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The Songs of the Spirit: An Introduction to the Book of Psalms | Keil & Delitzsch · Reformed Thinking

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Welcome to Reformed Thinking. We're the segment that tries to
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take a systematic look at, well, the really significant writings
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and theology that shape how we understand redemption.
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And today we're tackling a big one, the Psalter.
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Right. The Psalter often called the
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prayer Book of the church. Isn't it that vast collection of
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sacred songs? Praise, lament it.
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It's just huge. It is huge and it's definitely
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beloved, but it's so much more than just a collection of nice
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poems or individual prayers. I think if you only approach it
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that way is sort of standalone pieces.
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You miss something bigger. You absolutely do you miss the
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the larger picture, the cohesive whole, the, well, the
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masterpiece that actually represents grounded in history.
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That's exactly what we want to get into today.
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Our mission, if you like, is to look past that surface level,
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just reading them as prayers, and really see the the
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architecture underneath the art. The structure, the history of
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how it all came together. Who wrote what and when?
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And how it fits into the entire story of salvation.
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We're using, you know, historical scholarship to sort
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of guide us through it. And we really have to start with
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the architecture, the structure, because the way this book is put
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together, it fundamentally shapes how we should read it,
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how we understand its meaning. OK, let's dive right in then.
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For anyone listening who's maybe used to thinking of the Bible,
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just book by book, Genesis, Exodus, etcetera.
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What's the most, I guess surprising structural thing
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about the Psalter itself? Well, it's not presented as just
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one long scroll, one single book.
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It's actually divided systematically divided into 5
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distinct parts, 5 books. Five books within the Book of
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Psalms. Exactly.
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And this isn't some, you know, late edition by an editor
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centuries later. The evidence suggests this
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division was established really quite early in Jewish tradition.
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Five books. OK, my mind immediately goes
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somewhere with that number. There's an obvious parallel,
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isn't? There there is, it seems, quite
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intentional. The division was well
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engineered, you could say, to echo the first five books of
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Moses, the Torah, the Law. So the Psalter is set up like
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the law, like a mirror to it. The sources actually use that
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phrase, a literary mirror. It seems the structure is meant
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to present the Psalms as a kind of lyrical devotional response
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to the foundational law given to Israel.
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Wow. So it's like, here's the law,
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and here's the life of faith and worship lived out under that
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law. That seems to be the idea.
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The sources point to Hippolytus writing centuries later, but
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noting that the Hebrews divided it this way so it would be, in
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his words, another Pentateuch. Another Pentateuch that gives it
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immense weight, doesn't it? It suggests the whole collection
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was seen as having a similar kind of canonical authority, a
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structural significance right alongside the law itself.
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It frames the whole life of devotion, the covenant
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relationship within God's revealed will.
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It's not just random songs. It's structured worship
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responding to foundational truth.
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OK, so this five book design, it gives us clear sections for you
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listening. Knowing where these breaks are
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is probably quite helpful for understanding how it all came
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together. Can you map those out for us?
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Sure, and it helps. Remember these books gather
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material compiled over long periods of Israel's history.
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So book one runs from Psalm One right through to Psalm 41.
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This is generally seen as the oldest collection heavily
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divided. OK, Psalms 1 to 41.
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Then Book 2 picks up at Psalm 42 and goes through to Psalm 72. 42
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to 72, got it. Book 3 covers Psalm 73 through
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to Psalm 89. 73 to 89 book. 4 is a bit shorter.
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That's Psalm 90 through 106. 90 to 106.
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And finally, Book 5 takes us all the way from Psalm 107 to the
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very end, Psalm 150. 107 into 150, so 5 distinct sections.
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And you said this analogy to Torah suggests the structure is
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really old. How early do scholars think this
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five part shape was finalized? Well, the historical analysis
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puts the finalization quite early.
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It certainly reflects how central the law was, especially
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in the religious life after the exile.
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The consensus is that the collection was basically fixed
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and divided into these five books by the time the chronicler
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was writing. The Chronicler.
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So that puts it towards the end of the Persian period.
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That's right, end of the Persian supremacy.
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Which means it's well before the Hellenistic period, before
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Alexander the Great and all that followed.
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That gives it serious historical weight.
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The structure wasn't some later reaction to Greek influence or
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something. It was an internal theological
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decision, probably made when they were re establishing
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worship. Exactly.
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It's deeply rooted in Israel's own history and theology, and we
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know exactly where these divisions happen, not just
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because someone numbered them later, but because the editors
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built in specific markers, landmarks, really.
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Doxological landmarks. The sources call them right.
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Doxologies, basically short bursts of praise to God.
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Like signatures at the end of each section.
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Pretty much each of the first four books closes with one of
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these dedicated doxologies, and it's important to see they
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aren't just the last verse of the Psalm before them.
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They feel distinct, like a closing statement added by the
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compilers. OK.
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Can you pinpoint those for us? Where do we find them?
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Yep. So book one closes right after
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Psalm 41, at verse 14. That's 41.14.
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Got it. Book 2 ends after Psalm 72, the
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verses 18 and 19. That's 72.1 and 18.
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Book 3 concludes after Psalm 89 at verse 53 So 89.53 right?
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And book 4 is sealed off after Psalm one O 6 at verse 48 one O
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6.4. 8 And what does the actual wording, the structure of these
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doxologies tell us? Does it connect to anything else
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we know about worship back then? It does, actually.
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The language and the form look very similar to something called
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the liturgical barracha. Barracha like a blessing.
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Exactly a formulaic blessing or benediction that was used in the
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services of the Second Temple. The way these doxologies are
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placed, they're phrasing, it really anchors this five part
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structure in the actual liturgical communal worship
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practices of that time. It confirms this wasn't just a
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literary idea, it reflected how the psalms were used.
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OK, that makes sense for the first four books, but you listed
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the doxologies for books 123 and four.
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What about book 5? If the pattern holds, should
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there be a formal baracha after, say, Psalm 149?
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That's a great observation, and the answer is sort of yes and
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no. There isn't a separate short
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doxology added after Psalm 149. Instead, the final Psalm, Psalm
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150, takes on that whole role. So Psalm 150 is the closing
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doxology for Book 5 and for the whole Psalter.
