Day 18: Psalms 51-100

I am nearing the halfway point - both of the Bible and of Lent itself. In fact, I will reach the halfway point of the Bible a couple of days before the halfway point of Lent. Can I just say up front that that makes me happy...very happy...because it means the readings will be a little shorter in the latter part of Lent. I have no idea why I elected to share that, but I did. Moving on now...

Not Just Pretty Words

When you read the Psalms, it is important to keep in mind something that I mentioned in yesterday's post - that Psalms is the hymn book of the Bible. Each Psalm functions in much the same way as a hymn does for us today. It is a tool for worship and for teaching.

I find that important because it helps me make sense of some of the words and phrasing in the Psalms. Like hymns, Psalms refer to important events and ideas in the life of God's people.

For example, just reading the words, "See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down," doesn't immediately make a whole lot of sense...until you remember that those are lyrics to When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, a classic hymn of the church that (obviously) refers to the death of Jesus the Christ. Knowing something of the events that precipitate the writing of a hymn greatly helps our ability to understand it (another good example would be the hymn Amazing Grace and its connection to William Wilberforce).

Similarly, If you read: "I will wipe my feet on Edom" in Psalm 60, it is tempting to wonder what exactly is going on. Then you realize that Psalm 60 refers to a time when David fought against and conquered the people of Edom. Suddenly the reference to using Edom in a hymn of praise to God makes a whole lot more sense. Many of the psalms refer back to events in the life of Israel and a good study Bible will help a reader make those links.

Not All David's

My favorite misconception about the Psalms is that all 150 psalms were written by David during the time he was king over Israel. Unless David frequently changed his name or wrote under a pseudonym, that simply isn't the case. Many of the psalms are indeed written by David, but if you pay attention to the notes at the beginning of each psalm (I know - I usually don't either, but I've been really trying to read every word for this Lent thing), you'll find psalms written by a guy named Asaph, psalms attributed to the descendants of Korah, a psalm attributed to Moses and even some anonymous/unlabeled psalms.

There's no profound deep meaning (that I am aware of) to that, but it is still interesting and good to know as we read our Bibles...