A short look at the themes in the book and how Jesus is seen in the book. The New Testament says the law presents in a sense pictures of heavenly realities and there is provision for a King in the law so it should be no surprise if the King of Kings is portrayed using the life of David ( as well as other kings) Book 1 tends to have psalms that are personal in nature. Additionally often Book 1 is taken as poetically like Genesis and has themes concerning man and the blessed man in particular. We concentrate on the flow, themes and connections themes to theme.

4. Psalm 1
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the
wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,

5. Psalm 2
1. Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
2 The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his
Anointed…

6. The kings of Israel in the line of David representing a
‘Son of God’ Motif
– 1 Chronicles 17:13
• I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not
take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was
before you… (God to David about Solomon)
– Psalm 2:7,8 “I will tell of the decree: The Lord said to me, “You are my
Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the
nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.”
(David, the Lord’s anointed, portending Christ)

7. Blessed, Anointed, Opposed and experiencing
suffering

8. About those Selah’s …. And the first ‘Selah’ is in Psalm 3
• Save Me, O My God
• A Psalm of David, when he fled from
Absalom his son.
• O Lord, how many are my foes!
• Many are rising against me;
• 2 many are saying of my soul,
• there is no salvation for him in God.
• 3 But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
• my glory, and the lifter of my head.
• 4 cried aloud to the Lord,
• and he answered me from his holy hill.
• 5 I lay down and slept;
• I woke again, for the Lord sustained me.
• 6 I will not be afraid of many thousands of
people
• who have set themselves against me all
around.
• 7 Arise, O Lord!
• Save me, O my God!
• For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
• you break the teeth of the wicked.
• 8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;
• your blessing be on your people!

9. • And the music starts …
Anointed in Psalm 1, Opposed in 2 and on the run in 3
An evening Psalm and a morning Psalm
And as in Genesis evening comes before morning.

10. Psalm 4
6. There are many who say,
“Who will show us some good?
Lift up the light of your face
upon us, O Lord!”
7 You have put more joy in my
heart than they have when their
grain and wine abound.

11. Psalm 5
3 Lord, in the morning you hear my
voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice
for you and watch.

12. Psalm 6
6. I am weary with my moaning;
every night I flood my bed with tears;
I drench my couch with my weeping.

13. Psalm 7
12 If a man does not repent, God will whet
his sword; he has bent and readied his bow;
And a vindication

14. Too wondrous to be contained in the sky but
expressed in the lips of…..
… because of your enemies

15. 1 The blessed man
2 Anointed
3 Opposed
4 Rejected
5 Suffering
8 Glorified
7 Vindicated
6. Sorrowful
A first group of themes… a flow pf Psalms …

16. Psalms 1-8 are expressions of David
• Yet paints a picture using the canvas of David’s
life, of the anointing, humiliation and
glorification of Jesus
• In various senses true of David, true of
believers yet more true of Jesus (and taken
so in the New Testament)
Psalms tend to be in loose groups with similar themes and we see a flow that
paints a picture of Christ’s Incarnation, condescension, opposition,
suffering, vindication and glorification in the opening eight Psalms, as if
setting a them for the entire book of Psalms to be built on as we read the
book.

17. Some ideas about Book 1 of Psalms
Poetically it’s a bit like Genesis

18. Book 1 will be mostly David, many anonymous Psalms (which also could be David)
and one for or from Jeduthan, the choir director of Israel
There are 19 Psalms in book 1 titles that reference ‘to the choirmaster’

19. Other people mentioned by name in book 1

20. 9 is to the toon ‘death of a son’
9 is more victorious and 10 more a lament
9 is a ‘wine press Psalm like 81 and 84
Some Psalms in Book 1 ( and book 5 ) seems to be written to be
easily learned and remembered. Each line or phrase starting with a
successive letter of the Hebrew Alphabet
These Psalms tend to have not only important lessons and themes but
also can be significant transitions between Psalms of various themes

21. 11 -14 The state of
man is dismal
15 Who can ascend
the mount of the
Lord?
And we move on to the next flow of Psalms.
The Ark has been recovered
Bringing it back is problematic
One touching the ark died 70 men looking inside it died
Who can bring it to ‘Mt Zion’
Who can Ascend the mount of the Lord

22. 11 -14 The state of
man is dismal
15 Who can ascend
the mount of the
Lord?
And we move on to the next flow of Psalms.
Mankind is deeply in need

23. 11 -14 The state of
man is dismal
16-18 raised
15 Who can ascend
the mount of the
Lord?
And we move on to the next flow of Psalms.

24. 11 -14 The state of
man is dismal
16-18 raised
15 Who can ascend
the mount of the
Lord?

