Psalms Study Guide Ebook

Biblical Study Guide Enter the Bible: Psalms
Table of Contents
Intro to the Psalms........................................................................................................................... 3
Summary of Psalms ................................................................................................................... 3
Background of Psalms.............................................................................................................. 5
Theological Themes in Psalms ........................................................................................... 6
Study of people in the Psalms ............................................................................................... 10
David ................................................................................................................................................... 10
Melchizedek...................................................................................................................................... 11
Solomon.............................................................................................................................................. 11
Psalms Study ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Lament Psalms ............................................................................................................................. 12
Psalms for Praising .................................................................................................................... 18
Psalm 23 – The Lord Is My Shepherd ............................................................................ 18
Conclusion of Study Guide ..................................................................................................... 24
A Psalm Transfigured ............................................................................................................. 24
luthersem.edu page 2
Intro to the Psalms

Summary of Psalms
Summary
The book of Psalms contains the prayers, hymns, and meditations of Israel, 150 of
them now gathered in a collection that includes joyful songs of praise and
thanksgiving as well as sad songs of lamentation and distress. The prayers and
songs are addressed to God, usually either pleading for help or bearing witness to
God’s gracious acts on behalf of God’s people, which is an important function of
Israel’s praise. Because of the scope of human emotion and divine activity in the
psalms, believers in every generation have found them applicable to their own life
and worship.
So What?
The psalms have served believers in every generation as a biblical source of prayer
and praise and as models for their own response to God. The book is an invaluable
resource for worship. The people of God have also heard God addressing them in
the psalms, as the prayers and hymns bear witness to the nature and work of God.
The Psalter is unique, bringing together human word and word of God in an
inseparable unity.
Where Do I Find It?
Countless generations of children were taught to find the book of Psalms by

opening their Bibles “in the middle,” and this often works. In Christian Bibles, Psalms
is the nineteenth book of the Old Testament; it comes between Job and Proverbs in
a collection of “writings” (Esther Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of
Solomon ) that fall between the historical books and the prophets.
Who Wrote It?
Many of the psalms are said in their titles to be “of David,” who was remembered by
the tradition as a musician and patron of Israel’s worship. Still, because of their
wide-ranging historical backgrounds, it is not possible for David himself to have
written all the psalms ascribed to him. The psalms were written or gathered from
other sources by the temple priests and associated with David as the great singer
of Israel (1 Chronicles 16:7, 37-43; Sirach 47:8-10).
When Was It Written?
Psalms were written and collected throughout the history of ancient Israel. Moses
and Miriam sang at the sea (Exodus 15:1-21), and the title of Psalm 30 (“A Song at the
dedication of the temple”) probably indicates its use at the dedication (Hanukkah)
of the temple after the Macabbean revolt (164 B.C.E.). The book of Psalms contains
prayers and songs from every period of Israel’s history.
What’s It About?
The book of Psalms is the hymnbook or prayer book of the Bible, containing 150
poems, addressed to God and varying widely in content and tone; included are
cries of lament, shouts of praise, and other liturgies and meditations on Israel’s life
before God.
How Do I Read It?
The psalms are, first and foremost, poems and should be read as such–enjoying
the figurative and metaphorical language, the emotional and rhythmic character,
and the expansive and evocative style that invite the reader, as Martin Luther said,
to “find in it [the Psalter] also yourself…as well as God himself and all creatures”
(Luther’s Works 35:257). Second, the psalms are poems that were, for the most part,
meant to be sung; they are the hymns and liturgies of the temple from which we
learn about Israel’s worship and which now serve as elements of present worship.
Third, these poems and prayers have been read since antiquity for meditation and
instruction, by individuals and communities. They continue to offer solace–
providing words of comfort and hope, lamentation and praise.
Background of Psalms
The book of Psalms contains songs and prayers collected over the life of Israel. Some
seem ancient and reflect rites and ceremonies from the earliest days (for example,
Psalm68). Others apparently cry out over the destruction of Jerusalem by the
Babylonians in 587 B.C.E. (for example, Psalm 74), while yet others know of the return
from Babylon (538 B.C.E.) and the life of the postexilic community (for example,
Psalm 107). The collection process continued even into the intertestamental period,
as indicated by the inclusion of Psalm 151 in the Septuagint (Greek Old Testament)
and Psalms 151-155 in the Dead Sea scrolls. In other words, the book of Psalms reflects
many authors, collectors, and revisers throughout Israel’s history.
The titles or superscripts of the various psalms are generally thought to be added
late in the process of collection. Most frequently, they indicate liturgical and musical
information, often thought to reflect the worship of the Second Temple (after 515
B.C.E.). The duties and divisions of priests described in 1 Chronicles probably comes
from this postexilic period as well, and many of those “in charge of the service of
song in the house of the Lord” (1 Chronicles 6:31) are named both in Chronicles and in
the psalm titles. This no doubt accurately reflects a significant role of the priests in
the authorship, gathering, and singing of psalms.
While the psalms reflect Israel’s temple worship and assume some knowledge of the
activities there, they also assume a relation to the life of David and Israel’s sacred
history. Songs (or psalms) are included often in the historical material of the Bible
(for example, the song of Moses and Miriam in Exodus 15:1-21; the song of Deborah in
Judges 5:1-31; the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2:1-10). Psalm 18 occurs both in the
Psalter and in its assumed historical context, 2 Samuel 22:2-51. Israel turned to God in
song and prayer in response to God’s steadfast love shown in Israel’s history.
As written in a book, the psalms became also a basis for meditation and instruction.
They could now be read and prayed apart from formal worship and thus received
another important function, especially in the synagogue. First used as songs and
prayers addressed to God, they came to be received as part of Holy Scripture,
bringing God’s word to God’s people. Psalm 1’s counsel to “meditate” on God’s law
“day and night” already reflects this use.
Theological Themes in Psalms

