Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically

Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically
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Psalms as Torah: Reading Biblical Song Ethically
Gordon Wenham book describes ethics as taught in the Psalter, with his main focus being on investigating how psalms have influenced ethics in religion. The book comprises of ten chapters, with the first four basically introducing the Psalter to the readers, and the last six describing ethics in relation to the Psalter.
Chapter one of the book describes how ethics and morality are affected by our surrounding and Wenham points out that the same case happens in religious practices, with specific reference to Jews and Christians. The chapter is basically an introduction that briefly explains how ethics in religion are influenced, even unconsciously, by what surrounds individuals. Wenham uses the Lord’s Prayer to defend his argument, quoting some of the statements in the Lord’s Prayer that have imparted ethics in Christianity. He also illustrates how psalms were used in the Old Testament to instill moral values through prayers and worship.
Chapter two of the book describes how Christians and Jews have applied psalms in their practices. Wenham alludes that in Jewish and Christian practices, psalms were commonly used in worship and offertories. He uses different books in the bible such as Samuel, Chronicles, and Ezra to support his argument. These books provide evidence of how psalms, of David and Asaph, were used in worship during the Old Testament era, and Wenham highlights some of the similarities between psalms and these books.
Chapter three examines the Psalter as an anthology. Wenham indicates that the Psalter is a well-arranged text that is meant to be memorized, especially through songs, to ensures that people are able to remember them for use beyond their worship and prayer practices and pass them to others. He gives instances of how scribbled texts have been used to pass certain values from one generation to another. He gives examples of Mesopotamia and Egypt, where texts were memorized to ensure continuity. In the same sense, Wenham suggests that psalms were written in a poetic form to facilitate memorization and passing of values.
Chapter four emphasizes the importance of prayers and worships in instilling ethics. Wenham indicates that psalms encourage individuals to adopt a moral and ethical lifestyle by associating such people with blessings. Further, he indicates that the first person narrative has been used consistently in the psalms, which is effective in impacting moral values as it impacts how the worshipper behaves. For instance, he mentions that a person reading the psalms does so in the first person point of view, which means that he is making the same prayer or worship as the psalmist.
Chapter five looks at how the law has been integrated with the psalms. Wenham examines how the psalmist feels about the law and uses Psalms 1, 19, and 119 to demonstrate the relationship. He reveals how the Psalms opens up with an appreciation of Law of the Lord and how it goes on to explain the outcomes of those who walk in the Law of the Lord, as written in Psalms 119. In this sense, this chapter shows the importance of action, acting and living life as prescribed by the Laws of the Lord. This chapter basically emphasizes the importance of the law to the psalmist.
Chapter six examines the relationship between psalms and the books of law (Pentateuch). Wenham notes that the laws in psalms are much more detailed than in the Pentateuch, and uses the Ten Commandments as listed in Exodus and Deuteronomy to support his argument. He points out that the difference between the psalms and the Pentateuch is that while the psalms are dependent on the Pentateuch, they pay attention to people’s reaction to the law, thus making it detailed. He also notes that psalms also emphasize more on the outcomes of not following the Laws of God, unlike the Pentateuch which only states what is expected of a man.
Chapter seven addresses the narratives of the books of law and how they have been integrated into the psalms. Wenham illustrates how the psalms have re-narrated the narratives in Pentateuch, using differe...