1162 - The Book of Psalms
The Book of Psalms
Psalms is a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems, songs, and prayers that come from different eras in Israel’s history.
73 of these psalms are connected to King David, who was a poet and harp player.
There were also many other authors involved.
Asaph wrote 12 poems, the sons of Korah produced 11, and other worship leaders, in the temple, contributed as well—Heman and Ethan wrote one each.
Two are connected to King Solomon and even one to Moses.
Nearly one-third of the poems (49, to be exact) are considered anonymous, however, at least for now.
Many of these poems were used by Israel’s temple choirs, but the book of Psalms is not actually a hymnbook.
In the period after Israel’s exile to Babylon, these ancient songs were gathered together, with many other Hebrew poems, and intentionally arranged into the book of Psalms.
The entire work has a unique design, and contains a message that you won’t notice unless you read it, from beginning to end.
To see the book’s overall design, it’s actually helpful to start at the end.
The book concludes with five poems of praise to the God of Israel, each beginning and ending with the word “hallelujah.”
In Hebrew, this word is a command telling people to “Praise Yah,” which is an abbreviation of the divine name, Yahweh.
This consistent, five-part conclusion looks very intentional, and invites the question of whether other parts of this book have also been designed.
If you pay close attention to the headings of the poems, you’ll notice that in five different places, Bible translators included the headings ‘Book One’ through ‘Book Five’.
The whole ‘Book’ of Psalms has been divided into five books.
The reason for these divisions is that each section has a final poem, which concludes with a similar line that looks like a praise and command,
“May the Lord, the God of Israel, be blessed forever.
Amen and Amen”
Praise be to God!
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