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That's how it functions. It's not just another Psalm.
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It serves as the the source calls it the full, toned finale
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to the entire collection. It's this sustained, climatic
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independent burst of praise. It definitely feels like that
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when you read it, like everything builds up to it.
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It really does. If you look at the group right
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at the end, Psalms 146 through 150, there's this clear
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progression. It just keeps soaring upward,
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building towards this well, this incredibly joyful climax.
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And Psalm 150 just captures all that energy.
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It calls on everything, every creature, every instrument to
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praise God. It provides the comprehensive
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final praise that seals the whole Pentateuch of prayer.
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OK, so that's the grand structure.
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Now let's rewind. Go back towards the beginning,
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the composition itself. And you can't really talk about
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the Psalms without talking about King David.
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The sources don't just say he wrote songs, they actually call
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him the creator of liturgical music.
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That's a pretty strong claim. It is a strong claim, and it
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points to something bigger than just authorship.
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It highlights his role as an organizer, an institution
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builder. David didn't just, you know,
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write lyrics in his spare time. He established the whole
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framework, the personnel, the musical standards for organized
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sacred music in Israel. So when later kings or leaders
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wanted to restore temple worship after it had fallen into
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decline. They always looked back to
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David's arrangements. That was the model, the
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authoritative pattern. And this organization wasn't
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just a few guys singing. You mentioned personnel.
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This was a serious operation. What did it actually involve?
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Oh, it was huge. The scale is pretty staggering
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when you look at the numbers in Chronicles.
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David appointed 4000 Levites specifically for the musical
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service. 4000. 4000 Just for the music.
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This was designated as the 4th division of the entire Levitical
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order. These men were full time
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dedicated musical ministers. And where did they serve?
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Was this just at the main sanctuary?
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They served both at the temporary Tabernacle David set
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up on Zion, where the Ark was, and also at the older Mosaic
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Tabernacle, which was still standing up at Gibeon at the
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time. So a major organized effort
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across locations. 4000 musicians.
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That's like a small army. And David didn't just supply the
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numbers, he structured the leadership too, right?
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He did very meticulously. He divided these thousands of
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Levites into 24 classes or courses, probably serving in
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rotation, and he put them under the direction of three chief
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presenters or music directors. Ah yes, the names we see
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associated with some psalms. Asaf, Asaf, Heman and Ethan, who
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the chronicler also identifies as Jaduthan.
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These three were the principal choir masters.
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And how did they lead? Did they have batons like a
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modern conductor? Yeah, probably not batons.
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The text specifically mentions they used symbols likely to set
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the time, the rhythm, keep everyone together.
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It was about precision and order in worship.
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So leadership personnel, David also got involved in the
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instruments themselves. He wasn't just using what was
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already there. No, he seems to have been an
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innovator there, too. He's recognized as this gifted
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poet, obviously, but also as a musical developer.
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The sources point out that he multiplied the types of
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instruments used in worship. Specifically which ones he.
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Seems to have focused on the stringed instruments, Harps, the
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nubble, him and Scythern's which are like liars.
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The text actually says these editions were by his own
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invention. His own invention.
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So he wasn't just organizing, he was actively shaping the sound
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of worship, pushing the musical boundaries.
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It sounds like a real cultural flowering centered on worship
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driven by him, but it's interesting the sources make a
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distinction about when his canonical writing began.
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Meaning the psalms that actually ended up in scripture.
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Right. David clearly had musical and
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poetic gifts before he was king, maybe honed in those schools of
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the prophets under Samuel perhaps, but the tradition holds
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that his canonical Psalm composition, the Song is
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destined for Scripture really only began after the Spirit of
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Jave came upon him when Samuel anointed him as king.
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Ah, so his personal talent was then consecrated, you could say
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brought under the authority of his specific role as God's
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anointed king. Exactly.
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It connects his Psalms directly to his redemptive Covenantal
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office. It elevates them from just
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personal poems, however skillful, to inspired
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expressions tied to God's plan through the monarchy.
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And we know a lot of Psalms are linked to him.
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The inscriptions say LED David to David, or of David on 73 of
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them. Who are the other main players
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in this liturgical core he established?
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Well, the other main named composers generally come from
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those Levitical families David put in charge of the music.
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Like Asaph? Exactly.
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We have 12 psalms. A tribute to Asaph, Psalm 50 and
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then the block from 73 to 83. These epic psalms often have a
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distinctive character, maybe a bit more prophetic, sometimes
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grappling with national issues or crises.
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And the other group, the sons of Korra.
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There are 12 Korra HIDIC psalms to Psalms 42 to 49 + 80, four,
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8587 and 88. These often seem to have maybe a
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more regal or priestly feel, reflecting the concerns and
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perspectives of those serving closely in the temple ministry.
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It's interesting though, after this explosion of creativity
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under David, with him and the Levites he appointed, things
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seem to slow down under his son Solomon.
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Yes, there's a noticeable shift. The Solomonic era saw a
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different literary focus take center stage.
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Some composition or some poesy as the source calls it, kind of
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declined. Why is that?
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Because Solomon's age became preoccupied with Chocma
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literature, Wisdom literature, proverbs, contemplative
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writings, the Mashall form, Solomon really perfected that
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genre. So the national literary energy
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shifted from lyric poetry to wisdom.
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It seems so, and as a result only two canonical Psalms
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actually bear Solomon's name, Psalm 72 and Psalm 127.
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And Psalm 72 is particularly interesting in terms of the
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Psalter structure. Isn't.
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It it is, yes, because it's a Solomonic Psalm.
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But it comes right at the end of Book 2, closing off what seems
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to have been the earliest major collection of songs, the one
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that existed even before the final five book arrangement was
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settled. So it's placement marks a really
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significant stage in how the Psalter grew.
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So if David established this incredible musical institution,
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but it then declined under Solomon and presumably later
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Kings, it needed active restoration at times.
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It certainly did. The sources make a point of
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highlighting King Hezekiah. Centuries later, the Temple
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service had apparently fallen into serious disrepair, maybe
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even desecration. And Hezekiah brought it back.
