Psalms

I. Introduction
   A. Psalms: Israel's songbook
      1. Songs of praise and lament
      2. Songs of the Messiah and the future
      3. Wonderful material!
   B. They have inspired people for years
      1. Great emotion and power
      2. Written by many noted Israelites
      3. One of the most quoted OT books in the NT   
   C. Let us consider the book

II. Psalms: The Details
   A. Authorship
      1. Multiple authors
      2. David wrote at least 75 of them (cf. 1 Samuel 16:16-23, 
         2 Samuel 23:1)
      3. Sons of Korah (cf. Numbers 16; 11 psalms)
      4. Asaph (cf. 1 Chronicles 16:17; 12 psalms)
      5. Solomon, Moses, Ethan the Ezrahite also
      6. Inspiration sealed by frequent NT quotation (Acts 2:13, etc.)
   B. Dating
      1. Written over about 1000 years
      2. Moses (ca. 1450 BCE), David and Asaph (ca. 1000 BCE), Solomon 
         (ca. 950 BCE)
      3. Some anonymous ones sound like they come from the exile 
         (586 BCE)
      4. Compiled in current form later-- post-exilic period 
         (ca. 450 BCE)
   C. Audience
      1. Israel
      2. We can gain much also
   D. Purpose
      1. Songs for Israel to sing in praise to God or to petition God
      2. Expressions of feelings based in various circumstances
      3. To proclaim the Christ and His Kingdom

III. Psalms: The Story
   A. Book Divisions of Psalms
      1. Book 1 (Psalm 1-41)
      2. Book 2 (Psalm 42-72)
      3. Book 3 (Psalm 73-89)
      4. Book 4 (Psalm 90-106)
      5. Book 5 (Psalm 107-150)
   B. Types of Psalms
      1. A long exercise to analyze each of the 150 psalms!
      2. For our purposes, we will consider the various types of 
         psalms, focusing on one or two representative examples
      3. Our categorization by intent, purpose of psalms
      4. Other forms of categorization: musical type (shiggaion, 
         miktam, sheminith, etc.), reason given for psalm (e.g., 
         David's sin revealed in Psalm 51), author 
         (David, Asaph, etc.), instrument to be used
      5. Matters of form: acrostic by line or by section 
         (each line or section begins with successive letter of 
         Hebrew alphabet) 
      6. So as to not be too redundant but also to open us up to the 
         beauty of the Psalms, let us consider the various types by 
         content
   C. Psalms of Praise
      1. Psalms praising God, expressing faith in Him
      2. Psalms 8, 9, 23, 29, 33, 45, 47, 62, 67, 84, 92, 93, 95, 96, 
         97, 98, 99, 100, 111, 112, 113, 114, 117, 125, 134, 135, 144, 
         145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150
      3. Representative examples: Psalm 23, 150
   D. Psalms of Thanksgiving
      1. Psalms thanking God for what He has done
      2. Psalms 18 (cf. 2 Samuel 22), 30, 34, 40, 52, 56, 65, 66, 75, 
         92, 107, 116, 118, 124, 136, 138
      3. Representative example: Psalm 136
   E. Psalms of Lament
      1. Lamentations for sin, destruction; petitions for assistance 
         from God in difficult times
      2. Psalms 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 17, 22, 25, 28, 31, 36, 
         38, 39, 41, 42, 43, 51, 54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61, 63, 64, 
         69, 70, 71, 74, 77, 79, 80, 82, 83, 85, 86, 88, 89, 90, 94, 
         102, 108, 109, 120, 121, 123, 126, 130, 137, 140, 141, 142, 
         143
      3. Representative examples: Psalm 14, 51, 79
   F. Messianic Psalms
      1. Psalms speaking of the Messiah and His kingly reign
      2. Psalms 2, 16, 22, 45, 69, 110
      3. Representative examples: Psalm 2, 110
   G. Royal Psalms
      1. Psalms regarding the king and his line, not necessarily 
         Messianic
      2. Psalms 18, 20, 21, 72, 89, 101, 132
      3. Representative example: Psalm 72
   G. Wisdom, Instructional Psalms
      1. Psalms presenting wisdom, affection toward instruction 
         (or Law) of God
      2. Psalms 1, 4, 11, 15, 19, 24, 26, 27, 32, 34, 37, 49, 50, 53, 
         73, 91, 119, 127, 128, 131, 133, 139
      3. Representative example: Psalm 1
   H. Prophetic Psalms
      1. Psalms mirroring the message of the prophets
      2. Psalms 81, 82, 115
      3. Representative example: Psalm 115
   I. Psalms of History
      1. Psalms retelling the story of Israel for educational, 
         exhortative purposes
      2. Psalms 44, 68, 78, 105, 106
      3. Representative example: Psalm 78
   J. Imprecatory Psalms
      1. Psalms asking God to bring disfavor upon enemies, ungodly
      2. Psalms 35, 58, 83, 129
      3. Representative example: Psalm 83
      4. A feature present in many psalms of lament, also
   K. Other types of Psalms
      1. Psalms celebrating Zion: Psalms 46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122
      2. “Hallel” Psalms: Psalms 113-118 (cf. Matthew 26:30)
      3. Songs of Ascents: Psalm 120-134
          
IV. Psalms: Important Passages
   A. Psalm 2 (cf. Acts 4:25-26; 13:33, Hebrews 1:5; 5:5)
   B. Psalm 4:4 (cf. Ephesians 4:26)
   C. Psalm 8:2-6 (cf. Matthew 21:16, Hebrews 2:6-8)
   D. Psalm 14:1
   E. Psalm 16:8-11 (cf. Acts 2:25-28; 13:35) 
   F. Psalm 22
      1. Description of the suffering of Jesus
      2. cf. Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19
   G. Psalm 23
   H. Psalm 31:5 (cf. Luke 23:46)
   I. Psalm 45:6-7 (cf. Hebrews 1:8-9)
   J. Psalm 51
   K. Psalm 69:4; 9 (cf. John 15:25; 2:17)
   L. Psalm 69:25 (cf. Acts 1:20)
   M. Psalm 82:6 (cf. John 10:34)
   N. Psalm 110 (cf. Matthew 22:44/Mark 12:36/Luke 20:42-43, 
      Acts 2:34-35, Hebrews 1:13; 5:6; 7:17, 21)
    
V. Conclusion
   A. Psalms: a wonderfully diverse book!
      1. Full of all kinds of messages
      2. Praise, thanksgiving, lament, instruction, the Messiah, etc.
   B. Some of the most profound descriptions of humanity, God and 
      His creation, etc. found in Scripture
   C. Let us appreciate the Psalms, and praise God!
   D. Invitation/songbook