1/18/2024 0 Comments Bible study images cross![]() Third, two psalms, Psalms 50 and Psalms 81, are intended to encourage Israel to renew her allegiance to God and the Mosaic Covenant (Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible, 213). The royal psalms are especially significant for Christians because they provide the background and find their culmination in our Lord Jesus Christ. ![]() The remaining royal psalms are Psalms 21, Psalms 72, Psalms 101, Psalms 110, and Psalms 144. Therefore, the focus of these psalms is the Davidic king, but it can refer to various phases of kingship. Psalms 20 requests God’s blessing on the king. Finally, they may focus on the importance of the Davidic line and its relationship to God, as in Psalms 2, Psalms 89, and Psalms 132. Further, they have the Davidic Covenant in 2 Samuel 7 (also 1 Chronicles 17) as their foundation. These psalms are joined by their focus on Israel’s earthly king. Second, theocratic kingship psalms, generally known as “royal psalms,” celebrate the Davidic dynasty and the universal kingdom. The psalms in this category are Psalms 24, Psalms 29, Psalms 47, Psalms 93, Psalms 95, Psalms 96, Psalms 97, Psalms 98, and Psalms 99. First, divine kingship psalms celebrate the LORD’s sovereign rule over the universe. These Psalms celebrate and affirm loyalty to God as King, the theocratic king, and God’s covenant. In these psalms, God is extolled for having made Mount Zion the place where his presence would be uniquely manifested ( Psalm 46, Psalm 48, Psalm 76, Psalm 84, Psalm 87, Psalm 122). Another type of hymn is the Songs of Zion. He may be praised as Creator as in Psalms 8, Psalms 19, Psalms 29, Psalms 104, Psalms 148, as the deliverer of Israel in Psalm 66, Psalm 100, Psalm 111, Psalm 114, Psalm 148, and as the Lord of history in Psalm 33, Psalm 103, Psalm 113, Psalm 117, Psalm 145, Psalm 146, Psalm 147 (Fee and Stuart, How to Read the Bible, 213). God is praised for his greatness and goodness. With the lament, the psalmist is at the lower end of the emotional spectrum, but with the hymn, he moves to the opposite end of joyful praise. The Praise Hymns are easily identifiable because of their emphasis on praise to God. The lament also includes the penitential psalms such as Psalms 51 (also Psalms 6, Psalms 38, Psalms 102, Psalms 130, Psalms 143) and psalms with imprecatory elements such as Psalms 137 (also Psalm 12, Psalm 35, Psalm 58, Psalm 59, Psalm 69, Psalm 70, Psalm 109, Psalm 140). An expression of trust is found in Psalms 12:7, where a prayer for deliverance is offered (so also Psalm 44:1-6, Psalm 58, Psalm 60, and others). David laments the oppression of Israel by their enemies. ![]() Psalm 12 is a national lament composed on behalf of Israel. ![]() An element of trust concludes this psalm in Psalm 3:7-8 (other examples include Psalm 4, Psalm 5, Psalm 6, Psalm 7, Psalm 9, and others). Psalms 3 is a personal lament highlighting what took place when David fled from Absalom. The lament psalm may be written from an individual or national perspective. The psalms are purposefully vague in reference to historical events so that they can be used in a variety of situations” ( How to Read the Psalms, 27). As Longman has stated: “In most cases, the references are vague, and we have every reason to believe they are so intentionally. Unless the context is clear, we should avoid this extreme because the psalmist generally wanted to be vague in determining the specifics of a historical situation. Some commentators have gone to extremes in identifying the enemy. We need to avoid becoming too specific in our identification of the enemies. In addition, lament psalms move from mourning to expressing trust in God.Ī problem often encountered in laments is that the enemy is described in vague terms. At other times, a psalmist may make a complaint about himself, and, at times, he expresses disappointment with God ( Psalms 22:1-2). In this type of psalm, a psalmist will often be mourning about the attack of his enemies. The chief defining characteristic of the lament is its mood. More than one-third of the psalms are of this nature. Psalms of Lament is the most dominant genre found in the Psalter. Today we will briefly examine the first three of these. While some of the following literary categories may overlap as well as the rubrics for each may differ with varying sources, it is possible to place the psalms into six primary genres. Based on thematic elements that are shared between the Psalms and literary features, we can more precisely classify the lyric poems of the Psalms. An aid in reading the Psalms is to be able to arrange them in literary categories or genres. ![]()
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