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He did. He specifically undertook the
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task of restoring and reviving the ancient sacred music, and
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crucially, he mandated bringing back the Psalms of David and
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Asaph for a liturgical use. He was consciously restoring the
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organized service back to its original Davidic pattern.
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It really underscores the lasting authority of what David
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had set up. OK, so we have this organized
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collection growing overtime, restored by figures like
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Hezekiah, eventually wreaking its final five book form.
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Then it had to find its place within the final Hebrew Canon,
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specifically in the third section that Kathubim or Hakio
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Graf of the writings. Now I understand his position.
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There wasn't always the same in different traditions.
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What's the thinking behind placing the Psalter right at the
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start of the Kathubim? Right.
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The order of the writings did vary a bit depending on the
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region and the manuscript tradition, but the order that
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many people are familiar with today, Psalms, then Proverbs,
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then Job, That's often considered the most natural
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order. What makes it natural?
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Is it chronological? It largely follows a kind of
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thematic and roughly chronological flow, reflecting
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the high point of the monarchy. Psalms represents the time of
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David, the establishment of the Kingdom, the organization of
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worship and sacred song. Then you move into Proverbs and
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Job which represent that chalk MO or Wisdom literature that
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flourished under Solomon. So it follows the historical
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sequence of Israel's great literary periods, David, then
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Solomon. Pretty much it mirrors that
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narrative. And is there external evidence
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supporting Psalms being first? Yes, there seems to be early
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Christian tradition, sometimes inferred from passages like Luke
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24.44 where Jesus refers to the Law, the Prophets, and the
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Psalms, suggests that the Psalms might have opened that third
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section of the Canon. Also, the German Hebrew
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manuscripts, which form the basis for most of our printed
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Hebrew Bibles today, follow that order.
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Psalms, Proverbs. Job.
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But that wasn't the only order out there.
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You mentioned variations. Right.
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For example, the Talmudic tradition sometimes placed the
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Book of Ruth first. Ruth.
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Why Ruth? Well, Ruth was David's great
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grandmother, so placing her story first acted as a kind of
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preface or introduction to the age of David and his Psalms.
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It shows a different kind of logic at play, lineage and
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thematic connection rather than strict chronology.
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And there are other variations too.
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Yes, some Spanish manuscripts, for instance, apparently began
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the Kathubim with chronicles, then psalms, then job.
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It just shows that the final ordering principles weren't
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always rigidly chronological. Which brings us to this idea.
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The sources mention homogeneousness.
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It says this principle, rather than just dating, often govern
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how individual Psalms were placed next to each other.
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What does that mean? Homogeneousness.
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It's essentially an ancient Semitic editorial technique.
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Means grouping material together based on internal similarities,
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things that sound alike. Do similar words deal with
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common themes or subjects? It's about creating clusters
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based on shared characteristics. Can you give an example of how
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that works in the Psalter? Sure.
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A classic example is Psalm 50 and Psalm 51 being placed side
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by side. Psalm 50 is a Sapphic.
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Psalm 51 is Davidic, likely from different times, but they are
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put together because both contain this really powerful
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critique of relying just on external material animal
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sacrifices. They both stress the need for
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something internal, spiritual. Exactly.
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They both elevate the spiritual offering a broken spirit, a
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contrite heart, Thanksgiving over the merely ritualistic.
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That shared theme, that homogeneous subject matter, is
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why they are grouped together, overriding differences in
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authorship or precise historical setting.
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That makes sense. Now perhaps the most striking
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example of this kind of internal structuring, this non
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chronological logic, is the arrangement based on the divine
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names Jave and Elohim. This seems really deliberate.
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Oh, it's incredibly distinctive. It's one of the clearest pieces
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of evidence for a highly structured editorial hand
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shaping the final form of the Psalter.
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We basically see three large blocks defined by which name for
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God is predominantly used. OK, let's break that down.
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Book 1, Psalms 1 to 41, which we said was heavily Davidic.
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Which name dominates there? That section is overwhelmingly
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Jehovah dominated the covenant name Jave or Jehovah appears.
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I think the count is 272 times. Wow and Elohim.
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Elohim, the more general word for God, is used only about 15
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times in that whole first book, and usually only in context
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where using the specific covenant name Javi might seem
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inappropriate for some reason. So book 1 is clearly the Java
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collection. But then as we move into Book 2,
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starting with name 42, something changes dramatically.
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It flips Psalms 42 through 84, which covers the rest of Book 2
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and most of Book 3, forms what scholars call the Elohimic
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section. In these 44 Psalms, the name
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Elohim becomes the preferred term for the one true God, used
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almost exclusively. And this section includes those
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Korhite NASA fight collections we.
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Mentioned it does. It scoops up almost all the
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korhedic psalms, 9 out of 12 and all 12 of the osafic psalms.
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The shift is really noticeable right from Psalm 42 onwards.
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OK, here's a question that comes up.
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If some of the Psalms in this Elohimic section are also
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attributed to David, like Psalm 51 for example, does this mean
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that later editors went through David's earlier jave using
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Psalms and systematically changed the divine name to
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Elohim just to make this middle section linguistically
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consistent? That's a possibility that
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scholars have definitely debated.
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Did editors actively substitute Elohim for Jave?
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It's hard to be certain. However, a common view is that
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this pattern more likely reflects the final editor
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incorporating distinct pre-existing collections of
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Psalms. So maybe the Asaphite collection
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in the core height collection for whatever reason, perhaps
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their origin, maybe a post exilic setting, maybe specific
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temple usage conventions already preferred using the more
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general, maybe more reverential name Elium.
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That seems quite possible, and the final editor following that
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principle of homogeneousness grouping like with like brought
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these Elaine preferring collections together to formed
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the central block of the Psalter.
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So it might be more about combining existing blocks with
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their own characteristics rather than a massive find and replace
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editing job on every single Psalm.
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That view perhaps better accounts for the evidence.
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It respects the idea of stages of collection and final
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compilation based on internal features.
