“Old Hundredth”-Psalm C -- By: Charles Lee Feinberg
Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 100:397 (Jan 1943)
Article: “Old Hundredth”-Psalm C
Author: Charles Lee Feinberg
BSac 100:397 (Jan 43) p. 53
“Old Hundredth”-Psalm C
The Psalms have with warrant endeared themselves to the hearts of countless millions, whether of the Jewish Synagogue or the Christian Church. Indeed, even the professor of no established religion delights to meditate and study this portion of the Bible. The Psalms sweep over the entire range of the trials and joys of human experience. They are “The Garden of the Scriptures” and “The Soul’s Anatomy.” A boundless source of comfort, uplift, hope, and consolation have they been through all the centuries. Since such is the case, many will be surprised when we maintain that the Psalms, though one of the most familiar portions of the Word of God, are yet among those books perhaps least understood. How is this to be accounted for? The reasons are these: (1) there has been woeful failure to realize that the Psalms constitute and were in reality the divinely inspired prayer and praise book of God’s ancient people, Israel. Overlooking this fact, or unaware of it, all too many applied to the Church that which was never intended for her, and have found themselves bound by the problem of fitting many elements of the Psalter into the scheme of the Church. Confusion worse confounded has been the inevitable outcome of such a procedure. (2) There has been an insupportable failure to discern the vital prophetic, character of the book. The prophetic nature of the Psalms is readily to be seen from (a) a comparison of the combined testimony of the Old Testament Scriptures. Many themes and movements, if not all of them, treated by the prophets are reckoned with in the Psalms. (b) The testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 21:42ff; 22:41–46) and His apostles confirm beyond a doubt the prophetic content of this revelation. See also Acts 2:25–28, 34–36 and numerous other passages. If these so important and leading interpretative principles are thrown to the winds, irreparable loss must result.
Outstanding in the entire range of the Psalms is the much-beloved and cherished “Old Hundredth.” It is among
BSac 100:397 (Jan 43) p. 54
the five psalms (Pss. 15, 43, 125, and 127, being the others) that have but five verses; only five others (Pss. 117, 123, 131, 133...
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