Organizing the Psalms

Bonus! Today's discussion is also available on Youtube to listen to, click here to get the link.

There are several helpful ways the book of Psalms are organized. For starters, each Psalm is self contained. It's growing season in our part of the world, and as you drive you can see fields covered with growing crops. From a distance a field just appears to be a mass of green. Yet once you get a bit closer to the field, you are able to see the painstaking care and organization of each row of crops. 

What once looked like a disorganized sea of wild growth, upon closer inspection actually is a carefully coordinated farming masterpiece. The Psalms are like this. Upon first inspection and initial readings the organization is different from other books of the Bible, and the pattern of speech is not exactly common for us when we go to Walmart or our local restaurants. Yet as we read the Psalms and "take a closer look" we begin to see layers of carefully coordinated masterpieces which guide and give language to every range of experience in our lives as members of God's family. 

The book of Psalms is divided up into 5 "mini" books. 

Book 1: covers Psalms 1–41

Book 2: covers Psalms 42–72

Book 3: covers Psalms 73–89

Book 4: covers Psalms 90–106 

Book 5: covers Psalms 107–150

In each book of the Psalms you'll notice that there are ups and downs, ebbs and flows. Each book of the Psalms ends with a Psalm that includes a blessing towards God (or benediction as we might call them). The whole book of Psalms ends with Psalm 150 which is in every verse a call to bless God.

The Psalms use various sorts of methods to convey importance. In modern internet English, when we want to express that something is very important, we might underline a word, use CAPITAL letters, use a bold type font, or italicize a quote. In ancient Hebrew (the language the Psalms were originally written) there was no underlining, bold type font, or italicization. Instead the Psalms employ repetition, statements and then responses, questions and then silences, comparisons and contrasts, figures of speech, acrostics, chiasm, and more to convey significance and meaning. 

I say all this to encourage you, don't be shocked if you read one Psalm and it sounds VERY different from the next Psalm you read. Some of the Psalms were written by David around the year 1000BC, others of the Psalms were written during the exile of Israel in Babylon around the late 700sBC. The Psalms give us language from believers who experienced different lives, trials, joys, and laments. 

Despite the differences of the Psalms, they hold uniform the One God who is worthy of Praise. They proclaim the glorious wonders of the One God's majestic deeds. They stir up the believer to seek after God's Word and God's Ways. They give example after example in creation and life experiences of what it means to pursue the Righteous Holy God in all of life's circumstances. 

As promised earlier this week, here are some suggestions for your reading throughout the summer. They are categorized as "short", "medium" and "long" Psalms to help you gauge what to read while you have a few minutes on your own, at a meal with your family, or listening on a long commute. 

Later on this week I'll include some questions for you to consider as we begin to read through the Psalms this summer. 

Short Psalms:

1, 4, 8, 13, 23, 43, 82, 93, 100, 110, 117,121, 123, 131, 142, 150

Medium Psalms:

34, 40, 51, 90, 139, 

Long Psalms:

18, 37, 69, 78, 89, 105, 107, 119 (longest single section in the entire Bible! Psalm 119 is so long it's sub-divided by an acrostic into 22 subsections each one named after a letter in the Hebrew alphabet)