Wednesday Bible Study: Sing that Thing!

The Book of Psalms is a hymnal, consisting of song lyrics believed to be associated with worship at the Temple. The psalms are thought to have been composed from the 9th through 5th Centuries BCE, but they were compiled in the 5th Century, i.e. the Second Temple period. The canonical version in the protestant Old Testament largely corresponds to the Masoretic text. There are some small differences in numbering and content with the Septuagint, but I won ' t waste your time with that. We don ' t know much of anything about the music. There was instrumental accompaniment, at least to many of them, as it is occasionally referenced in the text. I ' m using the Revised Standard Version because the NIV, for some reason, omits the instructions and other extraneous matter. The Psalms are usually considered to be of five main types, which I ' ll explain further as we get to them: Hymns, or songs of praise to God; communal laments; " Royal " psalms which extoll the power of a king, although the kings are never identified; individual laments; and individual thanksgiving. Here are the first three. Number One is a hymn; Number Two is a royal psalm, the " son of God " referring to a king and referencing his divine right to rule; Number Three may be considered a royal psalm. The attribution to King David is surely fictitious, however. It might also be considered an individual thanksgiving, but for the attribution. Note its very violent content, which is typical. Psalm One is presumably ...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs