Covenant in the Psalms (1)

Whilst many Psalms do not mention covenant (berith) explicitly, the theme of covenant runs through the Psalter seamlessly. The basic covenantal formula is “You shall be my people and I shall be your God” so whenever we find the psalmist saying “my God” or “my King” the reason he can say this is because a [...]

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Growth of the Psalms Tradition

As I have been re-reading Childs’ work I thought it pertinent to repost the following, taken from B. S. Childs’ Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments pages 193-194.
One of the major modifications of Gunkel’s form critical approach which has occurred during the last decades has been the recognition of the multilayered quality of [...]

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Prophets & Psalter

The perspective of Israel’s worship in the Psalter is eschatologically orientated. As a result, the Psalter in its canonical form, far from being different in kind from the prophetic message, joins with the prophets in announcing God’s coming kingship.
Childs, B. (1979) Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture. SCM Press. pp. 518

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The answer to Books 1-3

The first three books of the Psalter have Royal Psalms at their seams (Pss. 2, 41, 72 & 89) indicating that these should be understood as a collection. Not that they stood as a collection independently from Books 4 and 5 but that they stand as a unity in and of themselves within the Psalter. [...]

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Athanasius, Mary and Ps. 45

In reading Edward Sri’s book entitled Queen Mother: A Biblical Theology of Mary’s Queenship I found the following statement:
…the royal woman in Psalm 44:10 [Ps. 45:10] has been considered a prefiguring of Mary in her queenship by Athanasius, Aquinas, Bonaventure, and in the ancient liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom.
After a little digging I found the [...]

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Fr. Reardon on Psalm 93

The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty;
the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength;
indeed, the world is established, firm and secure.
Your throne was established long ago;
you are from all eternity.
The seas [...]

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Theme of the Psalter

If we are asked to sum up the message of the Psalter what should we say? I would echo the following statement by Robert Cole:
Psalms 1 and 2 were not read as two disparate Torah and royal psalms respectively in the final redaction of the Psalter; rather, both depict the ideal Joshua-like warrior and king [...]

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Passover and Pss. 113-118

It is recorded that “On the evening of the fourteenth day of the month, while camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho, the Israelites celebrated the Passover” (Josh. 5:10) and I just wonder if this Spring festival associated with the Exodus-Conquest theme is the Sitz im Leben of the Egyptian Psalter, Pss. 113-118. This [...]

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Childs on the growth of the Psalms Tradition

The following is taken from B. S. Childs’ Biblical Theology of the Old and New Testaments pages 193-194.
One of the major modifications of Gunkel’s form critical approach which has occurred during the last decades has been the recognition of the multilayered quality of the Psalms which is no longer content to speak of a limited [...]

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Calming the storm and the kingship of Jesus

On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so [...]

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