Psalms: A Unified Collection

Psalms fills a unique slot in the canon of Scripture as the songbook of God’s chosen people. While it is truly a collection of individual compositions, it is also a profoundly unified work with careful arrangement and progression from beginning to end. Fruit will come from reading single psalms at a time (more on that in a future post), but if we primarily or exclusively read psalms this way, we will miss significant intended meaning and depth.

In what ways is Psalm intended to be seen as a unified work? James Hamilton and Matthew Damico (H & D) share four such features in their book Reading the Psalms as Scripture:

First, the doxologies at the end of each book in the Psalms mark the movement of the text. While they do share a similar structure, H & D argue that the doxologies are not later additions, but are part of the original literary stricture of the Psalms in which they are located.

Second, the superscriptions play a big role in connecting Psalms to particular authors and historical contexts. On the basis of these superscriptions, H & D argue for a number of conclusions about the flow of Psalms. Books 1 and 2 center around the historical life of David, but then book 3 moves on to Solomon and the kings after him, before the close in book 5 with psalms about the future king from David’s line.

Third, Psalms 1 and 2 serve as an overture for the entire collection by introducing the key themes that will reoccur throughout.

Fourth, abundant linking words, phrases, and sentence structures connect certain Psalms to one another. In some cases a phrase may be incomplete or confusing unless one considers the context of the same phrase in another Psalm.

While we may be tempted to pluck out parts of the psalms that resonate with us personally, it is critical that we understand the intentions of the authors and editors who composed and arranged this masterful anthology.