Sixty Days in the Psalms: Books Four and Five

Celebrating the King and His Wisdom as Exiles

If you’ve been journeying through the Psalter with us using the “Sixty Days in the Psalms” resource, we are now in the final books of the Psalter: Book 4 (Psalms 90-106) and Book 5 (Psalms 107-150). The evidence suggests that both of these books were edited and compiled in the form we have now after the Babylonian exile as the Jews were returning to Jerusalem, rebuilding, and reestablishing worship at the temple. Especially in Book 5, we find many songs and prayers that are structured for liturgical use in a worship setting. To understand the psalms in these collections it is important to consider the theological outlook that the people of God would have had during and after exile.

Exile Then

In 586 BC, King Nebuchadnezzar led an assault of the Babylonian Empire against the people of Judah and took many of them into captivity.¹ This assault included the siege of Jerusalem, mass killings, and the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem. The last King of Judah, Zedekiah, was blinded and brought to Babylon, while his sons, who would have been the heirs of the throne, were murdered. Gedaliah was appointed governor over Jerusalem, and only the poor remained in Judah.²

God had warned Israel in the Torah and through the prophets that this exile would come if they continued in their idolatry and rebellion against God’s instructions. Nonetheless, the events of the exile still radically shook the theological senses of the Israelites. God had made a covenant promise of a never-ending dynasty to King David. Had God now failed to keep this promise? The temple represented the faithful presence of God dwelling amongst his people. During the exile, the prophet Ezekiel records seeing God’s presence leave the temple.³ Had God now abandoned the people who were his once treasured possession?

The last song of Book 3 celebrates God’s covenant with David but then encapsulates the fears of Judah in exile:

Lord, where is your steadfast love of old,

which by your faithfulness you swore to David?⁴

These theological questions that the people of God were forced to ask during exile led to a deeper understanding of God’s intentions for his people and for the world. The questions led God’s people to first look back past the glory days of King David to remember their original calling and experience of God’s redemption. With Jerusalem and the temple destroyed, the people needed to reflect on a time when God himself, not a human representative, was king over them. So, in Book 4 of the Psalter, Moses is mentioned seven times (he is only mentioned once elsewhere in the Psalter) to recall the period before Israel’s monarchy. The period of Moses and the giving of the law reminded them that God had faithfully led them as their true king, even when they had no land to call home. Their current state of exile could then be conceived as a new wilderness through which God must lead them by his saving acts and his wise instructions.

Through the exile also came a deepened understanding of who is included in the salvation of God. If the God of the universe is their king who chose them initially to be a blessing to the entire world, then other peoples must somehow be a part of God’s cosmic plan of redemption as well. Psalm 96 invites “all the families of the peoples” to worship Israel’s God whose glory has been declared to all nations.

On the other side of exile, the liturgists of Israel are using this emphasis on the kingship of God to teach Israel through their prayers and songs that God is the true king to whom their human kings pointed. This why the voice of David, who had been absent in Book 3, returns in the final book. The Davidic Covenant had not failed, rather it was now understood that this promise to a human king would find its ultimate fulfillment in God himself coming to be their king.

This theme of God’s kingship is interwoven with consistent reminders of God’s steadfast love (hesed) throughout these final psalms. Even as David’s voice returns in Book 5, he assumes a Moses-like role to remind the people of this essential characteristic of God that was originally revealed in Exodus 34:6-7:

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. ⁵

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.⁶

Thus, God’s steadfast love and faithfulness to his promise is certain, even without David on the throne. God is affirmed as still loyal to his character, covenant, and covenant people. And his covenant people are reminded that their faithfulness to God is to be demonstrated in their living according to God’s instructions. Nancy deClaissé-Walford writes of the use of psalms of David in this final collection, “King David…leads the community of Israelites in celebrating God as king—as protector, provider, and sustainer—in this new life situation in which they find themselves. And at the heart of the book , in Psalm 119, the community discovers the way in which God will rule over them, the Torah…”⁷

A part of this reminder of God’s kingship is also a reminder of God’s solidarity with the oppressed.⁸ Israel had already been instructed throughout the Torah to give special care to the most vulnerable in their society. They had now experienced in exile the brutal realities of oppression. God’s special care for the lowest social classes, the downtrodden, the widows and orphans, etc. meant they were also recipients of this special care. And, in that, they had a responsibility in their reconstituted society to continue to embody that care.

