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Sermon Notes
Introducing the Psalms
Why study psalms?
Jesus, ‘more than any other, knew, loved, understood and applied to himself the Book of Psalms’ and he memorized and quoted them throughout his ministry. The Psalms are the most quoted OT book in the NT – quoted over 400 times (only 1 Thessalonians, Philemon and 2 and 3 John do not contain a quote from the Psalms). ‘The NT writers held the Psalms closely always – the Psalter was deeply a part of them … These early Christians clearly lived with the Psalms’ (Waltke and Zaspel)
The Reformer, John Calvin called the Psalter, ‘an anatomy of all the parts of the soul… there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.’
Most people have a favourite Psalm (or two!).
‘Uniquely in the Book of Psalms, the prayers of God’s Old Covenant saints, which they offered to God are given back by God to his people as God’s Word to them’ (Eric Ortlund – Keswick 2026) and arguably this is the most important reason for regularly/routinely reading/praying the Psalms out loud, personally and in corporate worship. Throughout most of the history of God’s people worshipping him the Psalms have been central to that worship; there was even a time when the only ‘songs’ that could be sung were the Psalms. The first book to be printed on the Guttenberg printing press was the Psalter.
Sadly, the centrality of Psalms has generally disappeared from the worship life of too many churches and traditions, which has profoundly impoverished the worship of God’s people. In doing so, what has been lost is arguably the most beautiful resource God has given us to truly know him, they are primarily relational, ‘we love the Psalms because in them we encounter God… ‘Knowing God is not a means to something else’’ (Scott Hafemann, quoted in J M Hamilton)
The Psalms are the finest example of taking the glorious truth of who God is and what he is like from the head to the heart. Every psalm/prayer places the circumstances out of which the prayer arises and positions the pray-er in that place of trusting the truth of God’s revelation concerning who he is – ‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me’ (Psalms 23:4) David is clearly praying from a place of great strife and yet his prayer focuses on the faithfulness of God in being with him.
The Psalms in the Bible
They appear in our Bibles in the OT, which is also known as the Hebrew Scriptures (or the TANAK) which in their original setting was composed of three main sections:
The Psalms are part of the ‘Writings’ in the Hebrew Scriptures.
When were the Psalms written and compiled?
Identifying the authors of the Psalms helps to answer this question. Whilst within the Book of Psalms God is understood ultimately to be the author there are clearly several human authors of the psalms.
It is generally understood that human authors include:
· David – the name most strongly related to the psalms and is credited with having written 73 (almost half) of the psalms
· Asaph – credited with writing 12 psalms
· The Sons of Korah – credited with writing 11 psalms
· Heman and Ethan – credited with 2 psalms
· Moses and Solomon – credited with 3 psalms
· 49 psalms remain anonymous
Based on what is known concerning the authors of the psalms the period covered is roughly 900 years of Israel’s history – from c.1410BC (Moses, Ps. 90) to late 5th/early 6th century BC (the post-exilic era, Ps. 126).
This includes:
· the period prior to Israel’s entry to the Promised Land,
· her entry into the Promised Land,
· her failure to obey God leading to exile and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple,
· God’s promise to restore Israel,
· her return and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple.
As we can see the Psalms relate to a significant portion of the OT books.
The Psalms are a collection of 150 Psalms that initially seem random, and this is evident in the way many of us read the Psalms, but this is not the case, there is a very clear structure that aids effective reading and is to be read (and taught!) as a whole. The Book of Psalms is a carefully curated collection. We do not know for certain which individual or group of people curated this collection. Ezra (see Nehemiah 8) is often considered a likely candidate for the final form of the Psalms as we have them in our Bibles. It is vital that we approach the Psalms as a book containing a ‘purposefully ordered collection of poems that build on and interpret one another’ (Hamilton) if we are to gain the benefit that both the divine author and human authors intend.
The Book of Psalms is built upon two ‘poetic pillars’ set out in the opening two psalms that serve as an introduction to the whole collection of psalms:
1. Torah Psalms – teaching/law – 'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law [Torah] of the LORD, and on his law [Torah], he meditates day and night’ (1:1-2)
2. Messianic Psalms – ‘As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you… Blessed are all who take refuge in him’ (2:6-7; 12c)
The flow of the Psalms is set out for us in most translations of the Bible identified as containing five books with an irregular number of Psalms in each:
Each of the first four books conclude with a doxology containing similar wording:
· Book One – Psalms 3 – 41 – ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen’ (41:13)
· Book Two – Psalms 42 – 72 – ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!’ (72:18-19)
· Book Three – Psalms 73 – 89 – ‘Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and Amen’ (89:52)
· Book Four – Psalms 90-106 – ‘Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the LORD!’ (106:48)
How the five books of the Psalms fit together
The key to understanding how the ‘five books’ of the Psalms connect to one another is found in a part of the psalms that are commonly overlooked, namely what are called the superscriptions – the comments at the beginning of the psalms – ‘A PSALM OF DAVID, WHEN HE FLED FROM ABSALOM HIS SON’ before Psalm 3 - (116 of the 150 psalms contain them) that provide details concerning matters such as, identifying the author or the context of the psalm, or technical information instructing how the psalm is to be used. Unlike the titles, chapters and verses added in our modern Bibles, these superscriptions were understood by both the authors and original audience to be part of the Scripture. A consequence for the modern reader is that as we read Psalms, we must read their superscriptions as well.
