Bible Reading Group: Week 9 ~ Bread for Beggars

Here’s some background info to help you in your reading of Psalms 1-50 this week.

— The Psalter is often referred to as the hymnal and prayer book of the Old Testament. For the most part, the Psalms are a book of prayer and praise to God. Many of the Psalms were composed to be used in worship, and we see that continue on to this day, as you might recognize the words of many of these Psalms from our own uses in worship.

-Note the “superscriptions” that are listed right after the Psalm number on most of the Psalms. These give some basic information about each Psalm, including the following: 1) Author of Psalm 2.) Name of the collection 3.) Type of Psalm 4.) Musical notations 5.) Liturgical notations 6.) Brief indications of occasion for composition. Mostly, the parts that will be of the most interest for you are the author of the Psalm, and the occasions for composition. These give us a nice taste of some of the background and context of each Psalm.

–The Psalter is divided into 5 books, although it seems clear that the Psalter was thought of as a whole. Psalms 1-41 are Book I, Psalms 42-72 are Book II, Psalms 73-89 are Book III, Psalms 90-106 are Book IV, and Psalms 107-150 are Book V. Since most of our section for this week are taken out of Book I, I’ll give the most background on this collection of books, and let next week’s facilitator talk about Book II.

–Book I is characterized by Davidic authorship, and the book most likely originated as a collection of David’s psalms, which were intended for use in the tabernacle and temple. If we could look for a major theme for Book I, we could use “Suffering and Triumph of the Godly,” illustrated by the life experiences of David.
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–Note also a number of Messianic references that can be found in Book I. Keep and eye out for these, and be sure to shout them out if you find one!

I’ll leave you with this. If you look at the wording of Psalm 1, verse 2 says, “But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” The Hebrew word for “meditates” indicates something along the lines of emitting a low growl or grumble, similar to the sound a dog makes while savoring a delicious bone. That’s what we want to do with the Psalms! (And all of God’s Word!)

The Psalms are also a great way to pray every day as well! Try this out for your devotional reading. Highlight some passages and thoughts in your Bible as you read these Psalms that you’d like to use for prayer, and then use the wording of the Psalms to pray it back to God! I think it’ll be a beneficial addition to your devotional reading.

God’s blessings to you all as you savor God’s Word in the Psalms! I’ll be here to answer your questions, so keep ’em coming!