May 7, 2013

The Psalms and Heroes of the Faith

  
Here is a nice reminder about the focus in the Psalms from older articles that I am scanning from my files.

"One does not have to read very much in the Psalms before it becomes evident that the emphasis of this literature is upon the person of God. Worship would be very difficult without a clear picture of its object. The Psalms do not encourage any glorification of the great heroes of the faith. In fact, there is hardly any mention of some of the greatest names in Israel’s history. Only two Psalms name Abraham (47 and 105); the name of Moses occurs only in the title of Psalm 90, three times in Psalm 106, and one time each in Psalms 77, 99, 103, and 105—only nine times in all. The Psalter is entirely silent concerning Noah, Joshua, Gideon, Samson, Elijah, and Elisha. Solomon’s name appears only in titles of two Psalms. Even David’s name occurs only thirteen times apart from titles of Psalms."

Robert D. Bell, "The Theology of the Psalms, Part 2: The Pattern for Worship," Biblical Viewpoint 4 (1970):116.
   

1 comment:

James Dowden said...

*Where* Solomon's name appears, however, is very interesting.