Many commentaries have been used to understand each of the 150 songs of Tehillim; few relate to the meaning of their order and placement in the book. Contextual interpretation is an amazing tool that helps deepen our understanding of Tehillim based on this systematic method of analysis. Click on the image “The Book of Tehillim as a Book” to view as a pdf. The image icons are a graphic illustration of each book. Click on the title below the icon to view the topics for each book. This section is followed by the table of contents.
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The poet’s moral and religious teachings, coping with evil, good virtues of people and closeness to God. (Almost) all the Tehillim are attributed to David. The psalmist wishes to internalize the teachings of the divine Torah (Ps 1 v2 – 40 v9).
David and his arms as a Torah scroll, as the opening of the Book of Tehillim (Ps 1) with the walls of Jerusalem in the background (Ps 2). The crown of Torah with the crown of royalty.
The poets of the Temple, the sons of Korach and Asaf, long for Zion and the Temple. The second collection l’David (Ps 51-Ps 72) opens with David’s response after his sin with Bat Sheva and ends with a prayer for the success of the complete kingdom in the future.
David as a harp (Ps 58 v9) in the Temple accompanies the poets in their song and the Cohanim in their Temple service. The priestly crown with the crown of royalty.
The poets of the Temple, Asaf and the sons of Korach, continue to pray for closeness to God (Ps 73) and for God’s compassion despite troubles from enemies, the exile of Israel and the destruction. The kingdom of the House of David exists in the memories and in the prayers for the future to come.
The prayer of Moses during crisis, the rehabilitation of Israel in the Diaspora; Acceptance of the Kingdom of the God of nations in the psalms of “God is King” (Ps 93, 97, 99), the return of the Kingdom of David and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (Ps 101, 102) with a prayer for the return to Zion (Ps 106, 47).
The return to Zion and the restoration of the kingdom of the House of David (Ps 108-110, 138-145) with songs of praise and thanksgiving (the Egyptian Hallel, the Great Hallel); David praises God and invites the whole world to praise God together with him in rebuilt Jerusalem (Ps 145-150).