Why were the Psalms written? Paul tells Timothy, ‘All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (2 Tim 3:16-17) The Psalms are useful and helpful to us because they equip us for every good work, but their importance also lies in showing us how to communicate with God and in affirming the reality of response to God in all its diverse forms.

In the introduction to the ‘Message’ version of the Psalms, Eugene Peterson comments on their ‘raw honesty and detailed thoroughness.’ Many of us have preconceived ideas about how to speak to God, believing that God must be approached tentatively (because He may well turn out to be as capricious and moody as our earthly parents) or diffidently (because He may be as indifferent to us as others have turned out to be) or politely (because politeness is the thing He values most.) All of these ideas can shape our prayers and leave us confused, resentful and reluctant to pray at times.

The Psalms, though, are ‘God’s gift to train us in prayer that is comprehensive (not patched together from emotional fragments scattered around that we chance upon) and honest (not a series of more or less sincere verbal poses that we think might please our Lord.)’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Answering God’, P 5-6) When we read the Psalms, we see a wide range of response to God: from adoration, praise, worship and thanksgiving, to anger, confusion, hurt, bitterness and complaint. No human emotion is left out; we see in these prayers what it means to be human and that we can approach God freely, confidently, boldly, children welcomed into the loving arms of mercy, grace and kindness. Generations have found reassurance and hope from the diversity of the psalms and as we pray these prayers, we become aware that there is no situation which can keep us from God. When Paul tells us to pray continually (1 Thess 5:17), the Psalms show us how to do this.

The book of Psalms is a long book in the middle of the Old Testament, part of the ‘Wisdom’ genre of literature. It is one of the longest books in the Bible (the longest by chapters and the 3^rd longest in terms of number of words.)

Different religious traditions number the psalms differently, though most Jewish, Protestant and Catholic versions of the book each include 150 individual works. The Eastern Orthodox Church’s Septuagint Bible includes a 151^st psalm, while some versions of the Bible used by Middle Eastern Syriac churches have 155 psalms. The reason for the different numbering is that the Hebrew numbering sometimes combines (splices, joins) a psalm that is reckoned as two psalms in the Greek numbering–and vice versa.

Part of the popularity of the Psalms lies in the fact that they are often quite short to read and in many Christian traditions, the Psalms are read regularly, either monthly or bi-monthly, something that is easy to do because of their individual composition. Because they are individual prayers, they can be read individually without necessarily losing the ‘thread’ of the story (as with the historical books or the Gospels), though as we will discover later, they still retain a unity which means we should read them all regularly, not simply dipping in for our ‘chocolate box’ fix of promises!

Eugene Peterson reminds us, ‘The Psalms come to us embedded in Holy Scripture. They have their own identity as a book, 150 prayers with a clearly marked beginning and end. They are, at the same time, an integral part of a larger book, the Bible… They have the Torah for their mother, the Prophets for their father and a luxuriantly rambling family tree.’ (‘Answering God’, P 16) Each of the books of the Bible is necessary (2 Tim 3:16), but none is complete in itself; we need to read and study the Psalms keeping ‘the bigger picture’ of the whole story of Scripture in mind

The Book of Psalms is estimated to have been written between 1440 BC and 586 BC. As with so many books of the Bible, it was written over an extended period of time and we can see many connections between the events we read in other books of the Bible (especially the historical books such as 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Chronicles). These books give us the plot to David’s story; the Psalms show the passion, revealing to us David at prayer, giving us insight into his internal life. They show us David as shepherd, guerrilla fighter, court musician and politician (not just as king.) ‘His entire life was lived in the sacred ordinary that we are apt, mistakenly, to call the secular. The regular place of prayer is the ordinary life.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Answering God’, P 50) This is useful to us who live ‘ordinary lives’ and reminds us also that life is about so much more than is visible to others; the internal life, hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3), is crucial to understanding our speech and behaviour, since Christ is our motivation and life.

Of the 73 psalms linked to David’s story, 13 refer to specific incidents in his life.

• Ps 3 when he fled from Absalom his son
• Ps 7 which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, a Benjaminite
• Ps 18 when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul
• Ps 34 when he feigned madness before Abimelech
• Ps 51 when confronted by Nathan the prophet after his adultery with Bathsheba
• Ps 52 when Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul David had gone to the house of Ahimelech
• Ps 54 when the Ziphites told Saul David was in hiding with them
• Ps 56 when the Philistines seized him in Gath
• Ps 57 when he fled from Saul in the cave
• Ps 59 when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him
• Ps 60 when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zoba/ when Joab on his return killed 12,000 of Edom in the Valley of Salt
• Ps 63 in the wilderness of Judah
• Ps 142 in the cave

In giving us a historical root, we see that prayer is not escapism or fantasy; it is real relationships worked out in real life. We may well wish we knew even more about the circumstances which provoked some of the Psalms and even about the dating of the psalms, but we see that these prayers were collected and edited in such a way to provide spiritual sustenance for us through the ages. It is the power of the Word of God that words written many years ago can still strike deep chords with us, sustaining and nurturing faith in the 21^st century.

The Psalms are poems, songs, prayers, expressions of praise and worship which contain prophetic words at times and which were intended for corporate use. When we looked at ‘The Bigger Picture’ of the Bible, we saw that the books of the Bible can be divided into different categories: some books are historical, others tell us of God’s rules for living (the Law), others tell us of the life of Jesus and others are letters to local churches. We have to read each book understanding its genre and purpose if we are to make the most of what we read.