Bonhoeffer on the Psalms
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the theologian martyred by the Nazis in 1945, used the psalms
regularly in his own devotional life and with his students at the Finkenwalde
seminary of the anti-Nazi Confessing Church. He wrote: “Whenever the Psalter is
abandoned, an incomparable treasure is lost to the Christian church. With its
recovery will come unexpected power” (Life Together; Prayerbook of the Bible
[Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005] 162). Bonhoeffer understood the psalms to be given to
Christians as the prayers of Christ.
Christ and the Psalms
Jesus died with psalms on his lips, quoting from or referring directly to Psalm 22
(Mark 15:34), Psalm 31 (Luke 23:46), and Psalm 69 (John 19:28). On Holy Thursday,
Jesus and the disciples left for the Mount of Olives after “they had sung the hymn”
(Mark 14:26), which was certainly a psalm. As faithful Jews, Jesus and the disciples
regularly sang and prayed the psalms. The New Testament repeatedly uses verses
from the psalms to describe or interpret the ministry of Jesus.
Enemies
Many of the psalms include prayers against “enemies,” often sounding so harsh
that present readers are shocked or repulsed. Sometimes the pray-er asks God for
protection in the face of enemies (69:14); sometimes the petition is for retribution
against them (69:23-29). The enemies are sometimes close and personal (41:5, 9);
sometimes they are public and political–enemies of the people (74:4, 22-23) or of
the king (45:5).
“Glory be to the Father.…”
Over the centuries, many Christians have ended their use of psalms in worship with
a doxology: “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.” This brief
hymn serves as a witness to the trinitarian understanding of God in the Christian
community–the God to whom they believe the psalms bear witness. Christians do
not thereby deny that they have “borrowed” the psalms from the Jewish people of
God, who continue to pray them regularly and faithfully, but Christian believers
acknowledge the gift of the psalms to them through Christ.
The hiddenness of God
Many of the psalms cry in distress over the perceived hiddenness, absence, or
silence of God (for example, 13:1; 22:1-2)–a significant element of the lament psalms.
Although the psalmists confess God’s faithfulness and steadfast love (25:10), they
recognize that sometimes God seems far off.
The king in the Psalms
Many psalms speak directly about Israel’s earthly king, sometimes called the
“anointed” one (Hebrew: messiah) (2; 18; 20; 21; 72; 89; 101; 110; 132; 144). Many
mention David in the headings. These references show that the king played a major
role in the worship life of Israel, not just the political life (“temple” and “palace” are
the same word in Hebrew). The role of the king gives the psalms a messianic
orientation, making them part of the biblical literature that looks forward to the
future in messianic hope.
Luther on the Psalms
For Martin Luther, Holy Scripture proclaims Jesus Christ, and the Psalter was no
exception. “It promises Christ’s death and resurrection so clearly,” he wrote, “…that it
might well be called a little Bible….I have a notion that the Holy Spirit wanted to take
the trouble himself to compile a short Bible…so that anyone who could not read the
whole Bible would here have anyway almost an entire summary of it, comprised in
one little book.” Unique to the Psalter, however, is that one can find there not only
Christ but also oneself: “Everyone, in whatever situation he may be, finds in that
situation psalms and words that fit his ease, that suit him as if they were put there
just for his sake, so that he could not have put it better himself.” So, Luther said, in
the Psalter “you have a fine, bright, pure mirror that will show you what Christendom
is. Indeed you will find in it also yourself…as well as God himself and all creatures”
(Luther’s Works, vol. 35 [Philadelphia: Muhlenberg, 1960] 253-257.)
The name of God
Almost one hundred times, the psalms praise or appeal to the “name” of God.
Psalm 75:1 understands why: “We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your
name is near.” Israel worships at the temple because that is where God has
promised to be present for them (Deuteronomy 16:11).
The New Testament and Psalms
Many Christians have carried pocket versions of “The New Testament and Psalms.”
This unique connection of one particular Old Testament book with the New
Testament marks the importance of the book of Psalms for the Christian church.
The book was the prayer book and hymnbook of ancient Israel, and it has taken
over that same function for Christians.
Prophetic critique of worship
On many occasions, the Old Testament prophets condemned worship when it

