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In Psalm 104, the world that God creates and recreates is not just ordered, but rhythmic, each created thing a note that contributes to the Spirit’s song.1 The whole of creation is like a song (...)

God makes the whole world shout “Hooray!”1 It’s just this sort of shout, hari‘u, that begins Psalm 66. Hari‘u is an imperative verb meaning: “(Hey, all of you) make some noise! Shout!” The verb appears (...)

This psalmist is a refugee.1 In fact, the Psalter is “refugee literature,” in a very real sense. It’s written by refugees, for refugees.2 The Psalms give voice to those who yearn for a place of (...)

Psalm 116 is fourth in a group of psalms known as the “Egyptian Hallel” psalms (Psalms 113-118), the psalms recited at the Passover meal on the eighth day of Passover.1 Psalms 113 and 114 are (...)

In the context (wake, aftermath, light) of Easter, Psalm 16 proposes a contrast of sorts, between “the holy ones” (verse 3) and “those who choose another god” (verse 4).1 This contrast is set within the (...)

Psalm 118 is the psalm of psalms for the Easter season.1 The early church found in Psalm 118 the words of Jesus who remembered his suffering and persecution during Holy Week and who gave thanks (...)

Borne out of a gut-wrenching anguish, Psalm 22 is the cry of one who knows what it is to be bullied by his enemies, rejected by his community, and abandoned by God.1 The threat for (...)

Jesus’ words in Luke 23:46, incorporating the words of Psalm 31:5, “Into your hands I commit my spirit,” forever tie the psalm, along with Psalms 22 and 69, to the passion narratives of Jesus of (...)

Psalm 121 is one of the Songs of Ascent, Psalms 120-134, as indicated by its opening words.1 In general these psalms focus on Jerusalem, the journey to Jerusalem — always categorized as “going up,” and (...)

Psalm 130 is the eleventh of the fifteen Songs of Ascents in Book Five of the Psalter (Psalms 120-134).1 These psalms are most likely songs that ancient Israelite pilgrims sang as they made their way (...)