25. A transition: Psalm 19-21
• Value of God’s words - Psalm 19
– Some expression seen in nature, general revelation
– Seen in the law and scripture, special revelation
• Do not hope in other things – Psalm 20
– Not chariots or horses
• The king - Psalm 21
– The one most blessed forever and the righteous
singing
– Similar to how Jesus return is described in 2 Thess 2
Being revealed with fire and destroying the wicked

26. The hind of the dawn - title of Psalm 22
Dawn of what?

27. The hind of the dawn - title of Psalm 22
The darkness is about to be broken and
there will be a sun rise, but it’s still dark

28. 22 The cross
23 the crook
25 My response – I lift
up my soul
24 The crown
Psalms 15 and 24 are types of ascension Psalms
And a third flow of Psalms…

29. Judges 10:1
After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola
the son of Puah, son of Dodo, a man of
Issachar, and he lived at Shamir in the hill
country of Ephraim.
Tola (meaning worm, but also used for scarlet) is in contrast to son of Puah (meaning
splendid and was the name of one of the Egyptian midwives who saved the little Jewish
boys.)

30. But I am a worm, and no man.” What did he
mean by saying “I am a worm”? ( worm/tola)
•

31. Judges 10:1
After Abimelech there arose to save Israel Tola
(worm or scarlet) the son of Puah (splendid),
son of Dodo (beloved) , a man of Issachar, and
he lived at Shamir in the hill country of
Ephraim.
Tola (meaning worm, but also used for scarlet) is in contrast to son of Puah (meaning
splendid and was the name of one of the Egyptian midwives who saved the little Jewish
boys.)

32. A strange name ‘tola’
• Tola is a worm
• A worm that lives in a tree ( ‘cursed is he who
hangs on a tree’ )
• Crushed for its red dye

33. 22 The cross
23 the crook
25 My response – I lift
up my soul
24 The crown
Psalms 15 and 24 are types of ascension Psalms
And a third flow of Psalms…

34. 22 The cross
23 the crook
25 My response – I lift
up my soul
24 The crown
And a third flow of Psalms…

35. 22 The cross
23 the crook
25 My response – I lift
up my soul
24 The crown
And a third flow of Psalms…
Psalm 25 is the application

36. Psalm 25, an application Psalm
• Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His
life for his Sheep in Psalms 22 and 23
• Jesus is the King of Glory in 24, an ascension
Psalm (like Psalm 15)
• Psalm 25 is an acrostic Psalm about
forgiveness
– In response ‘I lift up my soul to the Lord’
– And the acrostic is about finding forgiveness (a
fitting response)

37. Some difficulties saying the Psalms of
David are merely about David…
• Some things fit Jesus strongly and
or not at all
– May the King hear us when we call
– May the Lord accept the King’s sacrifice
– Open the gates that the King of Glory may come in
– He will not let his holy one see decay
– I will give the nations as your inheritance
– And many more….

38. 9 10 19 2 0 21 25 30 32 34 37 40 411 2
A
B
c
A
B
c
A
B
c
A
B
c
A
B
c
So we have the three flows of Psalms, often starting or ending
with acrostic Psalms

39. The themes are about the ‘blessed man’ Jesus and the book is book ended by
Psalms about the blessed man

45. And what follows…
• With heavy ‘resurrection’ like language, the
founding of the temple in Psalm 30
• We may take as the resurrection key to the
founding of the church as changed believers
are living stones in a temple to God.
• Just as Genesis says “there was an evening
and a morning’, in that order, the sunset of
the Son of God went before the sunrise of the
Son of God

47. Ps 25 I lift up my eyes to the Lord of glory. The lifted soul find
forgiveness. An acrostic Psalm
Ps 26 I will not fear when tongues wag Forgiveness in the last Psalm is balanced by a Psalm
of living in integrity
Ps 27 You will bring me to your tent and set me on your rock – I will not fear
Ps 28 A celebration of many types of prayer
Ps 29 A celebration of the voice of the Lord. Worship in heaven with the angels turns to a
storm on earth coming down from the mountains to the desserts.
Ps 30 Dedication of the temple – couched in resurrection terms
Ps 31 Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit
Jesus by example trusts in God but in the closing verse
Encourages all to do the same
Ps 31: 23-24 Love the Lord, all you his saints!
The Lord preserves the faithful
but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage,
all you who wait for the Lord!
Ps 32 Another forgiveness Psalm – blessed are those whose sins are
forgiven.. Ps 32 the righteous goes out with joyful praise…

48. • We see this once in Psalm 25 and multiple times
in Psalm 37 (both as acrostic Psalms)
• The meek shall inherit the earth in Psalm 37 are
in surrounded by prophetic Psalms about Jesus
betray, arrest and trial
• Additionally 37 is next to ‘show me My end’ a
short Psalm of Jeduthan
• Jesus is portrayed as a poor man betrayed by a
fried

49. Psalm 34 is an acrostic Psalm about a time David
escaped from a ‘terrorist like King’ by drooling
over his beard and pretending to be crazy.. The
theme is not the escape but to ‘taste and see the
Lord is good’
God will protect ‘the righteous’ and ‘not one of his
bones would be broken
And at the cross, Jesus bones were not broken
referring to this Psalm…. Poetically true of the
righteous who will not suffer ultimate harm…
Literally true of ‘the righteous’ Jesus who’s bones
were literally ‘not broken’

