Psalms Introduction

WELCOME
PRAYER
SONG – “The Heavens Declare” please?)
SILENCE

Introduction Psalm 1
December 29th 2024

Most of us are familiar with at least one Psalm from the Bible, Psalms like,

Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

But there is so MUCH MORE to consider than just the most poignant lines.

The word Psalm in Hebrew is mizmore and it means instrumental music and/or poems meant to be sung. In Greek its “Psalmos” with a similar meaning being, “a piece of set music.”

So, these Psalms were known, they were sung to specific tunes, cadences and some were even composed with specific stringed instruments in mind to be used.

We remember that it says of Yeshua and His disciples the following in Matthew 26:

Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.
30 And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.

Even though it sounds like they just sang on Psalm here which is customary for people today, to a Jew the Passover was observed by the Jews singing, or chanting, the 113th through the 118th Psalm.

The 118th and 114th psalms were sung during the observance of the Passover, and the rest at the close so we can assume that Yeshua and His disciples sang, Psalm 113 -117th Psalm that we will get to down the road.

A variant translation found in a 5th-century manuscript of the Septuagint is Psalt?rion, where the English word, Psalter, which is at times used as an alternative name for the Book of Psalms, is found in some religious liturgy.

Interestingly, Rabbinic literature uses the term Tehillim (“Songs of Praise”) which is a hybrid use of a feminine noun and a masculine plural ending. That two in one plural says something somehow.

So, in its present form, the book of Psalms consists of 150 separate songs divided into five books which look like this

(GRAPHIC)

PSALM 1-42
PSALM 42-72
PSALM 73-89
PSALM 90-106
PSALM 107 – 150 (with 150 serving as the overall doxology)

Some believe, like Vernon McGee, that these five-fold divisions are perhaps meant to be an imitation of the first five books of the Old Testament.

The actual dating of individual psalms poses an extremely difficult problem, as does the question of their exact authorship.

They were evidently written over a number of centuries, from the early monarchy to post-Exilic times, reflecting the varying stages of Israel’s history and the varying moods of Israel’s faith.

I am not going to attempt to get them to rest on all fours but instead am going to try and lead us through the general meaning of each individual Psalm, its application to the Christian faith and the principles contained therein.

If there is significant proof for some historical application I will try to make it but do not expect this from me – I seek for the lyrics to inform us and the spirit to give the lyrics to our hearts.

Although many of the psalms had their setting in the ritual life of the Temple of Solomon before the Babylonian Exile (6th century bc), the Psalter became the hymnbook of the Second Temple of Jerusalem, and the order of worship in the Temple probably played an important role in shaping and ordering the book.

The psalms also had a profound effect on the development of Christian worship.

Luke believed the psalms to be a source of guidance. Obeying Paul’s call to “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,” the early Church chanted or sang psalms as part of the liturgy.

After the Reformation, psalms were set to traditional melodies for congregational singing.

If I am able to catch a recognizable hymn created from a specific Psalm I will point it out – there is a list but they are often widely unknown hymns of tradition.

So it’s sort of intriguing but a Psalm is not really one verse but one whole set of verses and the single verses are simply part of one of the 150 Psalms.

Reading/studying the Psalms in chronological order can help readers understand the historical and literary context of the text, and how the texts are connected to one another.

One hundred Psalms identify their author with an introduction.

For instance in Psalm 90 we will read, “A prayer of Moses the man of God.”

Of the 100 that include a name 73 claim King David as the writer. Fifty of the Psalms do not mention their author, but many scholars believe David may have written some of these as well.

After David killed Goliath Little David became quite popular in the Nation and King Saul got jealous.

Well David faithfully served in Saul’s court as a musician and he was able to bring peace to Saul with his harp. These may be here.

But Saul’s hatred for David only grew and eventually, Saul set out to kill him and pursued him for years and it was during these years that David wrote more Psalms while hiding in caves or the desert (Psalm 57, Psalm 60).

Then Solomon, one of David’s sons, succeeded his father as king and became world-renowned for his great wisdom.

Solomon wrote Psalm 72 and Psalm 127. In both, he acknowledges that God is the source of the king’s justice and righteousness and power.

Two other writers are identified as Ethan and Heman
When Solomon’s wisdom is described in 1 Kings 4:31, the writer says the king “was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol….”

Well, Ethan and Heman are two of these extraordinarily wise men, and one psalm is attributed to each of them.

Many psalms begin with a lament or complaint and end in worship, as the writer is comforted by thinking about the goodness of God.

