Introduction to the Book of Psalms

This is the longest book in the Bible, of course, with 150 “psalms,” not “chapters.” A psalm is a song and no doubt, most of them were put to music About half of them are attributed to David. They are written in poetic form, of course, which means we must be careful not to be overly literal in our reading of them. Hebrew poetry, called “parallelism,” had meter, but no rhyme, and was allowed “poetic license” as is ours. So while obviously the grand principle of the stanzas are true, caution must be exercised that we don’t try to build doctrinal truths on what is intended to be symbolic, lyrical language. This has been done by some, and usually with egregiously erroneous results following.

This is probably my favorite book in the Bible. It might have been the Lord’s, too, because He quotes more from the Psalms that He does any other Old Testament writing. The book is an interesting exercise in divine inspiration; the most intimate spiritual and emotional feelings of the writer are expressed towards God, and yet, in just such a manner as the Holy Spirit wanted conveyed. The older one gets, the harder it is not to be touched by some of the feelings and emotions the authors articulate.

I wish our people would spend more time reading and meditating on the Psalms. By and large, we are not a very devotional people. The book of Psalms would go a long way towards curing that.

A word on “parallelism,” the substance of Hebrew poetry. As noted, “parallelism” has meter (in the original), but no rhyme. It’s basic feature is to state a general truth, and then to repeat it in different words, or to say its opposite. For example,

“Why do the heathen rage,
And the people imagine a vain thing?” (Psalm 2:1)

Basically, the same idea repeated in different words. Another example, the opposite stated in this instance:

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,
but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)

Hebrew poetry does get a little more complicated than that, but that’s generally sufficient for the average reader. Much of the Old Testament was written in poetical form, simply because most of the people were illiterate and had the books read to them. And poetry is easier to remember and memorize than prose.

Incidentally, the Psalms, in the King James Version of the Bible, is one of the most beautiful and masterful pieces of literature ever penned. The modern translations simply cannot match the KJV for majesty and splendor. I won’t always be quoting from the KJV in my synopses of each psalm, but when I don’t, I’ll probably have lost something magical and inspiring.

I hope our trip through these 150 songs will motivate the reader to want to spend more time meditating on “the law of the Lord” (Psalm 1:2). It is the best way to guard us from sin (Psalm 119:11).