An Overview of the Book of Psalms
Authors of the Different Psalms: David (73), Solomon (2), Sons of Korah[1] (12), Asaph[2] (12), Heman[3] (1), and Ethan[4] (1)
Dates When the Psalms Were Written: 1446-931 BC
Outline of the Book of Psalms:
-Book 1 (1-41) -Book 2 (42-72) -Book 3 (73-89)
-Book 4 (90-106) -Book 5 (107-150)
The Types of Psalms
Praise. Talk excitedly about God and thank him. (Psalms 8, 19, 29, 30, 33, most of 36-51, 113-118, 120-136, 140-150.)
Lament. Plea to God to intervene in a crisis. Some lament psalms are individual and some are community. (Psalms 3, 5-7, 12-13, 22, 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 83, 85, 90, 102, 123, 126, 130, 137)
Messianic. Refer to the Messiah and the hope he brings. (Psalms 2, 8, 16, 22-24, 40-41, 45, 68-69, 72, 89, 102, 110, 118.)
Pilgrim. Sung while the Jews were traveling to Jerusalem for the national feast days. These are also called psalms of ascent. (Psalms 120-134).
Alphabetical. Several psalms are acrostic. Each verse or section begins with a different letter of the Hebrew alphabet. (Psalms 9, 10, 25, 34, 37, 110, 112, 119, 145.)
Wisdom. These overlap with the psalms of praise, but have a special emphasis on understanding. (Psalms 1, 10, 12, 15, 19, 32, 34, 36, 49, 50, 52, 53, 73, 78, 82, 91, 92, 94, 111, 112, 119, 119, 127, 128, 139.)
Imprecatory. These are often psalms of “prayer” that can be called “oracles of judgment.” In these psalms the author prays for God’s justice to prevail on earth. These are prayers that enemies (nations or individual people) would be overthrown. (Psalms 7, 35, 52, 48, 49, 59, 83, 109.
(This section adapted from Ken Hanna, From Moses to Malachi, (Nashville, TN: WestBow Press, 2015), 281-287).
Poetry in the Hebrew Scriptures
Hebrew poetry is not about rhyme of sound, but instead about rhyme of thought. Hebrew poetry consists of “parallelism” in which lines of controlled length normally work together in sets called “bicolon” (2 lines) or “tricolon” (3 lines). The lines normally work together thematically and harmonize with each other.[5] (There also is cadence and wordplay that occurs in Hebrew poetry, but that’s largely lost in English translations.) Parallelism is a “statement and restatement of the same basic truth in different words with great art, style, and imagery.”[6] All of this is done with structure and symmetry.
Synonymous (Iterative) Parallelism (Pss 2:3; 46:7; 103:6). The second line restates some or all of the first line in different words/images.
“Why are the nations in an uproar
And the peoples devising a vain thing?” ~ Pss 2:1
“O Lord, how my adversaries have increased!
Many are rising up against me.” ~ Psalm 3:1
Antithetic (Contrastive) Parallelism (Pss 1:6; 13:9; Prov 27:6). The second line affirms the truth of the first line in an opposite way.
“How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And [how blessed is the man who] has not turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.” ~ Psalm 4:4
Climatic Parallelism. The second line repeats part of the first line exactly and then adds a conclusion (Pss 22:4; 96:7).[7] These are rare.
Pss 29:1 ~ “Ascribe to the Lord, O sons of the mighty,
Ascribe to the Lord [O sons of the mighty] glory and strength.”
Synthetic (Completive) Parallelism (Pss 2:6; 104:27). The second line completes something introduced in the first line. The second line repeats the thought of the first line and then adds a conclusion.
“Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” ~ Psalm 95:6
[1] See Numbers 16; 26:9-11.
[2] See Ezra 2:41.
[3] See 1 Kings 4:31.
[4] See 1 Chronicles 15:19.
[5] Brian Webster, The Cambridge Introduction to Biblical Hebrew (Cambridge University Press, 2009), 296
[6] Mark Bailey, Bible Study Methods and Hermeneutics, BE101, DTS.
[7] Leland Ryken, Sweeter than Honey, Richer Than God (Weaver Book Company, 2015), 70–73.