There is much love and respect within the church for the book of Psalms. And Tremper Longman III accurately identifies in his Preface that the Psalms are both “familiar” and “foreign” to many people in the church. People in and outside of the church are constantly exposed to the Psalms. It is a common book for devotionals and laments. However, even with people’s daily exposure with the book it has not made the text much clearer in regards to the poetic idioms, expressions, and structures that people have struggled to understanding when reading the book of the Psalms. Therefore, Longman’s book desires to help give readers the tools to read the Psalms and to properly understand the text. The book aids the reader in learning how to explore the
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Unlike other books of the Bible, the Psalms were written by multiple individuals and at different times and for different reasons. We know that most notably David, Moses, unknown others have written some of the psalms. Therefore, the context of these writings provides different circumstances and contexts to the purpose of the psalms. A larger portion was collected into a larger volume for the purpose of the church gather to worship. Longman defends this argument by highlighting 1 Chronicles 16:4 where David institutionalizing daily worship to God of prayer and song described in the Psalms. And again in 1 Samuel 2:1-11, Hannah’s song of praise to God describes this particular position. Longman also writes about how the titles of the Psalms were given by their authors to highlight the readers understood the usage of the psalms. For example Psalm 92, illustrates a hymn of thanksgiving and praise to God for His good works. The Psalms are beautiful to sing because in them we find the key themes and doctrines of the Old Testament. Longman investigates these themes of covenant, law, kingship, forgiveness, and etc. since he believes that the Psalms are "the heart of the Old Testament" (51). In this way the Psalms remind Israel and also us that as we sing these psalms they are reminders of the major doctrines of the Old
Unlike other books of the Bible, the Psalms were written by multiple individuals and at different times and for different reasons. We know that most notably David, Moses, unknown others have written some of the psalms. Therefore, the context of these writings provides different circumstances and contexts to the purpose of the psalms. A larger portion was collected into a larger volume for the purpose of the church gather to worship. Longman defends this argument by highlighting 1 Chronicles 16:4 where David institutionalizing daily worship to God of prayer and song described in the Psalms. And again in 1 Samuel 2:1-11, Hannah’s song of praise to God describes this particular position. Longman also writes about how the titles of the Psalms were given by their authors to highlight the readers understood the usage of the psalms. For example Psalm 92, illustrates a hymn of thanksgiving and praise to God for His good works. The Psalms are beautiful to sing because in them we find the key themes and doctrines of the Old Testament. Longman investigates these themes of covenant, law, kingship, forgiveness, and etc. since he believes that the Psalms are "the heart of the Old Testament" (51). In this way the Psalms remind Israel and also us that as we sing these psalms they are reminders of the major doctrines of the Old