Before we had ‘smart’ phones where we could have the complete Bible in many translations with us, we had ‘pocket’ New Testaments. These small print New Testaments, usually in the KJV, also had the Old Testament books of Psalms and Proverbs. Psalms and Proverbs were included because of their popularity among Christians. Proverbs contain wise advice for living and with reference to Psalms Jim Hamiliton has said, “Does any literature in the world compare with the book of Psalms? The Greeks have Homer, the Romans Virgil, the Italians Dante, and the British Shakespeare. But nothing sings like the Psalms.”[1] Another Old Testament scholar has written, “As we read the Psalms, we are entering into the sanctuary, the place where God meets men and women in a special way. We will see that the conversation between God and his people is direct, intense, intimate and, above all, honest.”[2] Click here for the Bible Projects Summary of Psalms.
Again, you’ll want to supplement the Bible Project Video by reading the introduction to Psalms in your Holman Concise Bible Commentary pages 213-215. You’ll also want to look at the charts on pages 217-220 and notice the characteristics of God and Man found in the Psalms. Where the book of Job was written mostly in Hebrew poetry, the book of Psalms is written completely in Hebrew poetry except for the superscriptions at the beginning of most of the Psalms such as found in Psa. 22, “For the choir director: according to “The Deer of the Dawn.” A psalm of David.”[3] These superscriptions are considered part of the Psalm in the Hebrew Bible so this would be verse 1 of Psalm 22 in the Hebrew Bible and our verse 1 would be verse 2 in the Hebrew Bible. A few of the Psalms have the superscription taking two verses in the Hebrew Bible. All but 34 of the 150 Psalms have a superscription. Also, the numbering of the individual Psalms will sometimes differ in the Greek version of the Old Testament known as the Septuagint (LXX) from the Hebrew Bible. The LXX numbers our Psalm 10 as Psalm 9:22-39. The LXX also combines our Psalms 114 and 115 making Psalm 113 in the LXX. There are other changes in numbering that result in the numbers being back in agreement in Psalms 148-150. Roman Catholic translations that follow the Latin Vulgate such as the Douay-Rheims will have the Septuagint numbering.
You might want to reread pages 199 and 200 of the Holman Concise Bible Commentary (available in the church library) to refresh your memory of how Hebrew poetry works or read an article on poetry in a good Bible Dictionary. Alternatively, you can find a reasonable explanation on the Internet by Jean E. Jones at this link. If you would prefer a short lecture on Hebrew poetry a YouTube lecture by Dr. Brian Russell a Professor of Biblical Studies is available here. Psalm 37 has many of the elements of Hebrew poetry. For example, the parallelism in verses 1, 2, 6, and 12, is synonymous, verses 9, 10&11 combined are antithetical, verses 3, 4,5,7, and 8 are synthetic. Jim Hamilton says of this Psalm, “Psalm 37 is a chiastic acrostic. In general, every other verse begins with the next letter of the alphabet.”[4]
I believe Psalm 22 may be the most quoted and alluded to Psalm by our New Testament authors. Psalm 23 is a favorite of many, and Psalm 51 is worthy of detailed study and meditation for its theology. Charles Spurgeon wrote a seven-volume study on the Psalms that was titled The Treasury of David that has become a classic. The HCBC on page 215 lists various types of Psalms. When you find a Psalm that speaks to your situation spend some time praying it back to God.
[1] Hamilton, James M., Jr. 2021. Psalms. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger. Vol. 1, p.1. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic.
[2] Longman, Tremper, III. 1988. How to Read the Psalms. Downers Grove, IL; Nottingham, England: IVP Academic; Inter-Varsity Press, pp. 11-12.
[3] Christian Standard Bible. 2020. Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.
[4] Hamilton, James M., Jr. 2021. Psalms. Edited by T. Desmond Alexander, Thomas R. Schreiner, and Andreas J. Köstenberger. Vol. 1. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Academic.
