Many psalms are grouped together, either by a common style or theme, or as a series.  Examples of psalms grouped by themes include: the Creation Psalms (8, 19, 104); the History Psalms (77, 114, 135); the Messianic Psalms, referred to as such in the New Testament (2, 16, 22, 45, 69, 72, 110); the Imprecatory Psalms (5, 6, 11, 12, 35, 37, 40 and others); and the Penitential Psalms (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143).

Examples of psalms grouped as a series include: the Shepherd Psalms (22 to 24); the Kingdom Psalms (45 to 50); the Royal Psalms (94 to 100); the Hallel Psalms (113 to 118); the Songs of Ascent (120 to 134); and the Hallelujah Psalms (146 to 150).

A psalm has up to four levels of application: (a) past; (b) present; (c) personal; and (d) prophetic. Remember, we need to meditate on the psalms, focusing on devotion, rather than doctrine. This way each psalm becomes a gateway into the very presence of God…

The Book of Psalms is Israel’s hymnbook; indeed many are addressed ‘to the Chief Musician’ – they were intended to be sung. 

The psalms are poetry (laced with some very strong theology). But unlike western poetry, which has a parallelism of sound (rhyme) or tempo (rhythm), Hebrew poetry has a parallelism of ideas – which can be

Comparative (“He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun” Ps 37 v 6);

Contrastive (“For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” Ps 1 v 6); or

Completive (“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart; the commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes” Ps 19 v 8). 

We need to learn to meditate on the psalms, so that they become gateways into the presence of God…