became hypocritical or manipulative, as though acts and words could themselves
secure God’s favor apart from faith and service; sometimes, this critique apparently
condemned even the use of psalms (Amos 5:21-24). Based on this, some students
of the Old Testament have suggested a sharp distinction between the religion of
the prophets and that of the priests, but the psalms themselves include the same
kind of critique of false worship (Psalm 50:7-15; Psalm 51:15-17).
The psalms as word of God
Unique among biblical literature, the book of Psalms, virtually in its entirety, is
directed “upward” toward God rather than “downward” from God to humans.
Though the individual psalms are songs and prayers addressed to God, the reader
or hearer can find in this address testimony to the nature and work of God. Because
they proclaim God, the psalms, once gathered into a book, can be read for
meditation and inspiration; they can serve as texts for preaching and even function
prophetically, pointing forward, for example, to the work of God in Christ (see, for
example, Mark 12:35-37; Hebrews 2:5-9).
Sacrifice in the psalms
Many of the psalms make reference to sacrificial offerings–animal sacrifices (20:3),

cups of libation (drink offerings, 116:13), or offerings of thanksgiving (50:23) and
prayer (141:2). Psalms like these, no doubt, were sung to accompany sacrificial
offerings in the temple. Sacrifice was done in a spirit of giving, along with prayer
and praise, signs of faith in the grace of God.
Sheol (the Pit)
Several psalms pray for deliverance from Sheol or the Pit. Sheol was understood as
the abode of the dead–not “hell” as the destiny of the wicked, but the place of all
the dead, good or evil; the Pit was a synonym for Sheol or for the grave. For ancient
Israel, death was the end of life worthy of the name, for in Sheol there was no
relationship with God (6:5; 30:9). Psalm 139’s confession that “if I make my bed in
Sheol, you are there” (v. 8) seems to be something of a breakthrough, recognizing
there is no place cut off from God’s presence.
The soul
There are 144 occurrences in the Psalter of the Hebrew word for “soul” (nefesh). In
the Bible, the “soul” is not something that exists apart from the body, but is rather
the “self,” that which is most particularly and most fully “me”–all of “me,” including
body, soul, and spirit. This frequent use of “soul” calls attention to the deeply
personal character of the psalms.
The steadfast love of God
While the psalmists know well the troubles of human existence and the experience
of God’s distance or anger, finally they give thanks for the enduring presence of
God’s “steadfast love.” The Hebrew term (khesedh) refers to God’s faithfulness and
loyalty. Israel can rely on God’s goodness and kindness, because this is who God
has promised to be. The term occurs more than 120 times in the book of Psalms.
Study of people in the