Finally, on the other side of exile, having experience God’s rescue and faithful love, it became obvious that God’s people needed a “Liturgy of Thanksgiving” that would properly direct their worship to their Savior and King. Hassell Bullock writes of these thanksgiving psalms in Book 5 of the Psalter: “…the new community celebrates their freedom, the reconstruction of the temple, and the developing centrality of the Torah as the basis of their new life.”⁹

This worship liturgy that is focused on thanksgiving for the new thing that God had done and is doing can especially been seen in these mini-collections of psalms found within Book 5:

• Egyptian Hallel (113-118)

• Songs of Ascents (120-134)

• Hallelujah Psalms (146-150)

The Hallelujah Psalms were likely inserted after the editing of Book Five as a final response to the entire Psalter. God’s kingship and God’s instructions (Torah) are emphasized throughout the entire Psalter. How, then, should people primarily respond to God’s provision of care, protection, and a path to a life of blessing with him? The answer is clear: praise. All of the Psalter points God’s people then and now to the importance of a life consistently punctuated by the praise of God.

Exile Now

The story of the exile of Judah, like the story of the exile of the first humans in Genesis, speaks to the broader experience of humanity. Because of rebellion against God, particularly the sin of idolatry in which we worship and serve created things rather than the Creator, we reject the way of life for which God designed us. Thus, all of creation finds itself in a state of exile, separation from the life-giving presence of God. But the good news of God’s steadfast love for Judah in exile points to the even greater news of the demonstration of God’s steadfast love for all of humanity through the Messiah Jesus. Jesus comes to bear the curse of our sinful rebellion upon himself and to make a way for all who turn in trust to him to experience the restoration of life with God.

Given the climactic work of God in the Messiah, we can and should sing and pray these songs of thanksgiving to develop within our hearts the habit of praise for the God who loves us, redeems us from the exile of sin and death, and restores us to life with him.

Nonetheless, the story of exile is not yet fully over. We still await the final day of redemption when Jesus returns. Only then will we fully realize the new creation project that was kickstarted at Jesus’ first coming. So, in the meantime, we have to learn to be faithful to God in the midst of exile. How do we do so, without a temple to worship at, without a human king on earth to lead us?

We do so as Jesus-centered, Spirit-filled communities that represent the home of God in a world that is not home yet. Just as the final books of the Psalter emphasize the Kingship of God and the Torah as the basis for the people’s faithfulness during exile, we are called together as God’s people to remember and celebrate God’s Son Jesus as our risen and reigning King. We are called to be led by the Spirit who empowers us to live according to God’s wisdom. It is the life of our King Jesus and this indwelling power of the Spirit that enables our faithfulness to God. Jesus models for us what true humanity, a life lived according to God’s divine wisdom looks like, and the Spirit, through our prayers, community, and the Word, empowers us for the new life he has made possible.

And, in this new life, between what God has done and is yet to do, praise is as essential as it ever was for God’s people. May these final collections of psalms lead us to punctuate our days with praise, celebrating God’s king, celebrating God’s wisdom, and celebrating with longing for God’s final homecoming when all will truly and ultimately be well.

1. See 2 Chronicles 36.

2. See Jeremiah 40-42.

3. See Ezekiel 10.

4. Psalm 89:4.

5. Psalm 103:8.

6. Psalm 145:8-9.

7. Introduction to the Psalms (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2004), 113.

8. See Psalm 109.

9. Encountering the Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2001), 52.