Bible psalm. What are psalms?

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:55

People who are far from religion may not know what a psalm is. In the Bible, there is an entire God-inspired book of 150 such songs of praise. By whom and when were they written?

What are psalms: definition

These are religious songs of a laudatory nature that are used to worship God. This applies to Judaism and Christianity.

In other words, the genre of prayer poetry is the psalm. What is so special about these lyric pieces?

Initially, these were vocal compositions intended to be performed to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The headings to some of the psalms indicate which ones. Jews used to sing these sacred songs at holidays.

Each psalm has a unique artistic value. What distinguishes the structure of the song itself? Why is it unusual?

Building psalms

It is interesting that in the original text, written in Hebrew, there is no rhyme, and the rhythm of these lyrical works is based on artistic parallelism. Each psalm is divided into so-called verses or stanzas. For convenience inmost translations into Russian they are numbered and each is printed on a new line. This structure distinguished these books of poetry from other parts of the Bible written in prose.

Many psalms are composed in the form of an acrostic (the initial letters of each stanza form the Hebrew alphabet). This helped memorize the text.

Authorship

The book has been in the making for over 1000 years. The author of the 90th and 91st psalms is Moses, who lived in the 16th century BC. e. The words from the 126th and 137th songs of praise, which recall Jerusalem in ruins and the Babylonian captivity, indicate that this composition was created after the liberation, that is, approximately in the 6th century BC. e.

Most of the psalms were written by David, who himself was a musician. At least one belongs to the hand of Solomon. Asaf is listed as the author of 12 songs. Also, the sons of Korah and Ethan took part in the creation of hymns to the praise of God. The authorship of four dozen psalms has not been established.

Themes

Each psalm is a prayer, an appeal to the Creator with a request, praise or gratitude. Generally speaking, the main leitmotif is a relationship with God. Much attention is paid to the deeds and qualities of the Almighty, such as kindness, mercy, sympathy. But these are not faceless prayers, but, on the contrary, emotionally colored appeals to the Creator.

The Psalmists had a very close relationship with Him and did not hesitate to express their deepest feelings - from joy, hope, admiration and gratitude to sorrow, sorrow and repentance. Some ofsongs are just cries for help from a person who is in a hopeless situation. Each psalm has such a vivid emotional coloring that such a state is easily conveyed to the reader.

David's personal experiences form the basis of his songs.

He experienced a lot of sorrow and joy on his way: he defeated the giant Goliath, became the son-in-law of the king, lived for a long time as an exile in the desert, fleeing from his father-in-law, sat on the throne in Jerusalem, seriously sinned, suffered from strife in his family. Those who ask for forgiveness from God will be close to the 52nd psalm. What was the particular reason for writing it? David created it after he comprehended the gravity of his actions - adultery with Bathsheba and the staged murder of her husband.

There are also a lot of useful instructions expressed in sublime artistic language. Some of the psalms are a retrospective of events in the history of the Israelite people. Others contain prophecies, most of which concern the Messiah.

Reading these songs is a delight. They contain not only artistic, but also spiritual value.