Psalms
David
Second king of Israel, David united the northern and southern kingdoms.
David, a shepherd, was the son of Jesse of Bethlehem. He was anointed by Samuel
to be successor to Saul who was first king of the united Israel. David entered Saul’s
service as a musician, but when David defeated Goliath, the Philistine champion,
Saul became jealous. Soon Saul tried to kill David, but Saul’s son Jonathan, who was
David’s close friend, helped him to escape. David lived as an outlaw for a time.
Once Saul entered a cave where David was hiding. Instead of killing Saul, David
secretly clipped off the corner of Saul’s robe, showing his loyalty to the king.
Eventually, Saul died in battle with the Philistines, the men of Judah made David
their king.
After winning a war against the followers of Saul’s son, David was chosen as ruler by
all the tribes of Israel. His reign began in 1000 BC. He captured Jerusalem and made
it his capital. David broke the Philistine power, united the country, brought the Ark of
the Covenant to Jerusalem, and established Jerusalem as the religious center. He
committed adultery with Bathsheba, but repented. He was forced to flee from
Jerusalem when his son Absalom rebelled, but when Absalom was killed, David
grieved deeply. Shortly before David died, he indicated that his son Solomon should
succeed him on the throne. God promised David that one of his sons would always
be on the throne, and the New Testament finds this promise fulfilled in Jesus.
Melchizedek
The priest-king of Salem encountered by Abraham
Melchizedek was king of Salem and a priest of God. After Abraham defeated the
invading kings who had captured his nephew Lot, he met Melchizedek, who blessed
him. Psalm 110 referred to a king who would be “a priest forever after the order of
Melchizedek.” The book of Hebrews speaks of the priesthood of Christ on the basis
of these texts.
Solomon
Third king of Israel who was known for wisdom and building the first Temple
Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba. He came to the throne aided by his
mother, Nathan the prophet, and Zadok the priest. Solomon prayed for wisdom and
became famous for his wise sayings. He built the first Temple in Jerusalem using
forced labor and materials obtained from Hiram of Tyre. Solomon solidified his
power by marriage alliances with other kingdoms. These marriages eventually led
to the establishment of pagan shrines in Jerusalem.
Psalms Study
Lament Psalms
Psalm 6 – Be Gracious to Me, O Lord,

for I Am Languishing
Bible Text
Psalm 6
Summary
This is a typical individual lament psalm in which the pray-er cries out to God for
relief and experiences God’s gracious response.
Analysis
The laments regularly begin with an address to God. Often, especially in the
individual laments, this is only a brief invocation (“O Lord” in verses 1, 2a, 2b, 3, 4);
sometimes, especially in the laments of the community, it is quite extended (“Give
ear, O Shepherd of Israel, you who lead Joseph like a flock! You who are enthroned
upon the cherubim…”; 80:1). The address is not a mere formality but a confession
that God is the one who hears and responds to prayer, that the pray-ers have
come to the right place. Unlike therapy–which, of course, has its good and proper
place–the lament psalms do not scream into a vacuum or pour out their troubles
to a trusted friend or counselor, but cry out to the God whom they know to be one
with the power and inclination to act.
In the laments, the psalmists regularly complain of troubles in their relationship with
God (“while you, O Lord–how long?”; v. 3), with themselves (“My soul also is struck
with terror”; v. 3), or with the other (“…because of all my foes”; v. 7). These interrelate:
if I am in pain or sorrow, my relationship with God and others will often suffer; if I am
unjustly attacked by others, my self-confidence and my sense of God’s presence
will often be adversely affected.
Sometimes the psalms lament the hiddenness of God (see Theological Themes).
The various uses of “hide” demonstrate the paradox of the psalmists’ experience.
Though the pray-er might call upon God to “hide” him or her “in the shadow of
[God’s] wings” (17:8), the same pray-er sometimes fears that God is so fully hidden
that death seems imminent (143:7). Pray-ers sometimes hope God will not hide
God’s face from them (27:9); other times they hope God will hide God’s face from
their sins (51:9). The experience of the psalmists is real, never made prettier than life
to make it “acceptable” for the Bible. The psalmist knows that God is always to be
trusted (22:24), but God’s people also know that God can never be taken for
granted to provide exactly what they desire, when they desire it (44:24).
Following the various laments and complaints, psalms of this type turn to petition,
perhaps the heart of the prayer, in which the pray-er asks God to intervene (“Turn,
O Lord, save my life”; v. 4). The psalms trust in a God who can and will see, hear, and
deliver God’s people in times of distress. They know such deliverance is not
guaranteed, but they pray because they know God desires their well-being.
The petition, like the address, is closely related to the confession of trust that occurs
in many of these psalms (see, for example, 13:5–“But I trusted in your steadfast love;
my heart shall rejoice in your salvation”). This trust is implied in Psalm 6 in the
reference to God’s steadfast love (v. 4) and in the appeal to deliverance from
death, desired by neither the pray-er nor God, for there the relationship with God is
cut off (v. 5).
Most often, the laments contain a turn in which the psalmist vows to praise God in
anticipation of or because of deliverance (13:6); sometimes the psalm now offers
that praise by bearing witness to God’s deliverance (6:8-10). Sometimes the turn
comes because a priest or prophet promises God’s intervention (12:5; 60:6-8; 1
Samuel 1:17). As poetry and liturgy, the psalms compress experience and time into a
few verses of language. We do not know whether the healing for which Psalm 6
prayed (v. 2) came as sudden surprise or over a period of time, perhaps with
medical attention; but in either case, the pray-er attributes that healing to God (v. 9).
Psalms 88-89 – My Companions Are in Darkness…

