associates the enthronement psalms with the re-enactment of Yahweh’s enthronement over the forces of chaos at the Feast of Tabernacles.
Psalms 50 and 81 associated with covenant renewal at the Feast of Tabernacles? 50 refers to the making of a covenant and criticises those who pay it mere lip-service, while 81’s reference to trumpet blowing at the new moon (the start of the month) and a feast at the full moon (the middle of the month) tie in with what Leviticus 23:23f says about Tabernacles. See A Weiser’s commentary, 1962.
H J Kraus (commentary, 1988/89) argues that the Feast of Tabernacles was a time to celebrate Yahweh’s choice of Zion/Jerusalem and the founding of the temple, and is therefore linked with the Songs of Zion.
Were some of the psalms used to accompany offerings? The psalms makes general references to sacrifices (4:5, 27:6, 50:8), as well as to specific types, such as burnt offerings (20:3, 50:8, 51:16, 19), thanksgiving offerings (50:14, 107:22, 116:17), covenant-making sacrifice (50:5) and the freewill offering (54:6).
There is an abrupt change of mood at the end of several laments (eg 6:8f, 28:6f, 56:9f, 140:12f). These psalms pass from lament and petition to the certainty of hearing, in which the worshipped joyfully expresses his confidence that Yahweh has answered his requests. Fredrich Kuchler (‘The priestly Oracle in Israel and Judah’, 1918) suggested that a priestly oracle intervened at this point, in which some cultic personage assured the worshipper that Yahweh had heard his request. Joachim Begrich (‘The Priestly Oracle of Salvation [Heilsorakel]’, 1934) reconstructed the typical pattern of the salvation oracle on the basis of Isaiah 40-55, arguing that Second Isaiah intentionally used this form to address a people languishing in exile and assure them of Yahweh’s intention to restore them to their homeland. 12:6 and 60:6-8 are the only examples of salvation oracles in the psalms themselves.
5) Community Psalms
Two final specialised types are related in that both are reflective and come closer to being theological treatise than prayer. Again these are grouped by similar topics and concerns rather than a shared structure or form.
Wisdom Psalms are so called because they share features with the Wisdom traditions of the Old Testament (Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) in terms of literary structures, vocabulary, and concepts. They frequently deal with topics such as the injustices of life and the justice of God, the responsibilities of choosing the correct path or manner of living, the relative value of riches, and the transitory nature of human existence. Mowinckel argues that these psalms were never used in worship, but are reflective or didactic poems used in a context separate from worship.
Poems of the Law, which includes the lengthy Psalm 119, are psalms that reflect on the value of living life by the instructions of God preserved in the torah. In theme, these are close to thanksgiving psalms, in that the torah is celebrated as a gracious gift of God. The call to faithfulness to these instructions, in terms of being blessed or suffering consequences, picks up convenantal themes as well, as well as themes of accepting responsibility typical of Wisdom writings.
Modes of Praise
Much of the first part of the Psalter is composed of laments; todah psalms are more frequent later, while hymns occur more toward the end. The conclusion of the Psalter is a collection of doxologies.This suggests that the sequence lament-todah-hymn is a deliberate progression. That is, lament (petition) leads to thanksgiving that leads to hymn.
Claus Westermann (Praise and Lament in the Psalms, John Knox, 1981) describes the Psalms in terms of the unifying element of praise, which has three distinct modes:Petitionary Praise
Lament
God will act
Declarative Praise
Thanksgiving/todah
God has acted
Descriptive Praise
Hymn
God is God (we know He is God because we cried to Him and He acted)
The sequence is a cyclical one, since the attitude expressed in Hymn becomes the basis for a new petition.
Walter Brueggemann (The Message of the Psalms, Augsburg, 1984) picks up this dimension and describes the psalms in terms of the dynamic of life experiences:
Old Orientation
Hymn
The stability of life in which nothing threatens the status quo
Disorientation
Lament
Crisis that threatens stability of life
Reorientation
Thanksgiving
A new trust in God is expressed in terms of resolution of crisis
New Orientation (that becomes Old Orientation)
Hymn
Return to stability of life in which nothing threatens the status quo
This suggests that hymn and doxology are not the end of faith, but part of an ongoing process.
