Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 165:659 (Jul 2008)
Article: Is the Psalter a Book with a Single Message?
Author: S. Jonathan Murphy

BSac 165:659 (July-September 2008) p. 283

Is the Psalter a Book with a Single Message?

S. Jonathan Murphy

S. Jonathan Murphy is Instructor in Pastoral Ministries, Dallas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas.

The Psalms have always enjoyed a special place in the life of the church. Many believers have been spiritually refreshed and nourished as they have read, memorized, prayed, sung, and poured over these wonderful portions of the Scriptures. They have helped believers voice inner emotions often difficult to express. The Psalms have taught believers to pray, sing, weep, and praise. Though they express the cry of the human heart to God, they also convey His comfort and hope. Luther appropriately declared, “The Psalter is the book of all saints; and everyone, in whatever situation he may be, finds in that situation Psalms and words that fit his case, that suit him as if they were put there just for his sake, so that he could not put it better himself, or find or wish for anything better.”1

Historically this great work has been approached at an individual level––taking each psalm (or a small cluster of psalms) alone as though it were the only one to be studied. While this approach dominates the history of Psalms studies, it has always been believed that each psalm is part of a greater whole. Academic undertakings of the twentieth century gave further weight to this approach by applying form criticism to the study and classification of individual psalms.2 However, a new paradigm has emerged in

BSac 165:659 (July-September 2008) p. 284

studies of the Psalms. This change approaches the Scriptures “as texts, that is, as literary entities and canonical wholes.”3 Consequently a fresh wave of research approaches the Psalter holistically, that is, as though it is a book with a single unifying message. This article explores the recent trend in Psalms studies to view the Psalter as a book.

Holistic Approaches To The Psalms

Gerald H. Wilson: A Celebration Of Yahweh’s Kingship

One ought not discuss a holistic approach to the Book of Psalms today without noting the contribution of Gerald H. Wilson. Under the tutelage of Brevard S. Childs, Wilson initially presented his approach to the Hebrew Psalter in his 1981 dissertation, “The Editing of the Hebrew Psalter.”4 This groundbreaking essay developed Wilson’s own adaptation of Childs’s canonical criticism to the Psalms, and it also set the stage for further studies on the Psalter.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe