Great question. The main implication is whether or not the entire book of Psalms is retelling the story of Israel and more specifically a prophetic and poetic understanding of God's covenant with David. At least, that is the most frequent suggestion by the students and scholars who are involved in these studies of the Psalms. A recent book I have been reading in my sermon prep suggests that we, the readers, should read and fuse our personal life journey with God's story, in general, but with David's story, in particular. Does that help?
Hmm. I will have to think about this more because I am not sure if one theological approach (dispensationalism or covenantal theology) would be necessary for understanding the theological messages related to the macro and micro structures throughout the Psalms. I plan to post more about this in the coming weeks. So, stay tuned!
It seems highly unlikely that this could be a coincidence. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the possible significance of this beyond the fact that it indicates a great deal of precision and care in the final editing of the psalms. It also makes me wonder when/why the three psalms were divided to increase the number of psalms to 150. This is a bit unrelated, but it made me also think about the way that the Christian church modified the order of the books of the New Testament compared to the way they were—and are still—arranged in Jewish tradition. How important is it to know the traditional order—does it impact interpretation in some cases—and what were the reasons for the early Christians adjusting the order in the way that they did?
The order of the books of the Bible in the Christian Bible is different from the original Hebrew Bible of the Jewish people. Various theories and explanations exist as to why it was changed, but it is fairly obvious that the Christian bible is simply following the new arrangement that was found in the Original Greek translation of the Old Testament, also known as the LXX or Septuagint.
One of my favorite Old Testament theology books that focuses on this issue of arrangement is Stephen Demptster book "Dominion and Dynasty."
Great question. The main implication is whether or not the entire book of Psalms is retelling the story of Israel and more specifically a prophetic and poetic understanding of God's covenant with David. At least, that is the most frequent suggestion by the students and scholars who are involved in these studies of the Psalms. A recent book I have been reading in my sermon prep suggests that we, the readers, should read and fuse our personal life journey with God's story, in general, but with David's story, in particular. Does that help?
Hmm. I will have to think about this more because I am not sure if one theological approach (dispensationalism or covenantal theology) would be necessary for understanding the theological messages related to the macro and micro structures throughout the Psalms. I plan to post more about this in the coming weeks. So, stay tuned!
It seems highly unlikely that this could be a coincidence. I’m looking forward to hearing more about the possible significance of this beyond the fact that it indicates a great deal of precision and care in the final editing of the psalms. It also makes me wonder when/why the three psalms were divided to increase the number of psalms to 150. This is a bit unrelated, but it made me also think about the way that the Christian church modified the order of the books of the New Testament compared to the way they were—and are still—arranged in Jewish tradition. How important is it to know the traditional order—does it impact interpretation in some cases—and what were the reasons for the early Christians adjusting the order in the way that they did?
The order of the books of the Bible in the Christian Bible is different from the original Hebrew Bible of the Jewish people. Various theories and explanations exist as to why it was changed, but it is fairly obvious that the Christian bible is simply following the new arrangement that was found in the Original Greek translation of the Old Testament, also known as the LXX or Septuagint.
One of my favorite Old Testament theology books that focuses on this issue of arrangement is Stephen Demptster book "Dominion and Dynasty."
https://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Dynasty-Theology-Studies-Biblical/dp/0830826157
Thank you for suggesting this resource!