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OK, so we have book 1 Jave, then books two and three, largely
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dominated by Elohim. What happens in the final
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stretch? Books four and five, Psalms 85
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onwards. It flips back the later books,
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Psalms 80 right through to 150 returned to being strongly
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Jehovah dominated. In that whole large section, the
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covenant named Jave appears, I think 339 times.
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And Elohim. Remarkably, in that entire
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stretch, the general name Elohim, when referring to the
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true God, is used only once. Wow, so that the pattern is
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incredibly clear. Jave book 1, then Elohim books 2
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through 3, then back to Jave books four or five.
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That level of symmetry can't be accidental.
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Absolutely not. It demonstrates a highly
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sophisticated editorial process. The Elohimic Psalms formed the
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deliberate center flanked by the Jave material.
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It connects directly back to that five book Pentateuch
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mirroring structure. The arrangement wasn't
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haphazard. It was carefully, consciously
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executed based on these internal linguistic markers.
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Now, for this carefully structured book to reach us and
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the wider world, translation was obviously key.
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These early translations are also crucial windows into the
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state of the Hebrew text centuries ago.
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We really have to start with the big one, the Alexandrian Greek
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version, the Septuagint, the LXX.
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The LXX is absolutely fundamental for two main
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reasons, really. First, it's the earliest
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translation of the Hebrew Bible we have, and we could date at
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Psalter section pretty accurately.
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How accurate? We know the LXX translation of
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the Psalter was completed before the year 132 BC.
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How can we be so specific? That's quite precise.
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There's a helpful external reference.
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The grandson of Jesus, Ben Sirach, who wrote the Book of
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Ecclesiasticus, or Sirach, wrote a preface to his own Greek
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translation of his grandfather's work.
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In that preface he mentions arriving in Egypt around 132 BC
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and finding that the law itself, the prophecies, and the rest of
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the books which would include the Psalter as part of the
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writings, had already been translated into Greek and were
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in common use. OK, so by 132 BC Greek speaking
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Jews in Egypt had access to the Psalms in their own language.
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That's right, it confirms the Psalter was translated and
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established within the Hellenistic Jewish world by the
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middle of the 2nd century BC at the latest.
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And the second big reason the LXX is so significant?
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It became the primary Bible of the early church because most of
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the New Testament writers and their audiences were Greek
21:24
speaking. The vast majority of Old
21:26
Testament citations you find in the New Testament, especially
21:29
from the Psalms, are quoted directly from the Septuagint
21:32
version. So it literally shaped the
21:34
theological vocabulary of the apostles and the first
21:36
Christians. It absolutely did.
21:38
It's the oldest key, as the source puts it, not just to the
21:42
Hebrew texts history, but to the language of the New Testament
21:45
itself. OK, beyond the Greek LXX, what
21:48
about other ancient traditions, Syriac and Aramaic?
21:51
Right, We should look at those two first.
21:52
There's the Peshito. That's the old Syrian version.
21:55
It's highly regarded for being quite ancient, likely composed
21:59
no later than the second century AD, and also for its
22:02
independence. Independence, meaning it wasn't
22:05
just based on the LXX. Correct.
22:06
It appears to have been translated directly from the
22:09
Hebrew text, giving us another distinct early line of textual
22:12
evidence. And the Aramaic Targum, that's a
22:15
bit different, isn't it? More of an interpretation.
22:18
It is. The Targums were essentially
22:20
interpretations or paraphrases of the Hebrew scriptures into
22:23
Aramaic, the common language spoken by many Jews, especially
22:27
after the exile. They were using synagogue
22:29
services. The Aramaic Targum of the Psalms
22:32
probably originated during the Second Temple period, reflecting
22:35
how the Psalms were understood and explained in the synagogue
22:38
context. When was it written down or
22:40
fixed? It's text seems to have been
22:42
standardized and fixed in the first few centuries of the
22:45
Christian era, and while it is an interpretation, it's valuable
22:49
because it often shows a very careful adherence to the
22:52
grammatical sense of the Hebrew text it was based on.
22:55
Sometimes, even more so than the LXX, it gives us insight into a
22:59
specific strand of Jewish interpretive tradition.
23:02
Now, bringing these different versions together leads us to
23:04
origin in the 3rd century AD. His work, the Hexapla sounds
23:09
like a scholar's dream or nightmare.
23:11
Probably both. It was an absolutely colossal
23:13
undertaking. Hexapla means 6 fold or six
23:16
columns. Origin painstakingly arranged 6
23:19
different versions of the Old Testament text side by side and
23:22
parallel columns. What were the six columns?
23:24
OK, column one was the original Hebrew text.
23:27
Column 2 was the same Hebrew text, but transliterated into
23:30
Greek letters, helping Greek readers pronounce the Hebrew.
23:33
Then came four existing Greek translations, Akula's version,
23:36
Semicus's version, Origins, own corrected version of the
23:38
Septuagint, the LXX, and finally Theodosian's version.
23:42
An incredible feat of scholarship and organization.
23:45
And I understand for the Psalms he sometimes went even further.
23:48
He did. The Psalter had so many textual
23:50
variations and apparently other obscure Greek translations
23:53
floating around, that Origins sometimes added three more Greek
23:56
versions into his columns. For the Psalms, these are known
23:59
just by the names Quinta, Sexta and Septima. 5th, 6th, 7th.
24:03
So for parts of the Psalms, the hexaplat actually became an
24:06
octoplat 8 columns. Wow, why were there so many
24:09
different Greek versions emerging around the 2nd century?
24:12
80 Aquila, Symmachus, Theodosian.
24:14
What prompted them? It seems to have been largely
24:17
reaction to the Christian use of the Septuagint, so well is the
24:21
early church increasingly use the Electex to support its
24:24
theological claims about Jesus being the Messiah.
24:26
Jewish scholars became more critical of the LXX's
24:29
translation choices, which sometimes differed from the
24:32
standard Hebrew text, what we now call the Matharetic text
24:34
tradition. Aquila, Symmachus, and
24:37
Theodosian each produced new Greek versions that aim to be
24:41
much more literal, sticking very closely to the Hebrew wording.