I Will Sing of Your Steadfast Love
Bible Text
Psalms 88-89
Summary
A time of bleak lament (Psalm 88) is followed by a great hymn of praise for God’s
mighty acts in creation and history (Psalm 89).
Analysis
Psalms 88 and 89 seem to be a deliberate psalm pair. According to their titles, they
are the only two Ezrahite psalms in the Psalter. They are the final two psalms of Book
III, a book still characterized largely by laments. The darkest of these is Psalm 88, but
Psalm 89 closes the book with praise of God, who sustains the creation and who
elects David to be the messianic king.
Whereas the lament psalms typically turn at the end to an experience of hope and
a vow of praise, Psalm 88 does not. It begins “at night,” crying out to God (v. 1), and
it ends “in darkness,” the psalmist shunned by friends and neighbors (v. 18). There is
no bright moment in the psalm other than the psalmist’s morning prayer that
continues, even if as yet unanswered (v. 13).
One value of Psalm 88 is its brutal honesty. Not all prayer is quickly answered; not
all distress has a happy outcome. If all the psalms ended “happily ever after,” the
Psalter would be a less believable book. All those who remain in darkness despite
faith and prayer find their voice in Psalm 88.
Yet the community of God’s people knows more about God than any one of God’s
people, and this is represented by the editor of the book putting Psalms 88 and 89
back to back. The problems of Psalm 88 are not “fixed”; its vision remains bleak. But
the community sings Psalm 89 in response, reminding the pray-er of 88 that God’s
“steadfast love is established forever” (89:2), that God’s covenant with David
remains in effect (vv. 3-4), that the chaotic threats to God’s creation remain at bay
(vv. 8-14). True, even David’s kingdom knows distress (vv. 38-48)–perhaps
reflecting Book III’s remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem in 587 B.C.E.–but
finally the psalm and the book close with a call to God also to remember and to act
on Israel’s behalf (vv. 49-51).
Psalm 22 – My God, My God, Why Have You

Forsaken Me?
Bible Text
Psalm 22
Summary
This lament psalm is unique both in its description of the depths of distress and in
the expansive praise following the experience of God’s help.
Analysis
The first part of the psalm is a typical lament in form (vv. 1-21a), but hardly typical in
the picture it paints of suffering and despair. The poet feels forsaken by God (vv. 1-2),
less than human (v. 6), and under attack from all sides (vv. 7-8, 12-13, 16-18). The
pray-er’s faith (v. 2) and body (vv. 14-15) are both shaken to the breaking point.
The psalm was prayed first by sufferers in ancient Israel, and then it provided words
for Jesus’ own prayer from the cross (Mark 15:34). In fact, the psalm’s description of
suffering colors the entire scene of the crucifixion in the Gospels. Jesus is seen to
embody fully the innocent suffering described in Psalm 22 and other psalms.
Despite feeling forsaken in the moment, the pray-er has nowhere to turn but to God,
remembering God’s care for Israel in the past (vv. 3-5) and his or her own personal
experiences of God’s loving protection (vv. 9-11). Memory serves faith when present
terror calls it into question, and memory is supported when God’s people pray this
and other psalms. The voice of one generation provides words and meaning for
another.
Experiencing God’s helping hand, the psalmist turns to praise, also typical of the
lament psalms, though here the praise section, too, goes beyond that found in other
psalms of this type. Typically, the pray-er promises to bear witness in the
congregation to God’s goodness (vv. 22-26). But this psalm goes farther, announcing
that “all the ends of the earth” shall turn to God because of God’s saving love–
including even those “who sleep in the earth” and “people yet unborn” (vv. 27-31).
Only the most amazing gift of God’s salvation could engender such response, which
makes this psalm particularly appropriate for the New Testament to use in
announcing that God “has done it” (v. 31) in the gift of God’s Son Jesus.
Psalms for Praising
Psalm 23 – The Lord Is My Shepherd

