Part 1: Introduction, Moses (90)

Honest to God
-A Study of the Psalms-

What are the Psalms?
The word ‘Psalm’ comes from the Hebrew word ‘Psalmos’ which literally means ‘to pluck’ an instrument. The Psalms were songs to be sung to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument or instruments.

In the New Testament, Paul gives this command: ‘Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.’ The Greek word for ‘music in your heart’ is ‘psallontes.’ In other words, we are to pull our ‘heartstrings’ when we sing to the Lord.
Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16, James 5:13

Who wrote the Psalms?
76 by David 2-9,11-32,34-41,51-65,68,70,86,101,103,105,108-110,122,124,131,133,138-145
12 by Asaph 50,73-83
11 by the sons of Korah 42-49,84-85,87
02 by Solomon 72,127
01 by Moses 90
01 by Heman 88
01 by Ethan 89
46 by an anonymous author 1,10,33,66-67,71,91-100,102,104,106-107,111-121,123,125-126,128-130,132,134-137,146-150

Fast Facts
Psalms is the longest book of the Bible
Psalms is the most quoted in the NT
Psalms is made up of 5 sections
~ 01-41 similar to Genesis
~ 42-72 similar to Exodus
~ 73-89 similar to Leviticus
~ 90-106 similar to Numbers
~ 107-150 similar to Deuteronomy

3 Ways to Study Psalms
~ By Sequence
~ By Author
~ By Genre
---wisdom (1, 37, 49, 73, 112, from either above (privilege) or below (questioning)...)
---nature (8, 19, 104, 148, Nature is de-divinized and de-moralized)
---illness
---lament
---thanks
---hymn
---trust
---penitence
---zion
---salvation history
---imprecation
---torah/liturgical

The Poetry of the Psalms
The main feature is parallelism. Comparison & Contrast is used heavily. Some Psalms are Acrostics (for memory, to demonstrate skill of author, to show completeness, to show order) (9-10, 10, 25, 34, 37, 111, 112, 119, 145)










Psalm 90 may be the oldest Psalm since it seems to have been written by Moses himself. In some manuscripts, Psalm 91 is connected to this Psalm. If this grouping is historical, Moses is the author of both Psalms. In any case, Psalm 90 speaks of God's sovereignty:

God was here long before your birth
God will be here long after your death
God knows our supposedly secret sins
Life is typically 70-80 years in length

The message of the Psalm can seemingly be summarized in the following quote from verse 12: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”