Perhaps you were unaware that the 150 psalms in the Bible are divided into five separate books. This is an interesting reality.
The writer of Ecclesiastes, whom I believe to be King Solomon in his very old age, even nearing death, was known as the kind of person who studied and arranged proverbs as a hobby. We are told he weighed proverbs and songs with great care (Eccl. 12:9; 1 Kings 4:32). Perhaps this is natural for a man who paid enormous attention to the making of gardens, parks, and arboreta (Eccl. 2:5), contemplated the order of birds, reptiles, fish (1 Kings 4:33), and built a grand house with grand attention to detail over a thirteen year period (1 Kings 7 and 10:4-5).
It would seem there was a kind of editor of the psalms, as well. The five books or divisions of the psalms may match the first five books of the Old Testament, known as the Torah. And maybe the five books of the Psalms are meant to echo the five sermons of Moses in Deuteronomy are meant to be echoed in this. And maybe the five long speeches (or sermons) of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel are meant to echo the five books of the Torah, five sermons of Moses, and five books of the Psalms. Nobody knows.
That there is a King Solomon-like editor to the Psalms is no debate. Within the 150 there are 15 that are called, Psalms of Ascents (Pss. 120-134), 14 are maskils, seven are naginahs, and six are tephillas (whatever these titles may mean). There is one by Moses (Ps. 90), two by Solomon (Pss. 72, 127), 12 by Asaph, 12 from the family of Korah, and 74 by David. One is for the Sabbath (Ps. 92). One is for weddings (Ps. 45). Two are to Yahweh (Pss. 7, 18). Some are composed according to the gittith, jeduthun, mahalath, and shoshannim (whatever these terms may mean). The point is simply that some kind of editorial contribution was involved, and so it is not terribly surprising that an editor would divide the Psalms into five books.
Who is that editor? Many scholars make good arguments that Ezra is the man. King David and King Solomon were dead for nearly 400 years by time Ezra was born. Whether he was born in captivity in Babylon or forcibly transported there as a young man, he knew and loved the sacred writings of Israel from afar (Ezra 7:6, 11). Jerusalem was destroyed, but the word of God remained. Ezra was a student of the word, but he relocated to ruined Jerusalem, he was also a teacher (Ezra 7:10). Perhaps his editorial work served his teaching purposes.
Book 1 is Psalms 1-41 (41 in total), Book 2 is Psalms 42-72 (31 in total), Book 3 is Psalms 73-89 and Book 4 is Psalms 90-106 (both have 17), and Book 5 is Psalms 107-150 (44 in total).
One commentator says Ezra the editor has stitched together the five books so that they flow from Book 1 to Book 5. It goes something like this: King David is confronted by various enemies in Book 1 and in Book 2 those enemies are contrasted with the victorious power of God. Book 3 is dark and tragic because it looks as though the kingdom of God is defeated, but Book 4 is a stirring reminder that God’s kingdom doesn’t always look the way we think it should. And finally Book 5 comes, full of rousing praise and thanksgiving. This is how one man sees it, but it might be better to spend time in the Psalms ourselves to see if we agree (see O. Palmer Robertson, The Flow of the Psalms, 5-7).
There is a small list of themes that the church has emphasized over the centuries during the 40 days (minus Sundays) between Ash Wednesday and Easter Sunday. These Lenten themes usually revolve around a deeper reflection upon personal sin and personal humility in light of the necessity of His earthly suffering and atoning death. Lent is a season of reflection on sin.
At King’s Cross, our Lenten reflection will be helping one another to have an increased attentiveness on God’s Word. Our regular preaching series in Matthew will continue through Lent. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday will be separate sermons from Acts 2, Peter’s first sermon.
During Lent we will simply be reading, over and over again, Book IV of the Psalms. Did you know the 150 psalms were arranged into 150 books? Book IV spans from Psalm 90 to Psalm 106. These are seventeen psalms. What follows are short devotions from Book IV. Your task is to read over and over again Psalms 90 to 106.
The devotions here are meant to aid and encourage your reading, sometimes generally, sometimes specifically. If they distract your reading of Book IV, ignore them. Happily.
John F. Jones
King's Cross Senior Pastor
