The Psalms have been well-loved and frequently used by Christians throughout history. For directness, intensity, and intimacy, they are unrivaled in all of Scripture. Somehow the psalmists seem to have anticipated our own awe, desires, and frustrations.
Yet the Psalms also challenge us when we look at them closely. Their poetry is unfamiliar in form. Many images used are foreign to us today. And the psalmists sometimes express troubling thoughts that seem hard to reconcile with other teachings of Scripture.
In this volume of the popular How to Read Series, Tremper Longman III gives us the kind of help we need to overcome the distance between the psalmists' world and ours. He explains the various genres of psalms, the way they were used in Hebrew worship, their relationship to the rest of the Old Testament, and the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. Then he looks at how Christians can appropriate the message and insights of Psalms today.
Step-by-step suggestions for interpreting the psalms on our own are followed by exercises for further study and reflection, plus a helpful guide to commentaries on the Psalms. This second edition includes expanded content, updated sources, and a new appendix on the structure of the book of Psalms.
Table of Content
Preface to the Second Edition
Preface to the First Edition
Introduction: An Invitation to the Psalms
Part 1: The Psalms Then and Now
1. The Genres of the Psalms
2. The Origin, Development, and Use of the Psalms
3. The Heart of the Old Testament
4. A Christian Reading of the Psalms
5. The Psalms, Mirror of the Soul
Part 2: The Art of the Psalms
6. Old Testament Poetry
7. Understanding Parallelism
8. Imagery in the Psalms
Part 3: A Medley of Psalms
9. Psalm 98: Let All the Earth Praise God, Our Warrior
10. Psalm 69: Lord, I Suffer for Your Sake
11. Psalm 30: Thank You, Lord, for Healing Me!
Epilogue
Appendix: Is There a Meaningful Order to the Psalms?
Notes
Answers to the Exercises
Guide to Commentaries on the Psalms
General Index
Scripture Index
About the author
Tremper Longman III (Ph D, Yale University) is Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He is also visiting professor of Old Testament at Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and adjunct of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. He lectures regularly at Regent College in Vancouver and the Canadian Theological Seminary in Calgary.Longman is the author or coauthor of over twenty books, including How to Read Genesis, How to Read the Psalms, How to Read Proverbs, Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation, Old Testament Essentials and coeditor of A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. He and Dan Allender have coauthored Bold Love, Cry of the Soul, Intimate Allies, The Intimate Mystery and the Intimate Marriage Bible studies.
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