24:44
It was, in a way, an attempt to reclaim the text and counter
24:48
Christian interpretations based on the looser LXX rendering.
24:52
And Origin included all of these in his hexapla.
24:54
What was his goal in doing that? Was he just documenting them or
24:57
was he trying to fix the LXX? His main goal seems to have been
25:01
to purify the commonly used LXX text, but comparing it side by
25:05
side with the Hebrew and these other more literal Greek
25:08
versions, he could identify where the LXX had diverged.
25:12
He used a system of critical signs borrowed from Alexandrian
25:15
grammar scholars to mark up his LXX column.
25:17
What kind of signs? He used daggers, technically
25:20
called an obelisk, to mark words or phrases found in the LXX but
25:25
not in the Hebrew original. These were likely additions or
25:28
expansions in the Greek tradition.
25:30
Conversely, he used asterisks to mark places where the LXX seemed
25:35
to be missing texts found in the Hebrew.
25:38
In those cases, he would insert the missing words, usually
25:41
taking them from Theodosian's more literal version, but
25:44
marking them with the asterisk to show they were imported.
25:47
So it was the first real systematic attempt at textual
25:50
criticism, using all the available evidence to try and
25:53
reconstruct a more accurate text, or at least highlight the
25:56
variations. Exactly.
25:57
A monumental effort to bring clarity to the textual
26:00
situation. OK, that covers the Greek and
26:02
Eastern traditions. What about the West?
26:04
The Latin tradition eventually became dominant there, largely
26:08
thanks to Jerome. He did multiple revisions of the
26:10
Latin. Psalter didn't.
26:11
You he did. Jerome's work on the Latin
26:13
Bible, the Vulgate, was hugely influential for the Psalter.
26:17
He produced two major revisions based on earlier Latin versions,
26:21
collectively known as the Old Latin or Vedas Latina, sometimes
26:24
called the Itala. What was the first one?
26:26
His first attempt was what's now called the Psalterium Romanum,
26:30
the Roman Psalter. He did this revision relatively
26:33
early, while he was still in Rome.
26:35
It was a careful correction of the old Latin Psalter he had
26:38
available, comparing it mainly with a commonly available LXX
26:41
text. And this Roman Psalter caught
26:44
on. It did have influence, yes.
26:46
It became the standard liturgical psalter in the city
26:48
of Rome for a long time, the source notes.
26:50
It was retained for centuries by the Church in Milan and even in
26:54
the Basilica of Saint Peter at the Vatican, showing its deep
26:57
roots in certain traditions. But it wasn't his final word on
27:00
the Psalter. No.
27:01
Later, after you'd moved to Bethlehem and had access to
27:04
Origins, Hexaplaw and better manuscripts, he undertook a
27:08
second, much more thorough and critical revision.
27:11
This became known as the Psalterium Gallicanum.
27:14
The Gallican Psalter. White Gallican?
27:17
Does that mean French? Yes, Gallican refers to Gaul or
27:20
ancient France. This version became extremely
27:23
popular and widely adopted by the churches in Gaul, and from
27:26
there it spread. What made this Gallican version
27:29
different, more precise? The key difference was that
27:32
Jerome based it directly on the corrected LXX text as found in
27:36
Origins Hexapla. And crucially, he incorporated
27:39
Origins critical signs, those daggers and asterisks into his
27:43
Latin translation. This allowed Latin readers to
27:46
see where the LXX, and that's his translation, differed from
27:50
the Hebrew original, according to Origins research.
27:52
So it was a more scholarly text, critically informed version.
27:56
Much more so, and because of its precision and it's linked to the
27:59
Hexaplaric text, the Gallican Psalter eventually supplanted
28:03
the Roman Psalter almost everywhere else in Western
28:05
Europe. It became the Psalter included
28:08
in Jerome's Vulgate Bible, and therefore it dominated Western
28:11
liturgical and private use of the Psalms for well over 1000
28:14
years. So the Gallican Psalter via the
28:16
Vulgate really shaped the medieval understanding.
28:19
Then comes the Reformation, which as with so much else,
28:22
brought a huge shift in how the Psalter was approached.
28:25
They moved away from some of the more maybe allegorical readings
28:28
of the Middle Ages. Definitely.
28:30
The Reformers insisted on going back and Fonte's back to the
28:33
sources, meaning the original Hebrew text primarily, and they
28:36
championed a reading that was both grammatical, focused on
28:41
what the text actually says in its original language, and
28:43
spiritual, looking for the theological substance,
28:46
particularly relating to Christ and grace.
28:48
Luther was key here, wasn't he? He lectured on the Psalms very
28:51
early on. Oh, absolutely.
28:53
Luther loved the Psalms. He began lecturing on them, I
28:56
think as early as 1514. He started publishing his
28:58
detailed exposition called Operationus in Do a Psalm.
29:01
More in decades. In 1519 his approach was quite
29:05
revolutionary for the time. He combined this deep personal
29:08
spiritual engagement, really finding the doctrine of
29:11
justification by faith in the Psalms with a serious commitment
29:14
to the grammatical meaning of the Hebrew text.
29:15
And Calvin? He also brought his own distinct
29:17
methodology. Calvin, as you'd expect, applied
29:20
what the source calls a stripped historical method.
29:24
He really dug into the original context of the psalmist.
29:27
What was David or Asaph or whoever actually going through?
29:30
What situation prompted this Psalm?
29:33
He had this remarkable psychological insight combined
29:35
with historical rigor. So he grounded the Psalms in
29:39
real human experience, preventing them from becoming
29:41
just abstract theological treatises or allegories.
29:45
Exactly. He wanted to hear the voice of
29:48
the psalmist in their own time and place, facing real
29:51
struggles, real joys, real enemies that historical
29:55
grounding was central for. Him and this renewed focus on
29:58
the text and its meaning had practical consequences for
30:00
worship, too, didn't it? Especially in the Reformed
30:02
churches. Oh, hugely.
30:04
This is where scholarship directly impacted the life of
30:06
the church. In the French Reform context
30:08
particularly, there was this drive to have the congregation
30:11
sing the Psalms in their own language.
