I recently read where St. Jerome, a Church Father and renowned scripture scholar of the Church, said someone coming into the Christian faith should start their life long journey of Bible study by learning about the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament.
It is the start of a new year so I thought I would include my first post about the Book of Psalms. I received a book for Christmas from my sister and brother-in-law, A Catholic Introduction to the Bible – The Old Testament by Dr. John Bergsma and Dr. Brant Pitre.
This is a massive book with over 1,000 pages if you include the index in the back of the book. There is a wealth of information about the Old Testament in this book. I would like to share with you some “nuggets of knowledge” about what I learned the book says about the Psalms just from browsing through the pages on that topic in the book.
An Introduction to the Book of Psalms
Psalms 31:25
Be strong and take heart, all who hope in the LORD.
- Another name for the book of Psalms is the Psalter.
- There are approximately 150 chapters in the Book of Psalms.
- The word psalm means “song” (Greek psalmos).
- All of the psalms are Hebrew poetry (Hebrew poetry does not rhyme).
- The psalms are diversified in genre (laments, thanksgivings, hymns, royal, etc.).
- The date of composition of the Psalms spans over 500 years of Israelite history.
- Most of the Psalter are lament psalms (cries/petitions in distress to God).
- The Psalter is divided into 5 sections or “books.”
- The Psalms have multiple authors, including David, Moses and Solomon.
- 86 of the 150 psalms are ascribed to David in the Greek Psalter.
- The Psalms are an ancient torah (instruction) on how to live and walk with God.
- In the New Testament the Psalms are the most frequently quoted OT book.
- The Psalms are the most commented OT book in the history of the Church.
- The Psalms were prayed devoutly by Jesus during his earthly life.
- Jesus fulfilled the Psalms during his Passion, death and Resurrection.
- The Psalms remain essential to the prayer of the Church (CCC2586).
- The Psalms were both inspired by the Holy Spirit, and prayed by Jesus.
- The Psalms functions as both individual and communal prayers for Christians.
- Per St. Thomas Aquinas, everything taught in Bible is connected to the Psalter.
- The Psalms is the most frequently read book in the Liturgy of the Word at Mass.
- The Psalter is the most frequently read book in the Liturgy of the Hours.
- The Psalms are prayed without ceasing every single day in the Church.
The Psalms are a Book of Praises
Psalms 99:3
Let them praise your great and awesome name: Holy is He!
I bought a book earlier this year in the gift shop of St. Joseph Abbey, The Psalms Songs of Faith and Praise by Gregory J. Polan, OSB. I would like to share some points of interest about the Psalms from Abbot Primate Polan’s book with you below.
- The Hebrew name for the Book of Psalms means “A Book of Praises.”
- Praying the Psalms offers praise to God as the source of all blessing.
- The Psalms can also be referred to as “the prayer-book of the Bible.”
- The Psalms are ancient prayers that reflect every situation in human life.
- The Responsorial Psalm at Mass voices a prayer of response to God from what God has said to us from the First Reading of the Word during of the Mass.
- The diverse imagery of the Psalms speak to our journey through life.
- Biblical Hebrew comprises only about 5,000 vocabulary words.
- Like the Torah (Pentateuch) the Psalter is also an “instruction in prayer.”
- Each of the five books of the Psalms conclude with a characteristic doxology – an expression of praise and blessing to God.
Literary Forms of the Psalms
Psalms 38:23
Come quickly to help me, my Lord and my salvation!
Abbot Primate Polan provides a listing of the most common literary forms of the psalms in the Psalter. The most common literary forms of the Psalter are:
- The Individual Laments – Most numerous of the Psalter’s literary forms.
- The Communal Laments – Distinguished by the community’s historical experience of exile, including recounting the destruction of the temple.
- The Thanksgiving Song – An expression of gratitude to God for deliverance from distress by the saving hand of God.
- Psalms of Confidence – Spiritually significant as they are expressions of faith in God’s goodness and action in human lives.
- Royal or Messianic Psalms – Prayers that focus on the life of the anointed one, the king, including prayers for his well being, protection and victory in battle.
- Songs of Zion/Enthronement Psalms – Proclaim God as the sovereign Lord and Jerusalem as God’s dwelling place on earth.
- Historical Psalms – Tell the stories of Israel (God’s savings actions, regret for Israel’s failures to respond faithfully to God’s love, etc.).
- Wisdom Psalms – Pithy maxims of instruction and expression that provide spiritual insight in living a righteous life in accord with God’s laws.
Abbot Primate Polan goes on to say that when we pray a Responsorial Psalm during the Liturgy of the Word at Mass we pray in a faith that unites us in time and space through countless generations, including the Church’s earliest days.
The author also reverberates what was mentioned about Jesus earlier in this post:
“When we use the Psalms daily as a source of inspiration and prayer, we are using the very prayers that Jesus learned as a child, and which so influenced his own relationship with the one whom he addressed as Abba.” Source: The Psalms Songs of Faith and Praise by Gregory J. Polan, OSB.
The Psalms Help with Formation
Psalms 139:16
Your eyes saw me unformed; in your book all are written down; my days were shaped, before one came to be.
A confession by the author of Catholic Ace: There is a soft spot in my heart for the Psalms because the Psalms changed me. Example – since I started praying the Psalms over ten years ago, I no longer want to say any bad words in conversation, nor do I want to be around anyone who liberally speaks any bad words in conversation.
By praying these beloved ancient prayers daily in the Liturgy of the Hours, they begin to take root in your soul and help form you into the person God intends for you to be.
Here is a listing of what I believe are some of the benefits of praying the Psalms.
- I believe praying the Psalms helps form you into who God wants you to be.
- Praying the Psalms has a peaceful and almost tranquilizing effect on the soul.
- The Psalms help to deliver a soul from evil and cleanse it from impurities.
- The Psalter and rosary have a deep connection beyond human understanding.
- Praying the Psalms offers a direct line of upward communication to God.
- The Psalter, prayed continuously by the Church, is the heartbeat of the Church.
- Those who devoutly pray the Psalms are climbing a spiritual ladder to heaven.
Will not God then secure the rights of his chosen ones who call out to him day and night? Will he be slow to answer them? I tell you, he will see to it that justice is done for them speedily. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” Luke 18:7-8
