2014 GCTS Biblejourney Winter Term

2014 GCTS BibleJourney – Winter Term

The Mission of the People of God in the Promised Land: Interpreting the Historical & Poetic Books

6. (2/27) Psalms

Readings: Psalms; Arnold/Beyer chps. 19 & 21; Grasping God’s Word chp. 20 (credit students) or Journey Into God’s Word chp. 15 (audit students) Recommended: Out of the Depths (B. Anderson); How to Read the Bible for all its Worth (G. Fee & D. Stuart) Praise and Lament in the Psalms (C. Westermann)

In the Text

“Poetry” and the “poetical books” (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs)

Images and figures of speech

Structural features

Parallelism

Synonymous:

The heavens declare the glory of God; The firmament proclaims his handiwork. (Ps. 19:1)

Antithetic:

Hatred stirs up strife; Love covers all offences. (Prov. 10:12)

Synthetic:

Better is a little that the righteous have than the abundance of the wicked. (Ps. 37:16)

Chiasm

Praise the Lord (a) With the lyre (b) With the 10-stringed harp (b’) Make melody to him (a’) (Ps 33:2)

1 Psalm 103

1-5 Exhortation to bless (a) 6-7 Gracious goodness (b) 8 Merciful goodness(c) 9 Sparing goodness (d) 10 Pardoning goodness (e) 11-13 Pardoning goodness (e’) 14-16 Sparing goodness (d’) 17-18 Merciful goodness (c’) 19 Glorious goodness (b’) 20-22 Exhortation to bless (a’)

Acrostic (119)

Psalm types

Laments

Address, Complaint, Trust, Deliverance, Assurance, Praise

Individual (e.g., 3, 22, 31, 39, 42, 57, 71, 120, 139, 142)

Community (e.g., 12, 44, 80, 94, 137)

Penitential (51)

Imprecatory (137, 139))

Trust (11, 16, 23, 27, 62, 63, 91, 121, 125, 131)

Hymns of praise

For God the Creator (e.g., 8, 19, 104, 148)

For the God of Israel (e.g., 66, 100, 111, 114, 149)

For the Lord of history (e.g., 33, 103, 113, 117, 145-147)

Thanksgiving

2 Introduction, Distress, Appeal, Deliverance, Testimony

Individual (18, 30, 32, 34, 40, 66, 92, 116, 118, 138; cf. Jonah 2)

Community (65, 67, 75, 107, 124, 136)

Historical (78, 105, 106, 135, 136; cf. Exodus 15, Judges 5)

Royal (2, 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 144)

Enthronement (14, 19, 47, 93, 95-99)

Zion (46, 48, 76, 84, 87, 122)

Wisdom (36, 37, 49, 73, 112, 127, 128, 133)

Torah (1, 19, 119)

Psalm themes

Covenant

Creation

Sacrifice, praise, and worship

The five books of the Psalter (1-41; 42-72; 73-89; 90-106; 107-150)

3 Behind the Text

Music and worship in the ancient Near East (Canaan, Egypt, Babylon)

Themes in the Psalms

4 In Front of the Text

God’s sovereignty over nature and history

Place for honesty

Place for individual and community

Place for images and figurative language

Interpreting and using the psalms