As I’ve worked through the book of Psalms, I’ve shared with you the fruit of my labors on Book 1 (Psalms 1-41) and Books 2-4 (Psalms 42-106). Now that I’m near the end of my study, I’m ready to share some reflections on Book 5 (Psalms 107-150).
Themes
As far as the themes of Book 5, the following topics are constantly repeated:
- Return from exile (such as Ps 107:1-3, 120:5-7, and 137:1-6)
- Reinstatement of the king (such as Ps 110:1; 116; 118:10-13, 22;)
- Remembrance of Yahweh’s eternal covenant love (such as Ps 107:1-3, 43; 118:1, 29; 136)
- Request for others to join in worship (such as Ps 111:1, 112:1, 113:1, 117:1-2, 118:1-4, 145:21, 146-150)
Structure
The prominent calls to praise appear at key moments to signal climaxes in each section, or transitions to the next section.
- Ps 111:1 opens a section of praise poems (Pss 111-118) that appear to respond to what God did in Pss 107-110.
- Ps 118 describes a parade of worship moving from the battlefield into the temple.
- The songs of ascent (Pss 120-134) describe pilgrimages toward the temple, culminating in Psalm 136, which celebrates Yahweh’s eternal covenant love in every verse.
- Ps 145 concludes a group of poems where the king offers his own praise, and it invites the rest of creation to join that praise—which they do in Pss 146-150.
These patterns yield four primary sections within Book 5:
- Pss 107-110: Yahweh’s mighty deeds to redeem his people and their king
- Pss 111-119: Outburst of praise on behalf of both king and people
- Pss 120-137: Yahweh raises up the king and people from exile, specifically so they might worship him
- Pss 138-150: The king now leads the people in the worship of Yahweh
For Further Study
I commend this masterful book of poetry to you for further reflection and consideration. You may want to consider some of the following questions:
- What role does Ps 119 play as both the conclusion to the praise of Pss 111-118 and the catalyst for the reflections in Pss 120-137?
- Why role does Ps 110 play in the structure, and why is this role conducive to the apostles’ quoting of this poem more than any other psalm?
- How do the psalms of ascent (Pss 120-134) fit together? And why might we think that Pss 135-137 are connected, as a conclusion, to them?
- How does Ps 145 transition from the king’s praise to the people’s praise? How can we use this psalm to assist our own praise?
I have updated my Psalms spreadsheet with my thoughts on this last part of the book. I also added a second tab, where I try to capture the main idea of each stanza of Psalm 119. You can always find this spreadsheet on the blog’s resources page to assist your further study.
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