psalms book 5: songs for coming home

Isaiah 35:10 And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing;everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Book 5 of the Psalms ~ Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy preceded entering the promised land and book 5 of the Psalms is

Poetically analogous to Deuteronomy

PSALM 107: OH GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD,

FOR HE IS GOOD, FOR HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER!

LET THE REDEEMED OF THE LORD SAY SO, WHOM HE HAS REDEEMED FROM TROUBLE

AND GATHERED IN FROM THE LANDS…

COMING HOMEBOOK 5 OF THE PSALMS BEGINS WITH THANKS

First PsalmWhat might redemption look like?

The last two Psalms of book 4 started with “Give thanks to the Lord…” Ps 105 and 106and so does the first Psalm of Book 5 Ps 107“Give thanks to the Lord…”

4 pictures of obstacles to coming home, overcome by God

Psalm 107Four portraits Of redemption

Deliverance from four dangers

4 pictures of obstacles to coming home, overcome by God

Psalm 107Four portraits Of redemption

Deliverance from four dangers

Like the 40 yearsof wandering in the desert

Rebelled in the dessertfiery snakes sentlooked to the bronze snake God toldmoses to makefor healing

Sent to Babylon for 70 years

Solomon's ships lostJonah lost at seaThe world seems tobe against youuntil you repent

Then,Redemption songs

followBetween two “hot spots”Of the New Testament

Most quoted verse from the Psalms in the New Testament is form Psalm 110

Most quoted chapter from the Psalms quoted in the New Testament is Psalm 118

The Lord said to my LordSit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool…

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone

A song to awaken the dawnPsalm 108

A song of coming victory and a sandal is thrown at Edom

Then a short pageant about rescue of a poor man to follow.

Psalm 108 My heart is steadfast2 Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn!3 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.4 For your steadfast love is great above the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!6 That your beloved ones may be delivered, give salvation by your right hand and answer me!

7 God has promised in his

holiness: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem and portion out the Valley of Succoth.8 Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet, Judah my scepter.9 Moab is my washbasin; upon Edom I cast my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?

Who will lead me to Edom?11 Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.12 Oh grant us help against the foe, for vain is the salvation of man!13 With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

Help for a poor man and decisive help from God’s right hand

Psalms 109-110

A betrayer,The one betrayed

The betrayed finds help.Seated at God’s right hand

And then made like the priest king Melchizedek

A short pageant regarding deliverance of a poor man:

A triplet of Psalms – a coming redemptionGod reaches down and helps the poor man

A Judas figure not returning love in kind and the plight of a a poor man

The poor man lifted to the right hand of God and victory over his enemies

Songs of victory at God’s right hand

A second triplet of PsalmsGod reaches down and helps the poor

Ps 111, 112 are both acrostic , the second echoing the first in many ways

HALLELUJAH

HALLELUJAH

HALLELUJAH

Each beginning with:

HALLELUJAH

Psalm 113 is the first Hallal, Passover Psalm

God’s name be blessed sunrise to sunset

Then,Redemption songs Between acrostic

Psalms

PSALM

111

P S A L M 1 1 2

PSALM

119

Some psalms are acrostic and probably meant to be learned and memorized. Here we have a pair of small ‘interlocking’ acrostic Psalms : 111 and 112 and the very large 119

THE BLESSED God

THE BLESSED MAN

THY WORD IS A LAMP TO MY FEET

A pair of side by side acrostic psalms

• Psalm 111 and 112 have phrases that start with the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet

• Psalm 111 is about the Blessed God• Psalm 112 is about the Blessed Man• 112 picks up where 111 leaves off

(Jesus is both ‘Blessed God’ and ‘Blessed man’But the church is also in union with Christ and 112 can apply to believers as well )

Psalm 113:7-9

He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

He seats them with princes, with the princes of his people.

He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children.

Praise the Lord.

The saving of the poor man (singular) in Psalm 109, seated to the right hand of God is echoed in the first Hallal Psalm (113) with the raising of the poor (plural) and being seated with princes of God’s people

----- The Hallal Psalms ------

6 Hallal songs

Deliverance songs

And a movement, towards Songs of remembrance of deliverance ….