When Ethan wrote Psalm 89, he turned that pattern upside down. Ethan starts with a sweeping, joyful song of praise, then shares his pain with God and asks for help with his current situation.

Heman, on the other hand, starts with a lament and ends with a lament in Psalm 88, often seen as the saddest psalm.

So where most Psalms are balanced with bright lines Psalm 88, which is believe to have been written in concert with the Sons of Korah, is dark.

Asaph is another Psalmist, as we said, Moses and the Sons of Korah,

The Sons of Korah are also mentioned and if you recall, Korah was the leader of an uprising against Moses and Aaron.

Moses warned the Israelites to get away from the tents of these rebellious men. Fire from heaven consumed Korah and his followers, and the earth swallowed up their tents (Numbers 16:1-35).

The Bible does not tell us the age of Korah’s three sons when this tragic event occurred but it seems they were either wise enough not to follow their father in his rebellion or too young to be involved (Numbers 26:8-11).

Either way, Korah’s descendants took a much different path than their father as they are the authors of 11 Psalms.

With such a diverse group of authors and a total of 150 poems in the collection, there is a broad range of emotions and truths expressed in the Psalms.

Songs of lament
Songs of praise
Songs of thanksgiving
Songs of confidence

If there is a unifying theme in the Book of Psalms, it is praise for God, for His goodness and power and justice and mercy and majesty and love.

Almost all the Psalms, even the angriest and most sorrowful, offer praise to God by the last verse.

David often helps us understand the setting in which he would write. For instance, we read in

Psalm 51: “When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.”

Can you imagine a modern day worship leader asking the pastor to sing a song around the fact that he took another mans wife?

We have Psalm 3 composed under another circumstance: “When he fled from his son Absalom.”

And then Psalm 30: “For the dedication of the temple.”

So, for what seems like about a period of 700 years, the Nation turned to creating Psalms to lament, rejoice or commemorate all sorts of themes which serve to comfort, reassure and give praise to the Living God in the midst of every joy and trial.

As stated the standard Hebrew text divides the Psalms into five “books,” perhaps in imitation of the five books of the Pentateuch.

Let’s look at the five as a whole.

GRAPHIC

Psalms 1–2 provide an introduction to the Psalms as a whole.
Except for Psalms 10 and 33, the remaining psalms of Book 1 are psalms of David. Most of them are prayers of distress.
Others are statements of confidence in the God who alone can save.
Reflections on ethics and worship are found in Psalms 1; 14–15; 19; 24; and 26.

Once we finish these first 41 Psalms we will review the second “book” of five.

Before moving on, I have to mention that the study that has gone into the Psalms is ENORMOUS – volumes and volumes and volumes written, referenced, cross referenced and compared.

It is so tempting to tap into what has been said, discovered and taught in the past. We have the general outlive so I want

So, to the first two book/chapters from the book of Psalms which has no title, and has been generally considered for some reason a preface or introduction to the whole collection.

And it says, rather innocuously,

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

I want to pull back for a moment and work through these simple six passages which serve as an intro to the Psalms.

The first word is what of this song?

Blessed, right?

Esher is the Hebrew term and just like in the Beatitudes is it means happy or really, most happy!

And I want to make a super important distinction here – in the original sense of this word we read YAHAVAH’s intention for creating Man in His image – for happiness.

This was the goal in the garden.

This state was lost, but the Second Adam returned and brought it to the fore-front of the Nations mind again on the Mount.

I maintain that the happiness offered in the garden was material through direct spiritual relationship with our Maker.

Once lost, it was happiness through obedience to God’s external Law and the blessings He bestowed on them, then happiness through the process YESHUA taught His own saying, blessed are the poor, meek, mourning, the hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and those who are merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers and the persecuted.

We maintain – I maintain that to be happy, to be truly blessed in this life is try and obtain these traits and to exit this life with them abiding.

So again,

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

Because the law was so materially based they Nation, in order to remain a distinct family, we taught how to physically ambulate themselves in their world.

Listen to the three word emphasis in verse one (AGAIN) to them under the law:

1 Blessed is the man that

walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

There are three characters, each more dastardly than the former –

The ungodly (rasha) have sinned someway – w/o God but not horrible.
Neither hot nor cold. Don’t walk with them. Don’t travel their route in life. Don’t ask his counsel.

The sinners (Chatah) are convicted of evil or criminal (without God and horrible)
Don’t stand about idly with them. It leads to things because such a person has their ways.