The Psalms are part of the ‘Wisdom’ literature of the Old Testament (a section which includes Job, Proverbs, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes), and are divided into 5 sections, each of which ends with a doxology or blessing. They are songs and prayers collected together to imitate the five-fold division of the Torah and have been called ‘the hymnal of the Jews.’ These songs and prayers reflect the Jewish conviction of the reality of God and His creation and the need for us to respond to God’s words and call. We may be studying the Psalms themselves, but we need to remember that ‘they are, at the same time, an integral part of a larger book, the Bible… They have the Torah for their mother, the Prophets for their father and a luxuriantly rambling family tree.’ (Eugene Peterson, ‘Answering God’, P 16)

Poetry is something which we often find difficult to fathom, since its language is often metaphorical and not necessarily easy to understand. We are more used to the language of lists (factual, describing language which tells a narrative of things which happen) or the language of persuasion. We need to value poetry, however, since it is a language which delves beyond the surface and draws us into deep truths. Hebrew poetry is not like English poetry, however, which relies on metre and rhyme for effect. Hebrew poetry uses parallelism (a form of repetition) to reinforce meaning, often comparing two similar things for effect or looking at opposites to draw our attention.

Music is an important part of the Psalms, with many references to the ‘director of music’ or to musical terms in the titles. In the Hebrew Bible the title of the Psalms is Tehillim, which means ‘songs of praise.’ In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, the term Psalmoi is employed. The verb form of this Greek word originally referred to the plucking of strings with the fingers. Eventually, Psalmoi came to mean ‘sacred songs sung to musical accompaniment.’ Music is one of God’s greatest gifts to us, and although the original music of the Psalms has not been preserved, the words contained in the Psalms continue to be set to music, bringing forth musical creativity applicable to each culture throughout the ages.

The Psalms are also understood as prayers. Prayer in its most basic form is our communication with God, our response to the revelation of God to us expressed in different ways (the Psalms themselves can be categorised: some are psalms of thanksgiving and praise; some of adoration; some are complaints and so on.) Westermann says of the Psalms: ‘They are prayers (words directed to God in petition or praise), poetry (poetically formulated language), and song (they go beyond the mere speaking or even recital of a poem and become music).’ Many of the Psalms also contain prophetic references (especially to Jesus) and are quoted in the New Testament many times, indicating their continuing importance to the church of today, which is urged to ‘let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.’ (Col 3:16; see also Eph 5:18-20, 1 Cor 14:26)

In answering the question ‘Who wrote the Psalms?, we see (as so often) a wide range of authors. It’s unusual for us to know much about who actually wrote the Bible, but 116 of the 150 psalms are given some kind of title, often linking them to real people whose stories are contained in other parts of the Bible. 73 of the 150 psalms are ascribed in some way to David, with Asaph and his family writing 12 of them and the Sons of Korah 11. Other named authors include Moses (Ps 90), Solomon (Ps 72, Ps 127), Heman (Ps 88) and Ethan the Ezrahite (Ps 89), with other psalms written by unknown authors.

We might wonder why it is important to think about who wrote the psalms, simply accepting them as God’s Word and therefore divinely inspired to guide us and help us. However, the Bible is very clear that individuals matter and often names people who would probably never get into any ‘Who’s Who’ of fame or fortune. Ezra 2 and Nehemiah 10-11, genealogies in Genesis and 1 & 2 Chronicles, lists in Romans 16 and 1 Corinthians 16 are irrefutable reminders that individuals matter, something which needs reiterating in modern society with its apparent disregard for individuality.

Eugene Peterson reminds us that ‘as a link to someone’s life (usually David’s) or as instruction for Israel’s temple worship, the introductory sentence ties the prayer to the historical: place, time, people.’ (‘Answering God’, P 48) The Psalms are not simply random prayers but are prayers and songs that arose from specific situations and expressed real sentiments, longings and hurts. It helps for us to understand that these are not abstract poems or prayers but are tied to real people in real situations crying out to a real God. It helps to know something of those people’s stories and challenges: the majority of psalms written by David were written in times of crisis, for example, and it can be helpful to be reminded that the most basic prayers (‘Help!’ and ‘Thanks!’) are expounded regularly in this book! Knowing who wrote the Psalms may not be hugely important to us, but I think it is significant that the editors of the psalter remind us of the significance of individuals in influencing our world.

The 5Ws – questions beginning with W – are key words which help us in problem-solving and information-gathering and as a teacher, I often had to use such questions to focus pupils’ attention on essential facts. Who? What? When? Where? Why? are important questions which help us to process large amounts of information and try to make sense of complicated ideas.

Our new Bible studies are looking at the book of Psalms and if we thought the 16 chapters of 1 Corinthians gave us plenty of food for thought, 150 psalms might seem even more daunting! But by looking at these 5Ws, we can begin to see patterns and themes which can help us to appreciate this wonderful book in the Bible, beloved by so many. At the same time, we must never reduce our Bible studies to mere problem-solving or information-gathering, for God’s word is living and active (Heb 4:12) and we need the javelins of His word to pierce our desire for functionality and reveal to us the path to a personal relationship with our Creator so we can respond to His call.

Eugene Peterson tells us that ‘torah (law) is God’s words that hit the target of the human condition’ (‘Answering God’, P 25). The noun ‘torah’ comes from a verb that means to throw something (like a javelin) so that it hits its mark. Words have this capacity; God’s words are both piercing and penetrating, getting inside us and working their meaning in us. As we study the Psalms – some of the most piercing and penetrating words in the whole of the Bible – we can be sure that God’s Word will challenge, comfort and change us. The Torah is often used to refer to the first 5 books of the Bible; the book of Psalms is divided into 5 books itself, acting as a response to the truths of God revealed from Genesis through to Deuteronomy. We have to study every part of the Bible keeping in mind the bigger picture of the whole Book; the Psalms give us our answering call to God’s Word, teaching us to call to God in trust, protest, complaint, lament, adoration and praise.