30:13
So translations in diverse. Right first, Clema Murrow start
30:17
translating the Psalms into French verse.
30:20
After his death, Theodore Beza, Kelvin's successor in Geneva,
30:24
completed the project. They created metrical versions,
30:27
poems that fit regular musical rhythms.
30:29
And then they needed tunes. Exactly.
30:32
And that's where Louis Goudemel comes in.
30:34
He composed many of the iconic melodies and four part choral
30:37
arrangements for these metrical psalms.
30:39
Tragically, Goudemel himself was later killed during the Saint
30:42
Bartholomew's Day Massacre. Wow.
30:44
But his music lived on. This collaboration created the
30:47
Genevan Psalter, right? Yes, Calvin introduced Murrow's
30:51
versions in Geneva around 1542, and this collection of psalms,
30:54
set to relatively simple, sturdy, memorable tunes became
30:57
incredibly popular. It basically became the hymn
31:00
book of the entire international Reformed movement for centuries.
31:04
It replaced the complex Latin chants with something the whole
31:07
congregation could sing together directly from Scripture.
31:10
Alongside this liturgical development, the Reformation
31:12
also saw Christian scholars starting to engage more
31:15
seriously with Jewish textual scholarship, didn't they,
31:18
recognizing the need to learn from that tradition.
31:21
That was a critical move for getting back to the Hebrew text
31:23
accurately. Christian scholarship in the
31:26
West had relied heavily on the Latin Vulgate, maybe looking at
31:29
the Greek LXX, but Jewish scholars had maintained this
31:32
continuous tradition of Hebrew grammar and interpretation.
31:36
Like who? Figures like Rashi, David
31:38
Kimchi, Sadia Gaon, these medieval Jewish commentators
31:42
were masters of Hebrew grammar and lexicography.
31:45
Early Reformation era scholars realized they needed to tap into
31:49
that expertise. You have someone like Agustinus
31:51
Justinianus of Genoa. Right.
31:54
He published an impressive work called the Octopus Psalteri in
31:57
1516. So right at the dawn of the
31:59
Reformation, it presented the Psalter text in multiple
32:02
versions, hence Octopus Eightfold, and he explicitly
32:05
drew knowledge from Jewish sources like the Midrash and the
32:08
Zohar. He was recognized early on as a
32:10
leading Christian Hebrist. So the goal was to unite the
32:13
theological insights of the church with the linguistic
32:16
precision preserved in the synagogue.
32:17
Precisely. To rebuild biblical
32:19
interpretation on a solid linguistic foundation, you had
32:22
to bridge that gap. You needed both the spiritual
32:25
understanding and the grammatical accuracy.
32:27
Now, after the intensity and renewal of the Reformation
32:30
period, the sources suggest the 18th century saw something of a
32:33
decline, at least in the spiritual depth of Psalm
32:36
commentary. Yes, there seems to have been a
32:38
general trend towards more rationalistic or perhaps drier
32:42
academic approaches, particularly day after around
32:45
1750, the ecclesiastical and deeply spiritual character of
32:49
earlier exegesis faded somewhat in the mainstream.
32:53
But there were still pockets of that older piety.
32:55
Oh yes, the source mentions Burke's Gnomon to the Psalms,
32:58
published in 1760. Burke consciously followed the
33:02
model of the great pietist commentator Bengal.
33:04
His work represented that surviving spiritual remnant
33:07
keeping alive the tradition of devotional, heart focused
33:10
reading of the Psalms during a generally less fervent age.
33:13
Then we hit the 19th century, and it seems Psalm scholarship
33:16
exploded again, but this time into really intense critical
33:20
debate, particularly around dating.
33:22
Absolutely. The 19th century, especially in
33:25
Germany, became a real battleground for critical
33:28
theories about the Psalms origins.
33:30
The most contentious issue was dating, specifically the
33:33
proposal that many Psalms were written very late during the
33:36
Maccabean period. The Maccabean period.
33:38
That's like the 2nd century BC, right during the revolt against
33:42
the Greek Seleucid Empire. Exactly.
33:44
Critics like Ferdinand Hitzig and later Justice Olshausen
33:48
argued strongly for this late dating Hipzig was particularly
33:52
radical. What did he claim specifically?
33:54
Hits A proposed that pretty much no Psalms from Psalm 73 onwards
33:58
were written before the Mackebian era.
34:00
He went even further, suggesting that Psalms 1 and 2, the
34:03
introduction and Psalm 150 the conclusion were also Maccabean,
34:07
and he controversially attributed the final arrangement
34:09
and closing of the entire Psalter collection to the
34:12
Mackebian ruler Alexander Geneus, who reigned around one O
34:15
376 BC. Wow, That would completely
34:18
overturn the traditional view of Davidic authorship and the much
34:21
earlier canonical arrangement we discussed based on the
34:24
Chronicler. That's a huge shift.
34:26
It's a massive shift. It basically relocates the
34:29
entire formation of the Psalter to the very late Second Temple
34:33
period. Was this theory widely accepted
34:36
or was there pushback? There was immediate and very
34:39
strong pushback from many leading scholars of the time,
34:43
people like Hangstenburg, Kyle, also Ewald and Huppfeld.
34:47
Even though they had their own critical views, they
34:50
fundamentally disputed the possibility that a large number
34:52
of Maccabee and Psalms could have been added into a Canon
34:55
that was, by all other evidence, already considered closed and
34:59
arranged much earlier. Their argument rested on that
35:02
earlier dating of the five book structure.
35:04
Yes, they pointed back to the evidence.
35:06
We talked about the doxologies marking the five books, the
35:09
reference by the chronicler implying the structure was known
35:12
by the end of the Persian period, long before the
35:14
Maccabees. They argued it was, quote,
35:16
morally impossible that Alexander Janaeus, ruling in the
35:19
1st century BC, could have been the one to close a collection
35:22
that had clearly been stabilized and venerated for centuries
35:24
before his time. So if there are any Maccabean
35:27
psalms and some scholars still allow for a few possibilities,
35:31
they would have to be very few and inserted into an already
35:34
existing, largely fixed collection.