Note on ‘Selah’
Selah occurs 71 times in 39 psalms. It comes in the middle or the end. The occurrences are concentrated in psalms 1-89, although it also occurs in 109, 139 and 140. Theories about its meaning:
· Septuagint translates it as diapsalma, ‘pause’
· Ancient Jewish traditions understand it as meaning ‘forever’
· From sll, ‘to lift up’? Play louder, or some liturgical action?
· From slh, ‘to bend down’? The point at which the congregation
bows or prostrates itself?
Notes on psalm 119
Acrostic in form. Each of the first eight verses begins with the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet, each of the next eight with the second letter, and so on through th 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet, making 176 verses in all.
Eight major terms are used for the Torah throughout the psalm:
Ø Torah/instruction (25 times)
Ø Testimony (23 times)
Ø Judgment (23 times)
Ø Commandment (22 times)
Ø Statute (22 times)
Ø Word (22 times)
Ø Precept (19 times)
Ø Way (3 times)
Every verse in the psalm, apart from 90 and 122, has one of these terms.
Notable quotations from the Psalms
Psalm 1 Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly…he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth his fruit in his season.
Psalm 2 You are my Son; this day I have begotten thee. (compare God’s words via Nathan about Solomon in 2 Samuel 7:14)
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Psalm 4 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep;
for thou only, Lord, makest me dwell in safety.
for thou only, Lord, makest me dwell in safety.
Psalm 5 (of his lying enemies) Their throats are open graves.
Psalm 8 O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psalm 14 The fool hath said in his heart, ‘There is no God’
They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. (see also Psalm 53)
Psalm 16 Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
Psalm 17 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.
Psalm 18 The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
Psalm 20 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God.
Psalm 22 My God, my God, why has thou forsaken me?
He trusted on the Lord that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
They pierced my hands and my feet.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
Psalm 24 Who shall ascend upon the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart.
Who is this king of glory? The Lord of Hosts, he is the king of glory.
Psalm 27 I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 30 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
Psalm 32 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Psalm 37 But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Psalm 40 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.
Psalm 42 As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.
Psalm 46 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Psalm 55 Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.
Psalm 57 In the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge.
Psalm 60, 108 Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe.
Psalm 69 They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living.
Psalm 90 The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Psalm 94 Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord.
Psalm 96 O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Psalm 102 My days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth.
Psalm 110 The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.
Psalm 111 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Psalm 113 From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised.
Psalm 114 (in the context of the exodus) The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?
Psalm 118 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
Psalm 119 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Psalm 130 Out of the deep have I called unto thee, O Lord: Lord, hear my voice.
Psalm 137 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land?
O daughter of Babylon...happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.
Psalm 144 Blessed be the Lord my strength…my goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust.
Psalm 145 The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy.
The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
