Focus of the Month: September-December Psalms

Importance of the Psalms
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They are relevant ( we find help in the Psalms 

​They are theological ( we find attributes of God in the Psalms )
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They express our thoughts and feelings.
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They are filled with Praise
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They are filled with Prayer
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Each and every Psalm is unique, and the uniqueness comes from the Forms. The Forms help us understand the passage.
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Psalms are Poetic… It communicates not just information but experiences. We see the depths of those who write these psalms…
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It uses things like figures of speech.
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We see Similes A is like B.
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Ex.. Ps 52:8

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8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.
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Metaphors A is B
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Ex. Ps 115:9

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Psalm 115:9 ESV
9 O Israel, trust in the Lord! He is their help and their shield.
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Personification
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non-human A is human b
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Psalm 98:8–9 ESV

8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.
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Word Pictures
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Psalm 97:2–6 ESV
2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. 4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. 6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory.
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Identical Parallelism
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Psalm 29:1–2 ESV
1 Ascribe to the Lord, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. 2 Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness.
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Synonymous parallelism Synonymous parallelism is a poetic literary device which involves the repetition of one idea in successive lines.
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Psalm 19:1–2 ESV
1 The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. 2 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
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Antithetical parallelism Antithetical parallelism provides an antithesis, or contrast. A verse containing antithetical parallelism will bring together opposing ideas in marked contrast. Instead of saying the same thing twice, it says one thing and then a different thing.
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​Psalm 20:7–8 ESV
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. 8 They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.
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Synthetic parallelism Synthetic parallelism involves the completion or expansion of the idea of the first part in the second part.
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Psalm 46:7 ESV
7 The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah
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In the Psalms we see things like Acrostics An acrostic poem is a poem in which the first letter (or sometimes the first syllable) of each line spells out a word, name, or sentence.
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Longest is Psalms 119 where it has every single letter in the Hebrew alphabet is listed.
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The Psalms make up 5 books.
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1-41
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42-72
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73-89
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90-106
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107-150
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The Psalms have 116 Superscriptions. 110 have a proper name and 74 mention David.
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Some are anonymous. 12 for Asaph 12 under David. Korahites 12, Haggai 3,
Zechariah 3, 2 Soloman. Moses had 1.
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Psalms developed overtime. Certain Individuals wrote the Psalms. Under David the Psalms went to Jerusalem, then his son Soloman developed them more. Exile led to more collection of the Psalms and more Psalms then finally they were brought together.
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There are many themes in the Psalms, Worship  85Faith  75Prayer: Petition  70Thankfulness  62God:Providence  60Righteousness  57God:Faithfulness  56God:Love  56Music  55Salvation  54God:Power  52Joy  49Eternity  47Evil  45Grief  43Persecution  43Blessing  41Holiness  41Reverence  41God:Mercy  36Tabernacle  36Glory  35Creation  33God:Sovereignty  33Justice  32Prayer  31Death  28God:Wrath  28Honor  26Honesty  25Suffering  25Happiness  24Judgment  23God:Grace  22God:Presence  21Guidance  21Poverty  21Pride  21Humility  20Revelation  20Sin  20Family:Children  19Hope  19Obedience  18Patience  18Power  18Promises  18Redemption  18Wisdom  17Speech  16Education  15Peace  15Sacrifice  15Stress  15Complaining  14Holidays:Thanksgiving  14Commitment  13God:Knowledge  13Heaven  13Law  13Slander  13Victory  13Covenant  12Discipline  12Forgiveness  12Prophecy:Jesus  12Fear  11Injustice  11Mission  11Repentance  11Confession  10Encouragement  10Violence  10Character  9Doubt  9Miracles  9Purity  9Stewardship  9Watchfulness  9Assurance  8Election  8Foolishness  8Idolatry  8Killing  8Prayer:Intercession  8War  8Wealth  8Angels  7Anger  7Beauty  7Depression  7Friendship  7Healing  7Loneliness  7Truth  7Weakness  7Comfort  6Courage  6Family: Fathers  6Mercy  6Revenge  6Apostasy  5Atheism  5Blasphemy  5Clothing  5Conflict  5Discouragement  5Giving  5Greed  5Kingdom of God  5Perseverance  5Revival  5Alcohol  4Atonement  4Eschatology:Resurrection  4God:Father  4Government  4Guilt  4Holidays:Fathers  4Restoration  4Sabbath  4Sanctity of Life  4Scripture  4Service  4Sickness  4Submission  4Work  4Adoption  3Calling  3Creativity  3Economics  3Envy  3Family  3Fasting  3Freedom  3Holidays: Memorial  3Holy Spirit  3Justification  3Money  3Profanity  3Temptation  3Borrowing  2Church and State  2Contentment  2Counseling  2Family: Mothers  2Gluttony  2GoodWorks  2Holidays:Mothers  2Jesus:Epiphany  2Jesus: Resurrection  2Legalism  2Love  2Marriage  2Neighbors  2BabyDedication  1Church: Fellowship  1Conversion  1Creation:Renewal  1Debt  1Discipleship  1Eschatology:Last Judgment  1Family: Parents  1Family: Wives  1Holidays: New Years  1Hypocrisy  1Jealousy  1Jesus:Humanity  1Leadership  1Parables  1Prophecy  1Shame  1Stealing  1Vision  1Women  1idolatry  1
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Mainly the Psalms are known by their Genre.

The main genres are Praise, Lament, Royal, Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Trust, and Hymn.