Bible Text
Psalm 23
Summary
Because God is a faithful shepherd and protector, the psalmist is confident that life
will be filled with goodness and mercy.
Analysis
Psalm 23 has been called one of the psalms of trust in which pray-ers proclaim
their confidence in the goodness of God despite the very real difficulties of present
experience (see also Psalms 11; 27:1-6; 91; 121). Because of this reliance on God even
in the midst of distress, these psalms mirror Paul’s understanding that the believer
walks by faith rather than by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
The image of God in the first part of the psalm (vv. 1-4) is the shepherd–the one
who faithfully leads and tends the flock (see also 28:9 and 80:1). Similarly, God’s
people are God’s sheep, kept and protected by the Lord (also 95:7; 100:3).
Sometimes in the Psalms it is not particularly a good thing to be a sheep–sheep are
vulnerable (44:11) and go astray (119:176)–but here the image is positive, depicting
one of God’s beloved creatures. The good or loving shepherd–a royal image as well
as a pastoral one–will become one of the most enduring and comforting pictures
of God and Jesus in the Bible (Isaiah 40:11; John 10:11, 14).
The mood of Psalm 23 is hardly idyllic. This is no fantasy world where all is sweetness
and light. The psalmist fears no evil–though evil is real–even in the midst of the
darkest valley (or the valley of the shadow of death), only because of God’s care.
The psalm moves in part two to a different picture (vv. 5-6). Now God is host at a
meal, providing overflowing blessing, goodness, and mercy, even though here, too,
real enemies remain. The scene may be of the meal associated with the thank-
offering in the temple. It is one of many biblical texts that portray life with God as a
banquet of abundance, where cups overflow (v. 5) and twelve baskets of leftovers
remain (Mark 6:43).
Psalm 30 – You Have Turned My Mourning

into Dancing
Bible Text
Psalm 30
Summary
The psalmist thanks God for help and healing when he or she was at the brink of death.
Analysis
This is one of the songs of thanksgiving in which the pray-er rejoices and gives
thanks for having been delivered by God out of distress. These psalms are the other
side of the coin of the laments, reporting God’s gracious response to the petitions in
time of need. They may have been sung to accompany a thanksgiving sacrifice
made at the temple. However, the present heading of Psalm 30 relates a different
setting: “A Song at the dedication of the temple.” Since the word for “dedication” is
Hanukkah, the psalm, once about individual healing, was apparently picked up to
rejoice in victory over the Greeks and the cleansing of the temple at the time of the
Maccabean revolt in the second century B.C.E.
The psalm begins with a brief summary of the time of distress, the prayer at that
time, and the experience of God’s help (vv. 1-3). Apparently the poet had been near
death, but has now been restored to health.
The singer invites the community to join his or her praise (vv. 4-5). For Israel, the
delivery of one was the delivery of all. This particular renewal becomes a sign of
God’s gracious favor, which gives rise to the praise of all.
This song is unique in remembering the pray-er’s earlier self-satisfaction (vv. 6-7).
In saying, “I shall never be moved,” this poet is identified with the pride of the wicked
(10:5-6), those who seem to prosper despite their arrogance and oppression. But
God will not let this one alone. Strangely, distress and illness become a time for
reassessment of life and return to God (vv. 8-10). The psalm here is descriptive; the
poet reports that the time of trouble turned out to be a gift through which he or she
found renewal. Neither then nor now should one turn this into a principle that sees
all trouble caused by God for our good. Maybe (as was the case for this pray-er);
maybe not (as the poet laments in Psalm 88).
Now, with God’s intervention, the poet who once thought all was well because of
material prosperity discovers what it means to be truly well (vv. 11-12). This is true
joy, the experience of full life in the presence of God. Characteristically for psalms of
this type, the singer cannot be silent. He or she gives thanks, telling what God has
done. Praise becomes witness, and these psalms function as testimony to the
goodness of God (see also Psalm 40:3).
Psalm 98 – Sing to the Lord a New Song