Psalm 150 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.
Images and ideas from the Psalms
Godliness/Righteousness
· the righteous shall thrive, and the ungodly perish (1)
· Lord hath set apart him that is godly for himself (4)
· David wish to be set apart from sinners (26)
· God’s righteousness like the great mountains (36)
· the righteous will grow like a palm tree, or a cedar from Lebanon (92)
The Lord as protector
· shield (3, 5, 18, 28, 33, 35, 59, 84, 91, 115, 119, 144)
· rock (18, 28, 31, 42, 62, 71, 78, 89, 92, 94, 95)
· fortress (18, 31, 71, 91, 144)
· tower (48, 61, 144)
· deliverer (18)
· hiding from enemies in the tabernacle (27)
· hiding place (32)
· protected under God’s wings (36, 61, 91)
· the keeper of Israel shall not slumber (121)
The power of the Lord
· has sword and arrows (7)
· will rain down fire and brimstone (11)
· his word like purified silver (12)
· shaker of the earth (18)
· devouring fire from mouth (18)
· a fiery oven (21)
· the saving strength of his anointed (28)
· power over all nature (29)
· a strong rock (31)
· shining face (31)
· enemies cut down like grass (37)
· existing from eternity (90)
· treading upon the lion, adder and dragon (91)
· clothed with majesty (93)
· the hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lord (97)
· the Lord covers Himself with light as a garment, and stretches out the heavens like a curtain (104)
· unsearchable greatness (145)
· infinite understanding (147)
Distress
· Lord hides his face (13)
· the Lord’s arrows stick in him, wounds stink (38)
· in a horrible pit (40)
· my tears have been my meat day and night (42)
· broken in the place of dragons (44)
· drinking the wine of astonishment (60)
· bread of tears (80)
· I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert (102)
· withered like grass (102)
Water
· He swims in his bed due to tears (6)
· floods of ungodly men (18)
· I am poured out like water (22)
· prayers protect from the floods of great waters (32)
· thy waves and billows are gone over me (42)
· the rebellious dwell in a dry land (68)
· Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul (69)
· He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass (72)
· the Lord is mightier than the noise of many waters (93)
· Israel would have been overwhelmed by waters had it not been for the Lord (124)
The enemy
· ungodly (1)
· heathen kings and rebels (2)
· ten thousands (3)
· lovers of vanity (4, 12)
· foolish (5)
· a lion (7, 17, 22)
· fallen into a ditch which he made himself (7, 9; see also 141)
· cursing, deceit and fraud (10)
· bending their bows (11)
· flattery and pride (12)
· eater up of people (14)
· hastening after another god (16)
· false witnesses (27)
· slanderers (31)
· chaff before the wind (35)
· hypocritical mockers in feasts (35)
· do not fear God (37)
· a familiar friend (41)
· an ungodly nation (43)
· glory and power of an enemy dies with him (49)
· tongue like a sharp razor (52)
· sinfully self-reliant (52)
· their teeth are spears and arrows, their tongue a sharp sword (57; see also 64)
· a tottering fence (62)
· a portion for the foxes (63)
· licking the dust (72)
· drinking the dregs (75)
· they defile the holy temple (79)
· slayers of the widow, the stranger, the fatherless (94)
· they have rewarded evil for good (109)
· may Satan stand at his right hand (109)
· compassed me like bees (118)
· their heart is as fat as grease (119)
· serpent tongues (140)
· enemy judges overthrown (141)
· laying snares (142)
· 8, 19, 65, 72, 89, 97
· battles against dragons and leviathans (74, 77 and 78, in the context of the exodus)
· provides for the entire created order (104, 107, 136)
· 7, 9, 26, 35, 43, 50, 58, 67, 72, 75, 82, 94, 96, 98, 110, 135
Lord as refuge
· 9, 14, 48, 71, 91
· refuge and portion (142)
Path of the Lord
· 1, 16, 25
Social care
· The poor and the needy shall be provided for (9)
· father of the helpless (10)
· the poor man was saved from his troubles (34)
· God delivers the poor (35)
· blessed is he that considereth the poor (41)
· God a father of the fatherless (68)
· Plea made for the poor, fatherless, needy and afflicted (82)
· the Lord executes righteousness and judgment for the oppressed (103)
· God raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth the needy out of the dunghill (113)
· the Lord executeth judgment for the oppressed (146)
Biblical history
· God clave the rocks in the wilderness (78)
