Friday: Further Thought – How to Read the Psalms
Daily Lesson for Friday 5th of January 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “The Temple and Its Dedication,” pages 35–50, in Prophets and Kings; “The Benefits of Music,” pages 291, 292, in Messages to Young People.
The book of Psalms consists of 150 psalms, which are grouped into five books: Book I (Psalms 1 to Psalm 41), Book II (Psalms 42 to Psalm 72), Book III (Psalms 73 to Psalm 89), Book IV (Psalms 90 to Psalm 106), and Book V (Psalms 107 to Psalm 150). The five-book division of the Psalter is an early Jewish tradition that parallels the five-book division of the Pentateuch.
The book of Psalms provides evidence of some already-existing collections of psalms: the Korahite collections (Psalm 42 to Psalm 49, Psalms 84, 85, 87, 88), the Asaphite collection (Psalm 73 to Psalm 83), the Songs of the Ascents (Psalm 120 to Psalm 134), and the Hallelujah Psalms (Psalm 111 to Psalm 118, Psalm 146 to Psalm 150). Psalms 72:20 bears witness to a smaller collection of David’s psalms.
While most psalms are associated with the time of King David and early monarchy (tenth century B.C.), the collection of psalms continued to grow through the following centuries: the divided monarchy, the exile, and the postexilic period. It is conceivable that the Hebrew scribes under the leadership of Ezra combined the existing smaller collections of psalms into one book when they worked on establishing the services of the new temple.
The fact that scribes consolidated the book of Psalms does not take away from their divine inspiration. The scribes, like the psalmists, were devoted servants of God, and their work was directed by God (Ezra 7:6,10). The divine-human nature of the Psalms is comparable to the union of the divine and the human in the incarnated Lord Jesus. “But the Bible, with its God-given truths expressed in the language of men, presents a union of the divine and the human. Such a union existed in the nature of Christ, who was the Son of God and the Son of man. Thus it is true of the Bible, as it was of Christ, that ‘the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.’ ”—Ellen G. White, The Great Controversy, p. 8.
Discussion Questions
- What does it mean that the Psalms are divine-human prayers and hymns? How does this idea, however difficult to fully grasp, help us see the closeness that God wants with His people? How does it reveal, in its own way, how close to humanity, and to each of us, God is?
- In class, talk about a time in which you found something in the Psalms speaking directly to your own situation. What comfort and hope did you find there?
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One of the first recorded conversations between God and man occurred just after the fall:
It was God who stepped out and made the effort to communicate. Adam and Eve had stopped communicating with him, but God broke the ice and found them.
So often, when we are angry, ashamed, or hurting badly we want to shut God out and hide from him. I learned a long time ago that God does not mind being shouted at - especially when we don't understand. It keeps the communication going.
The Psalms are a record of God and people communicating with one another. Some Psalms are shouting at God; others praise him. In others, God is speaking to and through the writer. It is a record of two-way communication between God and us.
We had a very busy day yesterday. I thought that retirement was supposed to be restful and peaceful. But the reality is that everyone thinks I have so much time on my hands I can do anything for them instantly. So when it came to our worship time last night, I was in no mood for spiritual intellectual stimulus. I listened to three Psalms about the goodness of God. It was healing to me soul. God still communicates to us when we are tired, frustrated, angry and agitated. It was like being in the Garden of Eden in the cool of the evening.
Thank you for the reminder that God comes looking for me when I just want to hide from everything.
My Psalm:
Our great Father God, and Father of all creation,
You must truly love our nation;
We thank you for your inspired word in due season,
That can be used as a sword with Godly reason,
We praise you for your wisdom and grace,
Needed for any mountains we will face,
And each week as we share and talk,
May we be strengthened on our walk.
Selah
In the Psalms we see how God works through us if we but let Him. May we be open to the promptings of the Hoky Spirit, for Him to use us forGods glory.
I'm enjoying reading Psalms in The Message and and would like to share Psalms 15:1-5:
GOD, who gets invited to dinner at your place? How do we get on your guest list? “Walk straight, act right, tell the truth. “Don’t hurt your friend, don’t blame your neighbor; despise the despicable. “Keep your word even when it costs you, make an honest living, never take a bribe.