35:36
That became the more dominant counter argument.
35:39
The structural evidence the historical timeline of the
35:41
Canons formation provided a crucial check against these
35:45
radical late dating theories. OK, so amidst all this debate,
35:49
the traditional views, the radical critical views, you need
35:52
figures who try to synthesize to bring together the best of
35:56
historical rigor and theological insight.
35:59
And that seems to be where France de Lich comes in.
36:01
De Lich is a key figure here. His commentary on the Sulter,
36:05
first published in 1859 Sixty and then revised in 1867, became
36:09
a standard work for generations. He was very conscious of the
36:11
scholarly debates, but he aimed for a balanced approach.
36:15
What was his goal? How did he try to bridge the
36:17
gaps? His stated goal was to try and
36:20
break down the partition wall, as he put it, between synagogue
36:23
and church when it came to biblical interpretation, meaning
36:25
he wanted to combine the strengths of both traditions.
36:28
He valued the spiritual insights and the Christological readings
36:32
developed through centuries of Christian exposition, but he
36:35
also deeply respected and utilized the grammatical
36:39
precision and linguistic expertise of the Jewish
36:41
commentators like Rashi Kimchi and Saudi Agon.
36:45
He believed you needed both the grammatical foundation provided
36:48
by the synagogue tradition and the spiritual fulfillment
36:51
underskirt by the church tradition to truly understand
36:54
the Psalms. So a holistic approach,
36:56
linguistically sound, historically aware and
36:59
theologically sensitive. That was his aim, to offer a
37:02
reading that was faithful to the text in its original context,
37:05
but also alive to its place within the whole council of God
37:08
leading to Christ. And that brings us really to the
37:10
heart of the matter, especially from our Reformed perspective,
37:13
the Psalter's role in pointing forward it's redemptive
37:16
significance. The sources are clear that for
37:19
Christians, the starting point for understanding the Psalms has
37:21
to be Christ himself. Absolutely the ultimate guide.
37:25
The beginning of the goal of Christian Psalm interpretation,
37:27
as the source puts it, has to be what Jesus taught his disciples
37:31
after the resurrection. That key passage in Luke 24,
37:34
verses 44 and following. Here he opens their minds.
37:37
Exactly. He opens their minds to
37:39
understand the Scriptures, showing them how everything
37:42
written about him, specifically mentioning the Law of Moses, the
37:46
Prophets, and the Psalms, had to be fulfilled in his suffering,
37:49
death, and rising again. That's the authoritative lens
37:52
through which we're invited to read the Psalter.
37:55
Which means we can't just see the Psalms as purely human.
37:58
Poems expressing human emotions, how are profound.
38:02
They flow from something deeper. They flow from the spirit of
38:05
faith, yes, but also, as the source says, mainly also from
38:08
the Spirit of Prophecy. The very form the lyric poetry
38:11
of the Psalms often rises to the level of prophetic vision.
38:14
How does that work, especially with someone like David?
38:17
Well, David's life itself as God's anointed king, the head of
38:20
the covenant people, was intentionally shaped by God to
38:24
foreshadow the ultimate king, the Messiah.
38:27
Because of this typical significance of his life in
38:29
office, his experiences, his sufferings, his triumphs, his
38:33
prayers often get expressed in language that is either
38:36
consciously prophetic, looking ahead, or is providentially
38:39
molded into a pattern that finds its truest, deepest fulfillment
38:43
only in Christ. OK, to help us grasp that the
38:47
sources layout different ways the psalms point to Christ, they
38:50
mentioned 4 categories or classes of messianic psalms.
38:53
Right. This fourfold distinction is
38:55
helpful for seeing the different kinds of connections.
38:57
First, you have what are called eschatologically messianic
38:59
Psalms. Eschatological meaning focused
39:01
on the end times, the ultimate future.
39:04
Exactly. These psalms aren't primarily
39:06
about David's own immediate experience.
39:08
They look directly beyond the poet's own time to the final
39:12
ultimate king, the promised Messiah, in whom God's promises
39:15
will be perfectly fulfilled. Can.
39:16
We give an example. Psalm 110 is a classic one.
39:19
The Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand.
39:22
Or Psalm 2 talking about the nation's raging against Jayvi
39:25
and his anointed son who will rule them with a rod of iron.
39:29
These feel like pure prophetic words spoken in poetic form.
39:32
OK, that's the first type. What's the second?
39:34
Second are the typically messianic Psalms.
39:37
Here the connection is through a historical pattern or type
39:41
events or features in David's life, or indeed the life of any
39:44
Old Testament. St.
39:45
Living within God's covenant purposes function as a
39:48
vaticinium real. A real prophecy.
39:51
Yes, a prophecy enacted in history.
39:53
These real historical experiences become patterns that
39:56
prefigure something greater in Christ's life.
39:59
The New Testament then looks back and identifies these
40:02
patterns as fulfilled in Jesus. So the focus here is on the
40:05
parallel between the type David's experience and the anti
40:08
type Christ's experience, showing how Christ walked the
40:11
path foreshadowed by God's people.
40:13
Right. Think about the Psalms
40:15
describing rejection, betrayal, suffering.
40:18
Well, certainly true for David. In his context, these
40:22
experiences serve as authentic patterns pointing forward to the
40:26
ultimate rejection and suffering endured by Christ.
40:28
Then there's a third category where the connection seems even
40:31
closer, where the psalmist's words almost seem too big for
40:34
their own situation. That's the typical prophetically
40:37
Messianic Psalms. This is where the psalmist,
40:40
writing about his own experience, is carried along by
40:42
the Spirit to utter words, laments, hopes, descriptions of
40:46
suffering or glory that might be partially true for him, but
40:49
whose full meaning, depth and reality are only realized in
40:52
Christ, the ultimate antitype. Like maybe Psalm 22, my God, my
40:56
God, why have you forsaken me? Or parts of Psalm 69 that
40:59
mention being given vinegar to drink.
41:01
Those details seem incredibly specific.