· waters of Meribah and Israelite apostasy (81)
· Joshua and the conquest, Joseph, Egyptian bondage and exodus (105)
· sins in the wilderness (106)
· exodus history (114, 135, 136)
Salvific acts
· Lord bringing back from captivity anticipated (14, 53)
· God turns mourning to dancing, (30)
· has led captivity captive (68)
· thou…shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth (71)
· provision of the Lord in the exodus (78)
· animal escaped from a snare (124)
· sowing in tears and reaping in joy after the captivity (126)
· the Lord looseth the prisoners (146)
· healing and binding wounds (147)
The law
· more desirable than gold, more sweet than honey (19; see also 119)
· punishments for transgressions against the law (89)
· all of 119
· word shown to Jacob (147)
Universal worship of the Lord
· 22, 72, 97
· nature joining in the praise of the Lord (98, 148)
Psalm of tabernacles
· 84, 132
Second temple concerns and feasts
· thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob (85)
· Zion built up (102)
· people gathered together to serve the Lord in Zion (102)
· the Lord will bless the house of Aaron (115)
· thanksgiving given in Jerusalem, in the presence of all the people (116)
· Thou art my (Aaronic) portion, O Lord (119)
· Jerusalem (122)
· the Lord gathereth together the outcasts of Israel (147)
Psalm citations in the New Testament
2:1, 2 | Acts 4:25, 26 |
2:7 | Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5 ; 5:5 |
2:8, 9 | Revelation 2:26, 27; 12:5; 19:15 |
4:4 | Ephesians 4:26 |
5:9 | Romans 3:13 |
6:3a | John 12:27 |
6:8 | Matthew 7:23; Luke 13:27 |
8:2 | Matthew 21:16 |
8:4-6 | Hebrews 2:6-8 |
8:6 | 1 Corinthians 15:27; Ephesians 1:22 |
10:7 | Romans 3:14 |
14:1c, 2b, 3 | Romans 3:10-12 |
16:8.-11 | Acts 2:25-28 |
16:10b | Acts 13:35 |
18:2b | Hebrews 2:13 |
18:49 | Romans 15:9 |
19:4 | Romans 10:18 |
22:1 | Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34 |
22:7 | Matthew 27:39; Mark 15:29; Luke 23:35 |
22:8 | Matthew 27:43 |
22:18 | John 19:24; compare Matthew 27:35; Mark 15:24; Luke 23:34 |
22:22 | Hebrews 2:12 |
24:1 | 1 Corinthians 10:26 [28] |
31:5a | Luke 23:46 |
32:1, 2 | Romans 4:7, 8 |
34:8 | 1 Peter 2:3 |
34:12-16 | 1 Peter 3:10-12 |
34:20 | John 19:36 |
35:19b | John 15:25 |
36:1b | Romans 3:18 |
37:11a | Matthew 5:5 |
38:11 | Luke 23:49 |
40:6-8 | Hebrews 10:5-7 |
41:9 | John 13:18 |
41:13 | Luke 1:68 |
42:5 | Matthew 26:38; Mark 14:34 |
44:22 | Romans 8:36 |
45:6, 7 | Hebrews 1:8, 9 |
48:2 | Matthew 5:35 |
51:4 | Romans 3:4 |
53:1-3 | Romans 3:10-12 |
55:22 | 1 Peter 5:7 |
62:12 | Matthew 16:27; Romans 2:6 |
68:18 | Ephesians 4:8 |
69:4 | John 15:25 |
69:9a | John 2:17 |
69:9b | Romans 15:3 |
69:21 | Matthew 27:34, 48; Mark 15:36; Luke 23:36; John 19:28, 29 |
69:22, 23 | Romans 11:9, 10 |
69:25 | Acts 1:20 |
72:18 | Luke 1:68 |
78:2 | Matthew 13:35 |
78:24 | John 6:31 |
82:6 | John 10:34 |
86:9 | Revelation 15:4 |
88:8 | Luke 23:49 |
89:10 | Luke 1:51 |
89:20 | Acts 13:22 |
90:4 | 2 Peter 3:8 |
91:11, 12 | Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10, 11 |
91:13 | Luke 10:19 |
94:11 | 1 Corinthians 3:20 |
94:14 | Romans 11:1, 2 |
95:7-11 | Hebrews 3:7-11, 15, 18; 4:1, 3, 5, 7 |
97:7 | Hebrews 1:6 |
98:3 | Luke 1:54 |
102:25-27 | Hebrews 1:10-12 |
103:17 | Luke 1:50 |
104:4 | Hebrews 1:7 |
105:8, 9 | Luke 1:72, 73 |
106:10 | Luke 1:71 |
106:45 | Luke 1:72 |
106:48 | Luke 1:68 |
107:9 | Luke 1:53 |
109:8 | Acts 1:20 |
109:25 | Matthew 27:39 |
110:1 | Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43; Acts 2:34, 35; Hebrews 1:13. Compare. Matthew 26:64; Mark 14:62; 16:19; Luke 22:69; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Ephesians 1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3; 8:1; 10:12, 13; 12:2; 1 Peter 3:22 |
110:4 | Hebrews 5:6; 6:20; 7:17, 21 |
111:9a | Luke 1:68 |
111:9c | Luke 1:49 |
112:9 | 2 Corinthians 9:9 |
116:10 | 2 Corinthians 4:13 |
117:1 | Romans 15:11 |
118:6 | Hebrews 13:6 |
118:22, 23 | Matthew 21:42; Mark 12:10, 11; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11; 1 Peter 2:4, 7 |
118:25, 26 | Matthew 21:9; 23:39; Mark 11:9; Luke 13:35; 19:38; John 12:13 |
132:5 | Acts 7:46 |
132:11 | Acts 2:30 |
132:17 | Luke 1:69 |
135:14a | Hebrews 10:30 |
140:3b | Romans 3:13 |
143:2b | Romans 3:20 |
146:6 | Acts 4:24; 14:15 |
Awesome Review
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