"You'll never get blacklisted if you live like this."
That is so right! I had to share with my husband.
Praise the Lord.
Question: Is anyone else having a hard time with the links to the Bible texts in the lesson? The text often has several chapters in the link instead of the few verses listed. This has happened on several days, not when they are referring to the divisions of the Psalms.
Yes we are aware of the problem. The issue is that each of these references is to several chapters and the reftagger script we use is designed for chapters and verses. We are looking into the issue. For the time being just remember that the link will always go to the first Psalm in the list. You can probably work out the rest. Sorry about the confusion.
Maurice
Thanks, Maurice. Also, is it possible to choose our default Bible translation? Memory tells me it used to be ESV… and now it is NKJV? If we can choose, my vote is for ESV.
Hi Esther,
I know that you can change the default Bible on the weekly lesson - just go to the top right-hand corner of the weekly lesson and set your preferences. However, I don't think that affects the daily lessons and I am not sure that they can be changed. I know that there was some tech discussion about this some time ago and will check.
Maurice points out that Adam’s newly acquired self-awareness was noticed by his Creator when He spoke with him, considering this exchange as the first conversation between man and his Creator of many more to come. I consider this is what the Psalms, Proverbs and the rest of the books of the Bible are all about – revealing to us through conversation with Him who we really are and how to live accordingly! 2 Timn. 3:15-17.
I am greatly appreciative for the lesson writer’s placing her focus on what I have also come to understand to be the most salient point of this quarter’s study - “The divine-human nature of the Psalms is comparable to the union of the divine and the human in the incarnated Lord Jesus”, leading to the desired outcome of knowing who we are and our life in Jesus Christ.
Ellen White’s comment included in this lesson also states this Truth so simply. When reading her book “The Great Controversy”, her forthrightness, unapologetic and unabashed sharing of her convictions of what was revealed to her to be the Truth about mankind’s place in the Great Conflict, led me to pay attention and inquire further about who she is and what she stands for; ultimately joining the family of believers she was part of.
Every believer in God’s Truth based on the revelations of His Son Jesus Christ, our Savior, leads to accepting the Creator Father as God and Teacher. Man's separation from his God caused his fall into the abyss of the darkness of this world. But our Creator Father rescued us, elevating us through teaching us who man really is - who it is who made us in His Image -, resulting in the rekindled spiritual relationship between man and his Creator.
The ability to praise Him through Psalms and Hymns is evidence of the born-again man’s re-established closeness with the God of all Creation. Valda Adriaanse, in her comment using her own words as well as including David’s Psalm 15, expresses how the new creation, man, loves God with all his heart and being.
I am a new comer in this site and I am happy as a seventh day believer to meet where I can get understanding of lessons which sometimes become difficult.Also I am confident enough to discuss with my fellows and family.
Thank you
I am happy for encountering this site cause it's opening up the not so clear or easy to comprehend lessons of the Bible.
Something interesting I just learned about the 5 books (divisions) of the anthology of poetry, prayers and songs we call Psalms. Each book represents a time period, and it is chronological. The first two books, Psalms 1-41 and 42-72, are mostly written by David and cover the time he led Israel. Almost all of the psalms by David are found here. In fact, Psalm 72:20 is an editorial note telling us this. It’s a beautiful walk through David’s life, his love of nature, prayers for protection, repentance, even a prayer for the aged in Ps. 71. Next, book 3, Psalms 73-89, covers the time in history when the nation of Israel was in turmoil of unbelief and falling apart. Then, book 4, Psalms 90-106, covers the years of captivity in Babylon, with songs like Ps. 105 reminding everyone that God keeps his promises. Lastly, book 5, Psalms 107-150, follows Israel’s release from captivity and return to Jerusalem, with songs like Ps. 122, a prayer for the peace of Jerusalem.
Another interesting thing….read the endings of each of the 5 books to see a pattern: Ps. 41:13; Ps. 72:18-19; Ps.89:52; Ps 106:48; and Ps.150 (this whole final psalm explodes in praise, kind of like the end of a fireworks show!)