Scornful (toots) a mocker a mocking teacher (Without God and mocks) more academic, eurudite – don’t sit with them, open book and learn of them. They have their “seat” earned through powerful mockery.

Verse 2

2 But his (the happy person) delight is in the law of YAHAVAH, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

We can say that about Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, Issaac and Jacob and Moses then, we can say it about those who sought found and followed Yeshua and we can say it about any and every believer today – they will (they don’t have to but they will) delight in the Law of the Lord (which again is written on their minds and hearts today).

How is such a believer described,

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

It’s a beautiful description, isn’t it?

Note that such a person is NOT walking with the ungodly nor is he standing with the criminals nor sitting with the mocker but IS PLANTED by the rivers of water.

The Nation receiving this Psalm were planted or should have seen themselves as Planted by God’s hand and so today we are not our own but to are Planted in a fixed place in the universes in a fixed time to do His will and not to move of our own volition with the evil.

Here’s the thing – the verse is CERTAINLY a depiction of the heavenly promise of God’s Children, but the agricultural language lends to our reading it as part of the prosperity a man would have under the Old Covenant.

I say this because I am not convinced that Yeshua’s spiritual kingdom operates that heavily in money and material rewards in this world.

Could be wrong, but to walk with Christ today seems to result in more losses than material gains. More surrendering rather than material victories.

Just something to point out as a clear distinction between the Old Testament and the Record.

The imagery of the trees source of hydration (the river, that the tree is an evergreen and produced abundant fruit and whatever he doeth shall prosper is then contrasted by the next verse where the writer says

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

So in the righteous we have a tree with strong roots, hydrated, coniferous (Im guessing) and in the chaff we have material so light and lacking substance it gets moved about.

By what?

The Psalmist says the wind which I read as the Spirit. And of the three evil doers who acts in a manner where wind is produced?

The mocker – in pseudo intellectual – they are the lightest, airiest of the three, and the Spirit will take their every untrue word and blow it away.

And he continues and says,

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment

Which probably means when the righteous are judged they will not be able to stand.

, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

Meaning no sinner will enter into the Kingdom congregation.

6 For YAHAVAH knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

There is some thoughts out there that God is limited in His knowledge of some things. For instance, Matt Slick believes that the LORD does not know who is of the Dark – light only and there are passages that tend to lend to this though, like

Nahum 1:7 The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him.

Others say that just because a passage affirms that He knows those that love Him doesn’t mean He doesn’t know the others and I tend to believe that God may have established some sort of thing where He I able to know a human only so far as that Human knows or seeks Him.

Kind of wild but I sort of base this on a few passages.

We also note in the last passage of chapter 1 that is reads that he Knows the way of the Righteous but adds that the Way of the Unrighteous will perish.

One is His knowledge of what the Righteous do but the other is He is aware of the fact that the way of the Unrighteous will perish, and interesting play on words.

So all the way back to the Old Testament we have the first Psalmist, who was probably David and we have Him describing they things to avoid from the wicked.

Its very religious in a sense and I am of the opinion that in the Spiritual work of Yeshuas workshop we seek to walk about and avoid spiritual evil comes about through several choices.

Yes, I call this life the proving ground, and when on and in it I suggest that we are choosing to pursue the following constantly or are at war with them, including

(GRAPHIC OF CHART)

OF HIM

DESCRIPTION
OF OUR
FLESH

PATIENCE
Always a choice when tested
Impatience – don’t need to practice

LOVE
Always a choice in the face of self and others needs and wants
Selfishness – don’t need to practice it – it comes naturally to us.

FAITH
Always a choice based on evidences and our view of them
Choose evidence in a light that encourages faith

HOPE
Always a choice (based on faith) instead of doubt
Choose reasons to have hope.

MERCY
To give mercy to those who least deserve it. (As God has given us the same)
Mercilessness

HUMILITY
Fully in the hands of the individual who chooses to bow down and place God on the throne.
Pride/Ego
LONG SUFFERING
An element of control offered by the Spirit
Not Longsuffering
SELF CONTROL
It takes takes labor and the elements from above.
Ill-Tempered

KINDNESS
A choice governed by all of the above
Mean unkind/ evidences lack of the above traits.

• IF OUR FLESH IS PATIENT ITS JUST OUR FLESH. YOU ARE GIFTED BY GOD.
• If you choose to live by your will and strength you will never really walk by His Power.
• Everything is related on the left side – if one is lacking the rest are in trouble!
• God has paid for our failures in the Right Side of things. We are rewarded and bear the LEFT SIDE traits with us into the life to come.