50. Psalms that stand out by title or size
• For the founding of the temple Psalm 30
• By David ‘the servant of the Lord’ Psalm 36
• The meek shall inherit the earth Psalm 37
• For the memorial offering Psalm 38
• For the burnt offering Psalm 40
Don’t worry too much about the numbering as Catholics and Protestants
number Psalms slightly differently ( the numbers are not in the original and
are mostly a convenience)

51. A word study: the words of God, the righteous and the wicked
as book 1 draws to a close
The end of 32 ties with the first 33 ( and the righteous comes in with joyful praise…)
Psalm 33:4c For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.
Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his
mouth all their host.
Psalm 33 is the first encouragement to worship God with musical in the Psalms
Psalm 34:1 [ Taste and See That the Lord Is Good ] [ Of David, when he changed his
behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away. ] I will bless
the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
Psalm 35:11 Jesus was accused by false witnesses
Psalm 35:19 Jesus was hated without a cause
Psalm 35:20 For they do not speak peace, but against those who are quiet in the land
they devise words of deceit. (malicous witnesses right up against me, said to be Jesus
in the gospels)
Psalm 35:21 They open wide their mouths against me; they say, “Aha, Aha! Our eyes
have seen it!”
34 and 35 will both touch on the providence of God, in crisis, in the heavens, in the
sea, on earth
Psalm 36:3 The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit; he has ceased to act wisely
and do good. (the wicked are blind in their sin but in your light we see light)

52. And we note the closing Psalms to
Jeduthan the Choirmaster of David …
by title…
• Psalm 39:13 Look away from me, that I may
smile again, before I depart and am no more!”
The Psalms will sometimes have unprocessed, pre-reflective feeling, even
confused sounding ones given to God, suggesting that bringing your feelings
to God is all right and find resolution in Him eventually. As a start bring the
feelings to God.

53. And we note the closing Psalms to
Jeduthan the Choirmaster of David …
by title…
• “Show me my end”
• Jeduthun the Choir master’s Psalm (or Psalms)

54. Our word study finds an unbroken list of Psalms 33-41 in book 1
Psalm 37:30 The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue
speaks justice.
Psalm 38:13 But I am like a deaf man; I do not hear, like a mute man
who does not open his mouth.
Psalm 38:14 I have become like a man who does not hear, and in whose
mouth are no rebukes.
Psalm 38 is ‘for the memorial offering’ by title and the first
confession of sin in the Psalms

55. And we continue with the word study till the end of book 1: Psalm 41
And the only Psalm in book one with an author who is not David
Psalm 39:1 [ What Is the Measure of My Days? ] [ To the choirmaster: to
Jeduthun. A Psalm of David. ] I said, “I will guard my ways, that I may not sin
with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, so long as the wicked are
in my presence.”
Psalm 39:2 I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, and my distress
grew worse.
Psalm 39:9 I am mute; I do not open my mouth, for it is you who have done it.
Psalm 40:3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many
will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.
Psalm 41:6 And when one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his
heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad
Psalm 41:7 All who hate me whisper together about me; they imagine the
worst for me.
Psalm 41:9 Jesus was Betrayed by a friend

56. And the book closes to some Psalms referenced in the
New Testament as referring to Jesus arrest and betrayal
In both Psalms 40 and 41, David refers to himself as ‘a poor
man’ , references to poor far outnumbering rich in the
psalms. Jesus being rich became poor that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him.
Psalm 40:7/Hebrews 10:7
Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me
( The motif of the Messiah who became a poor man
who is betrayed and helped by the right hand of God
will become more pronounced in book 5, particularly
Psalms 109 and 110, but that’s another story… )

57. And we might summarize thie last group as
Psalm 33 – 36 God’s words are contrasted with those of the unrighteous
and the redeemed
Ps 37 The meek shall inherit the earth (an acrostic psalm)
‘I will not speak’
Ps 38 apparently I did speak and am now confessing sin
The first confession of sin in the Psalms
(Psalm 38 is ‘for the memorial offering’ by title and the first personal
confession of sin in the Psalms)
Ps 39 show me my end
The Psalmist sees his end
and sees the end of sin in Jesus
Ps 40 “in the scroll it is written of me’
Ps 40-41 the betrayal arrest and suffering of the blessed but poor man

60. Much much more could be said…
• But this is just a quick look around
• All or almost all Psalms concern Christ
• All or almost all Psalms also concern us,
shaping our thinking and feelings in the light
of who Christ is and what he has done
But… this is just a quick look around…
And we are done.

61. Some references
• 55 Psalms quotes in the New
testament (23 are from book 1:
psalms 1-41 )
– http://www.biblestudyguide.org/comment/cal
vin/comm_vol12/htm/xxxvi.htm
– Most of the citations are in Romans (7
references ) and next is Hebrews, Acts and
Matthew with ( 3 references each)

62. The New testament quotes Psalms more than any other Old Testament book (next is
Isaiah) see https://www.crossway.org/blog/2006/03/nt-citations-of-ot/

64. The 5 books of Psalms
Click to go to a very vrief overview of the five books