Bible Text
Psalm 98
Summary
All are called to sing and make music in praise of the Lord–including even the seas,
floods, and hills.
Analysis
This is one of a group of songs that announce and praise the kingly rule of God.
Many contain the sentence “The Lord is king” or something quite like it (Psalms 93;
95; 96; 97; 99), which has caused many scholars to think they were sung at a
festival (perhaps in the fall) announcing anew God’s enthronement and
celebrating God’s rule. Whether or not that is true, this group of psalms does give
praise to God as the ruler and righteous judge of all the earth.
God’s rule deserves to be celebrated, precisely because God alone judges with
complete righteousness and equity (v. 9). So, everyone and everything sings
praises, plays lyres, trumpets, and horns, and makes a joyful noise before the Lord
(vv. 4-6). Even the sea roars, the floods clap their hands, and the hills sing for joy.
Under righteous rule, everything prospers (people and all creatures), so everything
joins in praise.
Psalm 34:8 – O Taste and See That the Lord

Is Good
Bible Text
Psalm 34:8
Summary
The psalmist is so certain of God’s goodness that he or she can taste it.
Analysis
This verse lies within a song of thanksgiving that seeks to teach everyone to “fear”
God and thus to “have no want” (v. 9). The psalms frequently urge the “fear of the
Lord,” and the parallelism of Psalm 33:8 helps us understand what that means: “Let
all the earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.”
To fear God is to stand in awe of God–the appropriate response of creatures who
know that they are not themselves gods. Still, one need not be in terror of the God of
the Bible, for God is good–so good you can taste it, says the psalmist. Many
Christians speak this verse as an invitation to Holy Communion, for in the
sacrament, above all, they understand that one can “taste” the goodness of God.
Those who fear God “have no want,” says the psalm. Countless psalms make clear
that believers, too, suffer; but the psalms know that with God suffering can be
endured and finally overcome. At last, there will be “no want” at all, and, in the
meantime, “Better is a little that the righteous person has than the abundance of
many wicked” (Psalm 37:16).
Conclusion of Study Guide

A Psalm Transfigured
Grace has the power to transfigure a divine surveillance
psalm into a love song
I’d long thought of it as the Divine Surveillance Psalm: “You have searched me and
known me/ You know when I sit down and when I rise up … Even before a word is
one my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely.” I didn’t want to be that well-known
by anyone. If you’re supposed to keep your friends close and your enemies closer, I
wanted to keep my secrets closest of all.
When a spiritual director assigned me Psalm 139 to reflect on for the beginning of a
year-long retreat, I balked. “I have a bad history with this one,” I protested. “Give me
something else.” She replied, nodding, “Everyone starts here. Explore your
resistance.”
So what was my resistance? I wanted a psalm that talked about God, not to God.
There are plenty of them. Psalm 100 speaks of “the Lord,” as in “Make a joyful noise
to the Lord, all you lands.” Psalm 18 affirms “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my
deliverer, … my rock in whom I take refuge.” As a trained theologian, I was far more
comfortable talking about God than to God. I wanted to keep the divine mystery
mysterious and at arm’s length, safely in third-person singular.
Moreover, I wanted a psalm spoken by a group. There’s safety in numbers, and I

gravitated toward psalms that used “we,” psalms voiced from a community or
spoken to a community. “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like
those who dream…,” Psalm 126 begins. It concludes with the community bossing
God around: “Restore our fortunes…” As a Lutheran Christian, I was used to
conversation with, about, and to God happening in the midst of the congregation of
the faithful, the congregatio fidelium. If God had to be addressed directly, better to
be able to hide in a crowd.
I returned to my spiritual director better acquainted with the psalter as a whole and
armed with many and various ways in which the psalms talk about God. I have
plenty of suggestions for alternative psalms that might go down easier in my
prayer life.
My director nodded solemnly at my new-found erudition—and added a few forms

