The book of psalms – part 2

The book of psalms – part 2

In the previous post, we introduced the book of psalms and book one. in this post, we will be looking at books 2 through 5.

Book 2 opens with 2 poems that are united in their hope for a future return to the temple in Zion. This is an image closely associated with the hope of the messianic kingdom.

It closes with a poem that depicts the future reign of the messianic king over all of the nation.

This poem is really amazing because it echoes all these other passages from the prophets about the messianic kingdom and it concludes by saying that this king’s reign will bring about the fulfillment of God’s ancient promise to Abraham to bring God’s blessing to all of the nations.

The book of psalms – book 3

Book 3 also concludes with a poem reflecting on God’s promise David, but this time in light of Israel’s exile.

The poet remembers how God said he would never abandon the line of David. However, he’s now looking at Israel’s rebellion and its resulting destruction and exile and the downfall of the line of David and so the poet ends by asking God to never forget his promise to David.

The book of psalms – book 4

Book 4 is designed to respond to this crisis of exile so the opening poem returns us back to Israel’s roots with the prayer of Moses and he does what he did on Mount Sinai after the golden calf incident, which is to call upon God to show mercy.

The center of book 4 is dominated by a group of poems that announce that the Lord the God of Israel reigns as the true king of the world, and that all creation, trees, mountains, rivers are all summoned to celebrate that future day when God will bring his Justice and kingdom over all the world.

The book of psalms – book 5

Book 5 opens with a series of poems that affirm that God hears the cries of His people and will one day send the future king to defeat evil and bring God’s kingdom.

This book also contains 2 larger collections, 1 called the Hallel, and the other called the songs of Ascents.  Each 1 of these collections concludes with a poem about the future messianic kingdom.

These 2 collections together sustain the hope for a future Exodus-like act of God to redeem His people. Right between them is psalm 119 which is the longest poem in the book. It’s an alphabet poem.

Each line begins with a new letter of the Hebrew alphabet and it explores the wonder and the gift of the Torah as God’s word to His people so here we go.

The themes from psalms 1 and 2 – Torah and Messiah combine all together here in book 5 which brings us all the way back to that 5 poem conclusion.

Watch the video from Bible Project Here

Courtesy of Bible Project