The book of
Psalms is relational and personal, as it is in first-person speech.[1]
It is about a life of faith, in relationship with God.[2]
Brueggemann[3]
proposes that the sequence of orientation-disorientation-reorientation is a helpful
way to understand the use and function of the Psalms, as this is the movement of
our lives. Psalms of orientation teach clear, reliable retribution, in which
evil is punished and good is rewarded[4], eg.
creation hymns and wisdom psalms. Psalms of disorientation consists of laments,
both individual and corporate, where there is anger or resentment against the
one who has caused disorientation, and these psalms tend to move from petition
and plea to praise.[5]
The Psalms of reorientation are often hymns and songs of thanksgiving[6],
which reflect the human experience of exile and homecoming.[7]
Book1
(Ps1-41) tells the story of the “golden age” of ancient Israel, where David,
God’s chosen king, reigned.[8]
Book2
(Ps42-72) begins with a collection of the psalms of the Sons of Korah and marks
the beginning of what is known as Elohistic Psalter (P42-83). It consists
mainly of laments.[9]
Book3
(Ps73-89) opens with a query and concludes with a crisis.[10]
They reflect the events of the divided kingdom and ends in the despair of exile
with the destruction of the southern kingdom. Psalms of the community dominate
the book.[11]
Book4
(Ps90-106) reflects the time when the Israelites were in exile in Babylon, and
features Moses and God.[12]
Book5
(Ps107-150) covers the time period when Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return
to their own land[13]
and consists of a vast assortment of different psalms and themes.[14]
The Psalms and Christian theology (OT636 lecture week 13):
l God: All our theology ought to have a
doxological flavour: the end of our theology needs to end in prayer and praise
and a glorifying of God, or else it’s not true to the shape of God in the
psalter. How the psalter ends is how our theology ought to end.
l Creation and creator: God as sovereign creator.
God who provides life and breath to every creature. Eg. Job.
l Sin and salvation: Resistant vs repentant.
Responsiveness of those who are aware of their sins and asks God for
repentance. God who saves by way of forgiveness and removing the consequences
of sin. Ps107 is a good example. Salvation of the psalms is much bigger than
deliverance from sin. It is deliverance from all harm, the notion of shalom.
Salvation is a broad category.
l God and history: Kingship of God, and God is
engaged in history. Lots of forces through which people are saved are
historical forces.
l The nature and history of the people of God:
People of God are also addressed in the history: Ps104, 106. People of God:
those who enjoy the favour of God.
l Individual and community before God: Both
individual and communal relationship are important. Who we are as a person is
shaped by the community which we are a part of. This is why Ps1 frames the
blessedness of the righteous as it does, as the “company” which the righteous
do not keep.
l God’s kingly rule: Fundamental to the psalms
and for the gospel. The good news which the gospel is proclaiming is the gospel
of the kingdom of God, or kingdom of heaven in Matthews. The character of the
kingdom: shalom when God’s kingdom break into the world, reconciliation to God;
the spiritual forces that oppress the people of God being broken and cast out.
Body and relationships restored. A world that seems to rise up against the
purposes of God is brought to submission. The nations raging against Yahweh and
Yahweh’s anointed, much of which happens in Israel.
l God and the future
l Theology (and life) as doxology: We start with
God and end with praise. All done in the presence before God. It ought to be
done on our knees and with a song. Therefore, the psalms play a crucial role in
our lives.
[1] Nasuti, “God at Work in the Word,” 36.
[2] Jacobson and Jacobson. Invitation
to the Psalms, 149.
[3] Walter Brueggemann, “The Psalms and the Life of Faith: A Suggested Typology
of Function,” in Soundings in the
Theology of Psalms: Perspectives and Methods in Contemporary Scholarship,
ed. Rolf A. Jacobson, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2011), 5.
[4] Brueggemann, “The Psalms and the Life of Faith,” 6.
[5] Brueggemann, “The Psalms and the Life of Faith,” 7.
[6] Brueggemann, “The Psalms and the Life of Faith,” 9.
[7] Brueggemann, “The Psalms and the Life of Faith,” 25.
[8] Nancy DeClaisse-Walford, Introduction
to the Psalms: A Song from Ancient Israel (St Louis: Chalice Press, 2004),
59.
[9] DeClaisse-Walford, Introduction
to the Psalms, 75.
[10] Brown, Psalms, 121.
[11] DeClaisse-Walford, Introduction
to the Psalms, 85.
[12] DeClaisse-Walford, Introduction
to the Psalms, 99.
[13] DeClaisse-Walford, Introduction
to the Psalms, 113.
[14] Brown, Psalms, 128.
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