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Considering all of the books in the Bible, the book of Psalms is one of the most unique. St. Athanasius described it as a garden, saying that, while every book in the Bible has its own particular fruit, the Psalms has fruit from all over the Bible, including its own special fruit. St. Athanasius described the Psalms as a mirror. Just like one sees a reflection of himself in a mirror, we see a reflection of ourselves in the Psalms. We read other books in the Bible and see examples of the prayers of holy men and their actions. However, in the Psalms, it is as if the words written there are our own. As we look throughout the Psalms, we find many different songs for many different occasions. Some Psalms are for thanksgiving. Others are for praise. There are some for when we want to repent. There are Psalms that we pray when we are distressed. There are even Psalms that we pray on the way to church. As the book of Psalms is a garden that contains the fruit of many other books in the Bible, we find images of Christ hidden throughout. St. John Chrysostom explains that the Psalms spoke in a mysterious way about Christ so that the Jews would not reject them. In Luke 24:44, the Lord shared with His Apostles that the Psalms spoke about Him. Throughout the New Testament, the Apostles made appeals to the Psalms to show everyone that Jesus is the Messiah and the Savior. The Psalms is the book of worship for the Church, by which the Holy Spirit spoke to the Psalmist, the author(s) of the Psalms, to reveal truths about God. St. Basil the Great explained that God, as an intelligent doctor who gives his patient honey with medicine to mask its bitter taste so the patient may be healed, the Holy Spirit inspired the Psalmist to mix beautiful melodies with theological1 truths so our souls may be healed. St. Basil explains that people would recite the Psalms like music, but would have on their minds the attributes of God. They would sing about His love, mercy, protection, goodwill, and faithfulness to mankind. We will begin with an introduction to the book of Psalms. We will then see the transition of the Psalms from the Old to the New Testament. After this, we will study different methods to analyze Psalms so we could learn how to pray. Finally, we will discuss what the Psalms teach us about Christ. A. Name and Structure of the Book The name “Psalms” is taken from the Greek Psalmos. In the New Testament, there are two instances where the full title of the book is used. The first was in Luke 20:42 after the Lord responded to the arguments presented by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Luke writes: And He said to them, “How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David? Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’” Therefore David calls Him “Lord;” how is He then David’s Son? The other instances was in Acts 1:20 when St. Peter the Apostle spoke regarding the betrayal of Judas and the need to replace him. 1. By theological, we mean relating to God 2 2019 Youth Spiritual Competition Junior High Level Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles Department of Christian Education For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’2 The Book of Psalms is divided into five books or sections. Book I is Psalms 1-41; Book II is Psalms 42-72; Book III is Psalms 73-89; Book IV is Psalms 90-106; and Book V is Psalms 107-151.3 The Septuagint provides insights as to the collection of the Book of Psalms as well as its authorship, authority, and canonization.4 In 2 Maccabees 2:13 we read, “The same things are reported in the records and in the memoirs of Nehemiah, and also that he founded a library and gathered books about the kings and the prophets, and the writings of David, and letters of kings about votive offerings,” which clearly indicates that Nehemiah collected the books of Psalms in the library of the Temple under the designation, “the writings of David.” B. Authorship of the Psalms Traditionally, the Church attributes the Book of Psalms to David the Prophet. However, many of the Psalms were written by many different people. Besides King David, the Church recognizes that Psalms were authored by Solomon, the sons of Korah,5 Asaph,6 Heman the Ezrahite,7 Moses, Aggeus and Zacharias,8 the “Poor Man,”9 as well as anonymous authors.10 C. Numbering of the Psalms While the Psalms were written originally in Hebrew, they were also translated into Greek for the early Jews living outside of Israel. This Greek text, called the Septuagint, became that which were read by the earliest Christians, since the Jews and Gentiles outside of Israel mostly read and spoke Greek. So, the Early Church mainly prayed with the Greek Psalms. There are two major differences between the Hebrew and the Greek Psalms: (1) a difference in numbering, and (2) the addition of Psalm 151 in the Greek. Due to a difference in the division of the Psalms, there is a difference in numbering between the Hebrew and Greek Psalms. The Hebrew Psalms 9 and 10 are combined into the Greek Psalm 9, and the Hebrew Psalm 147 is divided into the Greek Psalms 146 and 147. Psalms 114 and 115 in Hebrew are combined into Psalm 113 in the Greek. Psalm 116 in the Hebrew is divided into Psalms 114 and 115 in the Greek. Besides 2. This is read on Covenant Thursday, the Praxis or Acts reading during Matins 3. See Appendix 1.1 for a graphic showing the five books of Psalms. 4. Canonization is the process by which the Church officially accepts a book of the Bible. 5. Korah is Moses’ cousin. His sons were temple singers. 6. Asaph is one of the three Levites David commissioned to sing in the choir. 7. Heman is another one of the three Levites David commissioned to sing in the choir; he is also the grandson of Samuel the prophet. 8. These are authors noted in select Psalms, see Appendix 1.2. 9. This is the self-given identity of the Psalmist in Psalm 101. See Appendix 1.2. 10. See the Appendix 1.2 for the complete list the Psalms and their respected authors. 3 2019 Youth Spiritual Competition Junior High Level Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles Department of Christian Education these, there is also the addition of Psalm 151 in the Greek. This leads to the Hebrew numbering being “one ahead” of the Greek, while the Greek is “one behind” the Hebrew.11 We will use the Greek numbering throughout our discussion unless otherwise noted. When people want to indicate that they are citing from the Greek Septuagint Text, they will abbreviate with LXX (70 in Roman numerals). The Hebrew text is often abbreviated with MT (meaning Masoretic Text). You will find these in many translations of the Bible and commentaries.