of address to the Lord that I’d forgotten, for in her day job she taught law and was
an expert in reading texts. She sent me home again with Psalm 139. She did this
week after week, until it was clear that my chief barrier was the psalmist’s repeated
use of two words, “I” and “You.”
Then, I had to work on the relationship I had always assumed existed between
those two words. As a hyper-conscientious, responsible, hard-working person, I was
pretty sure God wouldn’t need to bother with me unless I were doing something
wrong. The only relationship possible between “I” and “you” was scrutiny. Above all, I
wanted to avoid that. No wonder, I regarded Psalm 139 as a divine surveillance
psalm!
I remember presenting this all to my director, who smiled and said, “if you can’t
understand how much God loves you, stay with this psalm until you do.” I was stuck
with the psalm I feared the most, and it was stuck with me.
But my director had also offered a key to unlocking the psalm, should I dare to pick
it up. That key would not only open Psalm 139, but the whole of the psalter. What if
these were words of love, spoken by a lover to the beloved? The psalm began to
make a different kind of sense. Because, like everyone, I wanted to be known—right
down to the deepest secret—and loved because of and in spite of it. I wanted
someone to know my thoughts better than I did. I wanted someone to notice when I
went missing. I wanted someone to weep with me, to laugh with me, to pull me out
of the pits of darkness into which I constantly stumbled—or even dug for myself.
Words that once threatened suddenly offered womb-like consolation, “even

darkness is not dark to you; the night is as bright as the day” (verse 11). If someone
this close and this loving had “knit me together in my mother’s womb” (verse 13),
there might be a way back to my best self. And, while I had and still have trouble
with the verses of the psalm that speak about the wicked (verses 19-22), I like being
given permission to hate them “with a perfect hatred” and then given the
assurance that God will deal with them. I don’t have to.
As I worked through the psalm, week after week, committing it to memory and
saying it when I was frightened or lonely or awake in the night, gradually, the
psalmist’s voice became my own. The words gave voice to something I had always
known, but never had the language for.
And one day a very strange thing happened. Instead of beginning the psalm in my
voice with the word “you,” I found myself beginning with God’s. “I have searched you
and known you; I know when you sit down and when you rise up, I discern your
thoughts from afar …” The relationship between the words “I” and “you” had
become a relationship of intimacy—indeed, love.
Psalm 139 was a portal into the psalter as a whole, again, putting into words and
emotions I felt deeply but struggled to articulate. I wasn’t alone in this. When his
own words failed him, Jesus turned to Psalm 22 to cry out his anguish: “My God, my
God, why have you abandoned me … ” Through the psalter, I understand that before
God, nothing is off limits; all emotions are welcome: anger, love, longing, lament,
regret, sorrow, deep physical pain, and wild joy.
And it all started when grace transfigured a divine surveillance psalm into a love
song.

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Biblical Study Guide Enter the Bible: Psalms

Intro to the Psalms

Where Do I Find It?

Countless generations of children were taught to find the book of Psalms by

Who Wrote It?

When Was It Written?

How Do I Read It?

Theological Themes in Psalms

Christ and the Psalms

“Glory be to the Father.…”

The hiddenness of God

The king in the Psalms

Luther on the Psalms

The name of God

The New Testament and Psalms

Prophetic critique of worship

On many occasions, the Old Testament prophets condemned worship when it

The psalms as word of God

Sacrifice in the psalms

Many of the psalms make reference to sacrificial offerings–animal sacrifices (20:3),

Sheol (the Pit)

The steadfast love of God

Study of people in the

Psalm 6 – Be Gracious to Me, O Lord,

Psalms 88-89 – My Companions Are in Darkness…

Psalm 22 – My God, My God, Why Have You

Psalms for Praising

Psalm 23 – The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 30 – You Have Turned My Mourning

Psalm 98 – Sing to the Lord a New Song

Psalm 34:8 – O Taste and See That the Lord

Conclusion of Study Guide

Moreover, I wanted a psalm spoken by a group. There’s safety in numbers, and I

My director nodded solemnly at my new-found erudition—and added a few forms

Words that once threatened suddenly offered womb-like consolation, “even

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