The Book of Psalms

Main Point:
God is open to whatever we want to say to Him- the full range of life’s sorrow and joy.  We can thank Him- or we can tell Him we’re mad at Him.  Whether we’re happy, depressed, worried, or hopeful, God welcomes us.

Writer:
Almost half the Psalms- 73 of 150 are attributed to David.  But these bylines weren’t in the earliest scrolls.  And they’re phrased vaguely, calling a psalm “of David” can mean it’s “by David,” “about David,” or even “inspired by David.”  Other psalms are attributed to Solomon and Moses, along with music ministry leaders Korah and Asaph.  Some psalms aren’t attributed to anyone.

Date:
Most psalms are impossible to date because they express intimate feelings instead of historical facts.  Some psalms, though, refer to life during the Jewish exile in Babylon-in the 500s BC.  So the psalms could span about a thousand years, back to the time of Moses in the 1400s BC.

Location:
Most psalms are about people in Israel.  But some are set in Egypt and others are set in Babylon, which is now Iraq.

Summary Thoughts:
Psalms is divided into five books, each ending with a short doxology- a hymn of praise to God, each one of these doxologies starts with the words “Praise the Lord,” which helps clearly mark the beginning and end of each section.  Jewish scholars say its no coincidence that there are five books.  These five sections parallel the five books of Moses- the most revered material in Jewish Bible.  The boos of Moses contain the heart of Jewish law and tradition.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 1st, 2009 at 9:45 pm and is filed under Pastor's Bulletin Studies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.