J. Vernon McGee's Notes
J. Vernon McGee's Notes
and Outlines
and Outlines
for the Psalms
for the Psalms
The Book of Worship
The Hymn Book of the Temple
Title:
The title in Hebrew means Praises or Book of
Praises. The title in the Greek suggests the idea of
an instrumental accompaniment. Our title comes from the Greek
psalmos.
Writers:
Many writers contributed one or more psalms. They are as
follows: David, 73; Moses, 1
(90th);
Solomon, 2; Sons of Korah, 11; Asaph, 12; Heman, 1
(88th);
Ethan, 1
(89th);
Hezekiah, 10; "Orphanic," 39.
David, "the sweet psalmist or Israel," has 73 psalms assigned
to him (
Psalm 2 is ascribed to him in
Acts 4:25;
Psalm 95 in
Hebrews 4:7 ). Also, he could be the author of some of the
"Orphanic" psalms. He had a special aptitude for and was
peculiarly endowed to write these songs from experience. He
arranged those in existence in his day for temple use.
Theme:
Christ (the Messiah) is prominent throughout (
Luke 24:44 ). The King and the kingdom are the theme
songs of the Psalms.
Key Word:
Hallelujah
Key Psalm:
Psalm 150. "Hallelujah" occurs 13 times in 6 verses.
Features:
The Psalms record deep devotion, intense feeling,
exalted emotion and dark dejection. The Psalms play with
all the stops pulled out upon the keyboard of the human
soul.
They run the psychological gamut. This book has been
called the epitome and anatomy of the soul and designated
as the garden of the Scriptures. The place Psalms have held
in the lives of God's people testifies to their
universality, although they have a peculiar Jewish
application. They express the deep feelings of all
believing hearts in all generations.
The Psalms are full of Christ. There is a more complete
picture of Him in Psalms than in the Gospels. The Gospels
tell us that He went to the mountain to pray, but the
Psalms give us His prayer. The Gospels tell us that He
was crucified, but the Psalms tell us what went on in His
own heart during the crucifixion. The Gospels tell us He
went back to heaven, but the Psalms begin where the
Gospels leave off and show us Christ seated in heaven.
There are many types of psalms. Although all of them have
Christ as the object of worship, some are technically
called
messianic psalms. These record the birth, life, death,
resurrection, glory, priesthood, kingship, and return of
Christ. The imprecatory psalms have caused the most
criticism because of their vindictiveness and prayers for
judgement. (Christians are told to love their enemies.)
These psalms come from a time of war and from a people who
under the law were looking for justice and peace on the
earth. They look to a time coming on the earth when the
Antichrist will be in power. We have no reasonable basis to
say how people should act and what they should say under
those circumstances. Other types of psalms include
penitential,
historic,
nature,
pilgrim,
Hallel, missionary, puritan, acrostic,
and praise of God's Word.
Outline:
(Corresponds to the Pentateuch of Moses)
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