The Psalms
The Psalms represent in poetic form one of
the most profound expressions of faith and
spirituality. They cover a wide range of
human emotions and experiences, from joy
and celebration to anger and despair.
The Book of Psalms, originally written in
Hebrew, is found in the Jewish Scriptures.
However, this recording of the Psalms refers
to their use in the Christian tradition, within
the classic English translation of the Bible
known as the King James or Authorized
Version.
The Psalms are traditionally associated
with King David, who is introduced in the
first book of Samuel as a talented musician.
The story is told of how David used to calm
the temper of King Saul by playing the harp.
David went on to succeed Saul as King of
Israel, and many of the Psalms are given the
title ‘Psalm of David’. Whilst some of the
Psalms may indeed be compositions of King
David, many appear to have their origin in
the worship of the people of Israel and in
later periods of Israelite history.
The final collection that we know as the
Book of Psalms probably emerged by the
end of the third century BCE, which means
that the Psalms were written and collected over a period of six or seven hundred years.
For the people of Israel, worship was
centred for much of this period on the
Temple in Jerusalem and seems to have
focussed on a number of festivals. It is likely
that many of the Psalms originated and were
used in this cultic setting: as people came to
the Temple to pray and offer sacrifice, the
Psalms gave them a vehicle for expressing
their praises and their prayers to God.
An illustration of this occurs in Psalm 24,
which seems to represent part of a
processional liturgy accompanying the
bringing of the Ark of the Covenant into
Jerusalem and to the Temple. As the Ark
approaches, the cry goes up:
Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
and be lifted up ye everlasting doors;
and the King of glory shall come in.
The response then comes in the form of
a question:
Who is this King of glory?
And all reply in the great affirmation of faith:
The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle.
This is essentially a Psalm of praise to
God, but others focus much more on
lamentation and the expression of sorrow or
despair. Psalm 137, for example, comes from
a later period, after the destruction of the
Temple in 587 BCE and the exile of many
Israelites to Babylon. This Psalm laments the
plight of the exiles, and the difficulty of
singing praise to God in such an alien
setting:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down,
yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
We hanged our harps upon the willows…
How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a
strange land?
One of the best-known Psalms, 121, is
thought to be a pilgrim’s Psalm. It begins
with a statement expressing fear at what a
journey, most probably to the Temple, might
involve:
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…
On the roads leading to Jerusalem, perhaps
dangers might lie in store in the hills
surrounding the vulnerable traveller. And so
the Psalmist asks:
…from whence cometh my help?
The Psalm goes on to speak reassuringly of
the presence of God with the pilgrim: He
will act as his or her keeper, a minder on this
dangerous and intimidating journey.
Many of the Psalms touch at the heart
of human experiences that are universal.
They question the meaning and purpose
of life’s events, representing the desire to
understand God’s ways. They plead for
God’s help and intervention amidst the pain
of illness or the suffering of persecution.
They describe all manner of hardships and
pull no punches in expressing their anguish
and confusion before God. Perhaps most
notable among these is Psalm 88 which,
uniquely, contains no concluding expression
of hope in God. It is an honest cry of
complaint, described by some as the saddest
Psalm in the whole collection.
More frequently, the cry of questioning
despair gives way to hope and confidence in
God, often as the Psalmist remembers better
days or reflects upon the story of God’s
faithfulness to the people of Israel in past
generations. Psalm 22, quoted by Jesus from
the Cross, is one such Psalm:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me?
Why art thou so far from helping me,
and from the words of my roaring?…
But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted
and thou didst deliver them.
Psalms of penitence and bleak remorse
are mixed with Psalms that soar high in
praise and thanksgiving to God: the whole
gamut of human emotion is contained in
this wonderful collection. They are inspired
by faith and their purpose is to stimulate and
encourage faith. Perhaps one of the most
profound is Psalm 139, which speaks of the
Psalmist’s sense of God’s presence through
every experience, from birth right through
life, such that the Psalmist cannot find any
place in which to escape the divine
presence. Some read this as a wonderfully
reassuring description of God’s care and
concern for the individual through all that
life may bring, whilst others find it a
haunting Psalm, a suffocating image. But
halfway through, it contains this verse
relating to God’s presence even through the
darkest hour, a verse that has brought hope
and comfort to many:
Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but
the night shineth as the day: the darkness
and the light are both alike to thee.
The Book of Psalms is a collection of
poems that takes us through the darkest
human experiences and into places where all
is light: the assertion that emerges
eloquently and forcefully is that God is with
us, through all.
Notes by Dr Alan Winton
The music on this recording taken from the NAXOS catalogue
HANDEL The Messiah
8.550667–68
The Scholars Baroque Ensemble
WEELKES Anthems
8.553209
Oxford Camerata
Jeremy Summerly, conductor
GIBBONS Choral and Organ Music
8.553130
Oxford Camerata
Laurence Cummings, organ
Jeremy Summerly, conductor
Psalms for the Soul
8.554823
Choir of St John’s, Elora
Noel Edison, conductor
Early English Organ Music Volume 2
8.550719
Joseph Payne