It should be recognised that the challenge of this is that the meaning of the information given has in some case been lost to antiquity – ‘THE CHOIRMASTER: WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENTS; ACCORDING TO THE SHEMINETH. A PSALM OF DAVID’ before Psalm 6 – the footnotes in our modern Bible state that ‘shemineth,’ ‘is probably a musical term.’ The same is true with the common occurrence of the term ‘Selah’, which again is ‘probably a musical term’ and probably indicates a pause to consider what has just been said.
Books One and Two trace David’s life – the majority being Psalms of David and contain superscriptions related to events in his life. Note also that the closing psalm in Book Two, Psalm 72 concludes with, The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended’ (72:20) These books of the Psalms follow the biblical narrative recorded in 1 and 2 Samuel.
Book Three starts with David’s son Solomon but goes on to record Israel’s demise and the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Book Three of the Psalms follows the biblical narrative recorded in 1 and 2 Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles. By Psalm 89 the nation seems to be in crisis, the cry, ‘How long, O Lord? Will you hide yourself forever? How long will your wrath burn like fire?’ (Psalm 89:46) The hope of God’s covenant with David is all but lost!
Book Four following on from the despair of Book Three opens with a sign of hope through, ‘A PRAYER OF MOSES, THE MAN OF GOD’ (Psalm 90) A prayer of Moses who twice interceded for Israel when all hope seemed lost (see Exo. 32:10; Num. 14:12). Though Israel had been unfaithful to God, this prayer (psalm) of Moses reminds them of God’s covenant faithfulness. Here in Book Four, we find reference to a King descended from David – the Messianic King - whose reign God will establish (see Psalm 91 – quoted to Jesus by Satan in Matt. 4:6 – and Psalms 93-100) - ‘A PSALM OF DAVID (after the end of the prayers of David in Psalm 72!). The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” (110:1) Book Four of the Psalms follows the biblical narrative in of both, the ‘Former Prophets’ (Joshua -Kings) and the ‘Latter Prophets’ (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, as well as the ‘Minor Prophets’ (Hosea to Malachi). Throughout there are several parallels made with Israels present and past:
· Slavery in Egypt and exile in Babylon
· The exodus from Egypt and the hope of a new exodus leading Israel out of exile
This hope for the Messianic king is evident in Book Five of the Psalms and particularly in the concluding psalms (146 – 150) commonly referred to as Hallelu – YAH psalms which celebrate God and his restoration of his people.
‘The Psalter and its books are crafted around the hope of a coming ‘David’ through whom YHWH would renew his people and Zion and lead them in thanksgiving and praise of God’ (Adam D. Hensley) Ultimately this hope is fulfilled in Jesus, and so as we read Psalms we recognise here is the story of salvation not just for Israel past, but for God’s people today, and so through Christ we give thanks and praise God.
Resources
Online Study Materials
Introduction to the Psalms – Discover the basics of the Psalms – The ESV Study Bible (Crossway) - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/psalms/
Knowing the Bible: Psalms – A 12-week practical study series on the Book of Psalms by Douglas Sean O’Donnell - https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/course/knowing-the-bible-psalms/
Book of Psalms Summary: A Complete Animated Overview – The BibleProject
BibleProject Guide to Psalms
Devotional Books
Spurgeon and the Psalms – A collection of excerpts from Spurgeon’s sermons accompanying each of the 150 Psalms (New King James Version)
Daily Treasury – 366 Daily Readings from The Treasury of David (excerpts from CH Spurgeon’s a 3-Volume Commentary on the Psalms)
Be Still – Psalm Devotions by Matt Searles
Tumbling Sky – Psalm Devotions by Matt Searles
In the Lord I Take Refuge – 150 Devotions through the Psalms by Dane Ortlund
Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing: A Liturgy for Daily Worship with the Psalms by Jonathan Gibson (released September/October 2026)
Other Resources
Psalms – The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Reflections on the Psalms by CS Lewis
The Lord of Psalm 23 by David Gibson
A Sheep Remembers by David B Calhoun
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