The Hallal Psalms6 songs from the Passover

The Passover ‘Hallal’ Psalmsa little more detail

^ ^ ^Ps 111 Ps 112 Ps 113 (the first Hallal Psalm)All three start with a Hallelujah tying the three together

----- The Hallal Psalms ------

Ps 113Who is like the Lord our God,Seated above the heavensLooking down on the poor and needy, lifting them up to beWith the princes of My people

^

----- The Hallal Pslms ------

Ps 114When Israel went out of EgyptJudah became God’s sanctuaryAnd when nature saw itthe sea fled and the mountains shook. Tremble earth at God’s presence

( John Milton’s paraphrase of Psalm 114Which he wrote when 15 years old )

Seehttp://www.luminarium.org/sevenlit/milton/psalm114.htm

----- The Hallal Psalms ------`

^ Ps 115

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!Why should the nations say, “Where is their God? Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

The Passover ‘Hallal’ Psalms

----- The Hallal Psalms ------

^ I love the Lord, because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.

A psalm in the first person of deliverance from death And in 2 Cor Paul says though this applied to the one, implying it was Jesus, because God spirit is at work in us too ‘we believe and we speak’ as well

Since 116 may be taken as Jesus speaking in the 1st person. We have an oblique reference to Mary as the maidservant of God

in this song of deliverance from death of the singer

O Lord, I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant.

You have loosed my bonds. Psalm 116:16

Luke 1:38And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And

the angel departed from her.

Interestingly, Mary quoted a number of psalms from this section of Psalms both before and after 11 in her Magnificat song in Luke, where her soul ‘magnifies the Lord.’ Namely.

Ps. 111:9 He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.

Ps. 113:9 He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.

Ps. 118:15 The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly

Shortest of all PsalmsLarge invitation list

Psalm 118 begins and ends with a priestly saying

Ezra 3:10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the Lord, the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the Lord, as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the Lord:“He is good; His love toward Israel endures forever.”And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.

Psalms 117-119 a dramatic contrastaround Psalm 118

Ps 117

Ps 118

Ps 119

Psalms 117-119 a dramatic contrastaround Psalm 118

Ps 117

Ps 118

Ps 119

Shortest Psalm

Longest Psalm

117 is really really short119 is really really longAnd in between?

Psalms 117-119 a dramatic contrastaround Psalm 118

Ps 119

An invitation to the nations in Psalm 117

The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone in Psalm 118 This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it Walking in covenant: a relentless

dependency on God in Prayer and a relentless reception of God’s words

And stepping back a bitThe Passover redemptions songs are ‘book-ended’

Ps 119

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

And they sang a hymn (Psalm 118) and went up to the mount of Olives

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

Psalm 118The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

Psalm 118This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

Psalm 118This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

( Both 112 and 119 being acrostics about the blessed man )

Psalm 118This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

( Both 112 and 119 being acrostics about the blessed man )

Psalm 118This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.

The book-ends being ‘the blessed man’

( Both 112 and 119 being acrostics about the blessed man )

And the ‘right hand of God’comes back in Psalm 118

The right hand of God mentioned at start (108-110) and now 3 times in 118

On Psalm 119That longest of Psalms

• Probably written to be memorized by children and others

• Contains every type of Psalm (lament, praise, thanksgiving, etc..)

• Almost every line is about the word. A relentless reception of God’s word.

• Almost every line is a prayer. A relentless dependency on God.

• Some look at it as a progression in the Christian life• 7 times the writer prays ‘teach me Thy law’

And then the ‘Psalms of Ascent’

^ In distress and dwelling with the people of Meshech and Kedar barbaric nomads metaphorically being far from God Psalm 120

Moving from outside Israel - to Israel - to journeying to the temple - to the temple

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent to ‘the house’

^ In prayer, lifting eyes to the hills looking for help from the Lord Ps 121

Moving from outside Israel - to Israel - to journeying to the temple - to the temple

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ The singer is in the countryside of Israel and hears of people going to the temple ‘the house’ , ‘the house of God’ Psalm 122

Moving from outside Israel - to Israel - to journeying to the temple - to the temple

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ The singer is lifting up his eyes not to the hills but to God’ Psalm 123

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ A remembrance. If the Lord had not been on our side Psalm 124

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ Psalm 125Those who trust in the Lord are like the mountains (we lelfted our eyes up to in Psalm 121)

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ A remembrance….When the Lord restored out fortunes we were like those who dream Psalm 126

Moving from outside Israel - to Israel - to journeying to the temple - to the temple