41:03
Precisely. While David undoubtedly suffered
41:07
the intensity, the specific details, the sheer scope of the
41:10
language in these Psalms often seem to exceed his own
41:13
historical circumstances. They find their perfect,
41:15
complete fulfillment only in the unique person and passion of the
41:19
Messiah. Here the lyric form really rises
41:22
into direct prophecy, perhaps even beyond the full conscious
41:25
intent of the original human author.
41:27
OK. And the fourth category.
41:29
The 4th is the indirectly eschatologically messianic
41:32
Psalms. These are songs that might have
41:34
originally been composed for or applied to a contemporary king,
41:37
maybe at a coronation or a royal wedding.
41:40
Think of Psalm 45 or Psalm 72, which speak of the King's
41:43
righteousness, his universal dominion, his everlasting
41:46
throne. Aspirations that were frankly
41:48
never fully realized in any historical king of Israel or
41:50
Judah. Exactly.
41:52
Those hopes were just too grand, too glorious for any earthly
41:56
sinful monarch. So as these hopes remained
41:59
consistently unfulfilled, generation after generation, the
42:02
faithful community, the expecting church, began to read
42:05
these psalms differently. They adopted them as
42:07
eschatological hymns, prayers expressing their longing for the
42:11
true future king who would finally embody that perfect
42:14
righteousness and establish that eternal Kingdom.
42:17
The initial application was historical, but the ultimate
42:20
fulfillment became Messianic. That makes a lot of sense, and
42:23
the sheer volume of Psalm quotes in the New Testament really
42:26
drives home this prophetic connection, doesn't it?
42:29
It absolutely does. The Psalter is quoted, I think
42:31
the numbers around 70 times in the New Testament.
42:33
That's huge. Only the book of Isaiah is
42:35
quoted more frequently. The early church clearly saw the
42:38
Psalms as a primary source for understanding who Jesus was and
42:41
what he accomplished. Their own self understanding was
42:44
deeply shaped by the language and theology of the Psalms.
42:47
And you mentioned one New Testament book in particular
42:49
that seems almost built out of Psalm material.
42:51
Yes, the Epistle to the Hebrews. It's often said that Hebrews
42:55
grew up entirely from the roots of the language of the Old
42:57
Testament. Psalms.
42:59
Its core arguments about Christ's superiority to angels,
43:03
his high priesthood after the order of Mount Melchizedek, the
43:06
nature of the New covenant. These are all built upon
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extensive quotation and interpretation of key psalms,
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especially the royal songs like 2 and 110 and the suffering
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Psalms. So bringing it all together, the
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Psalter seems to hold Israel's hopes, intention, hope in the
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human king, the anointed one, but also hope directly in God
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himself. How does the New Testament
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resolve that? That's a great way to put it.
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Israel's hope historically ran along 2 parallel lines.
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Hope focused on the human Mashiach, the anointed king with
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the source calls Christocracy, and hope focus directly on Java
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himself as the ultimate savior and king, Theocracy in the
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Psalter itself. The divine line looking to Java
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often seems to be the stronger, more ultimate hope.
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And the New Testament. The New Testament doesn't erase
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those two lines. It essentially draws the
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stunning theological conclusion. The two lines converge.
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The ultimate anointed 1 is Javi himself Incarnate.
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The New Testament reveals the unio personalis, the personal
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union in Jesus Christ, who is both the true Davidic King and
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God with us. He fulfills both streams of Old
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Testament expectation in his one person.
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And looking at the sheer theological breadth of the
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Psalter, the sources make a pretty bold claim about its
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comprehensiveness. They do.
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It's a striking statement. There is no essential New
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Testament truth not contained in the Psalms, either explicitly in
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concept or at least implicitly in spiritual principle or germ
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form. No essential New Testament truth
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that's saying the entire gospel is somehow prefigured or
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embedded within the Psalter. In seed form, yes.
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It suggests the Psalter encapsulates the whole spiritual
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life, the theological framework, the deepest hopes and fears and
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prayers of the Old Covenant people in such a way that it
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perfectly prepares for and anticipates the fullness of the
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New Covenant reality revealed in Christ.
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It's the essential bridge. Hashtag tag outro.
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Wow, we've certainly covered a lot of ground.
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We trace the Psalter from that deliberate 5 book structure,
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mirroring the Pentateuch through David's foundational role in
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organizing worship and music across those fascinating
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editorial choices with the Javi and Elohim sections.
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Through the history of its translation.
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The LXX. The Targums, Jerome, the intense
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scholarly debates about dating, especially the Maccabean
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question, and figures like Luther, Calvin and Delish, who
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shaped how we read it. And landing finally on its
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undeniable identity as this profound prophetic document
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pointing consistently towards the person and work of Jesus
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Christ, as confirmed by Christ himself and the New Testament
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writers. The historical and critical
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study really reinforces that the Psalter isn't just a random
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anthology, it's a highly organized, theologically rich,
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redemptive work. David, you could say, gave the
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covenant Kingdom its voice, It's songbook, and the structure it
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was given provided the framework for that voice to carry Israel's
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faith across the centuries right up to the threshold of the New
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covenant. So for you, our listener, as we
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close this deep dive, perhaps here's a final image to reflect
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on, drawing from that idea in the sources about prophetic
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development. Think of the Old Testament
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framework, the law, the history, the structure of the Psalter
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itself as a kind of container of vessel right?
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A vessel holding the developing life of the New Testament within
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it. The source uses this image of
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the Old Testament barrier encompassing the germinating New
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Testament life. That life, the life of Christ
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and His Kingdom, is already present, growing within the old
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structures. But it's a life that's destined
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to expand, to ultimately burst that container.
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That's the provocative image. The prophetic energy sealed
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within the ancient structure is dynamic, expanding.
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It suggests the Psalter invites us not just to read the words,
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but to listen closely. Listen for the sound of that New
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Testament life stirring, growing, pressing against the
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boundaries within those ancient prayers, laments and praises.
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Fascinating thought to end on. Thank you for joining us on
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Reformed Thinking for this deep dive into the structure,
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history, and prophetic witness of the Psalter.
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We hope this look into its background enriches your own
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reading and understanding of this vital part of Scripture.