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^Psalm of Solomon: Psalm 127 “Unless the Lord builds the House they labor in vain”

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

Psalm of Solomon: Psalm 127 Unless the ‘greater than Solomon – Jesus’ Lord builds the ‘greater than the temple – the church’ they labor in vain

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ ^129 , 130 concern personal difficulties and suffering ‘out of the depths I cry to you’

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ Psalm 127 can first apply to the house of God, but also a home or a city. Psalm 128 directly applies to a home and family

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ ^ ^ ^ 131 | 133 134 | 132 remember David in all his sufferings and remember the promise to his descendents

Psalms 131, 133, 134 are the next shortest Psalms after the shortest Psalm 117 and help emphasize the much longer Psalm 132 in contrasting size. Psal 132 is the largest Psalm of Ascent

-- one long

3 short

Songs of the pilgrimage: songs of ascent

^ Metaphorically at the temple and blessed are the night shift who work at the temple

Moving from outside Israel - to Israel - to journeying to the temple - to the temple

About those ‘Psalms of Solomon’ 72 and 127… pause for a memory device

• There are two Psalms of Solomon: Ps 127 (middle Psalm of Ascent) and Ps 72 (end of book 2)

• There are 15 Psalms of Ascent with Solomon’s being the middle

Unless the Lord builds the house

Traveled to the temple and the call for praise shifts to others at the temple

Psalm 135 Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord, give praise, O servants of the Lord, who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God!

Blessed is the night shift in your sanctuary !

Psalm 135

The name of the Lord stands forever

It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Psalm 136

The love of the Lord stands forever

It is he who remembered us in our low estate, for his steadfast love endures forever;

And a discordant sound before resolving into a greater beauty…

An interlude and harps are set down sadly

• Psalm 137, perhaps the last song written• By the rivers of Babylon we laid down our

harps and wept

David’s last run

We laid down our harpsAnd someone from the deep past picks his up

And David picks up his harp

and has one final runAll kings will sing of

His glory Psalm 138-145

Psalm 138

4 All the kings of earth will praise you, LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.5 They will sing of the ways of the LORD: “How great is the glory of the LORD!”6 The LORD is on high, but cares for the lowly and knows the proud from afar.

Psalm 139

139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me!2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether

In contrast to Psalms 9-10 ‘the death of a son’

Psalm 144 has a resurrection of sorts regarding ‘the rescue of David’ and the well being of the nation, plants, animals, security,

crime, peace is all wrapped up in the rescue of David, portending the greater David, Jesus Christ and His

resurrection

The ABC’s of praise:Psalm145 is 1) an acrostic and 2) the only Psalm called ‘a praise Psalm’ by title the and 3) the last of David’s Psalms

Psalms began with a blessed man and ends with

a blessed God

Psalm 146 – 150One final praise song for each of the 5 books

singing

singing

Everything and everyone praising

Singing a new songWith tumbrel and dance

Phrasing with every Known instrument of music

Ps 146

Ps 147

Ps 148

Ps 149

Ps 150

Each final praise cascades into the next 146 Put not your trust in princes,

in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish. The Lord sets the prisoners free;8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous.

I will praise God and you should too He sets prisoners freeAnd opens the eyes of the blindHe helps the broken

Each final praise cascades into the next147 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. He strengthens the bars of your gates. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes

He heals the brokenheartedHe delights in those who fear HimHe sends his word

Each final praise cascades into the next 148 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord

from the heavens; praise him in the heights! Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts! Praise him, sun and moon, Young men and maidens together, old men and children!

By his word also made the stars and angels too- so praise Him you up there And he rules on earth Even over animals And so let all the people praise him Men, women, children

Each final praise cascades into the next

149 let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their bedsLet the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands,

There will be Joy of the godlyAnd triumph over the wicked

Each final praise cascades into the next150. Praise God in his sanctuary;praise him in his mighty heavensLet everything that has breath praise the Lord!Praise the Lord!

Worship with every known instrument. And dance!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!And no mention of the wicked

Fin’

• This is a brief glimpse and doesn’t really even qualify as an overview. The purpose is to give a starting glimpse of book 5 and a brief idea of the flow of thought.

The five books of Psalms

• Book 1 - The song of the blessed man• Book 2 - Songs for the outcast• Book 3 - The dark book of the Psalms• Book 4 - Songs for the wanderer• Book 5 - Songs for coming home