Embrace the Word for Friday, March 27 2026

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Today’s reflection is not about Psalm 42. We will combine Psalm 42 and Psalm 43 and take a look at them in our next reflection. Having just reached the end of Book 1 of the Psalter, we will take a little excursion to think about the flow of the Psalter. The entire collection of one hundred and fifty Psalms is arranged into five Books. These songs were not only Israel’s special hymnbook of praise to God, but also wonderful Words from God that point us to the Lord Jesus Christ and show us how to follow Jesus in the variated experiences of life. Each and every Psalm is a beautiful and true Word for us; however, the arrangement and flow of the Psalms as a whole is designed to show us even more beauty and truth. Not only is each song crafted by God, so is the structure and flow of the entire collection of songs.

The flow of the Psalms draws our attention to the Davidic Covenant and how, through the outworking of this covenant, God is at work on behalf of His people. It is through God’s covenant with David that God merges His Kingdom with David’s throne to establish the everlasting kingdom of His eternal Son, Jesus Christ. The appropriate response to God fulfilling His purpose on behalf of His people, is His peoples’ glad praise to God. The ending of each of the first four Books issues a call to praise the LORD. The fifth Book ends in a slightly different fashion. The fifth Book closes with five additional Psalms, each of which contain a call to praise the LORD (Please note the chart below with particular focus on the common terms—in bold type—used in the endings of each Book).

Psalms 1 and 2, which pair together serving as the introduction, establish key themes that will be explored again and again throughout the rest of the Psalms. Musically, these two Psalms serve as the overture to the Psalter’s cantata on the Davidic Covenant. Psalm 1 emphasizes the righteous man (in contrast to the wicked man) and his delighting love for the Law of the LORD: “Blessed is the man…his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (1:1-2). Psalm 2 emphasizes God installing His king in Zion-His Son-who, in spite of the hostility of the (wicked) nations, will rule over all. This King is in fact the righteous man who delights and obeys the Law. Therefore, this ruling Son is to be submitted to by all: “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (2:12). All who trust in God’s anointed King will be blessed. Coupled together, these two songs orient us to what the rest of the Psalms will unfold.

Book 1 (Psalms 3-41) focuses especially on David. Most of the Psalms in the first two Books are attributed to David and are about him. Book 1 is comprised of songs that reflect the struggles of King David as he comes to rule and then sets out to lead a people who conform to the Law of God. David acknowledges that his placement on the throne is grounded in God’s covenant faithfulness: “Great salvation he brings to his king, and shows steadfast love to his anointed, to David and his offspring forever” (18:50). Immediately following David’s installment on the throne, Psalm 19, similar to Psalm 1 extols the righteousness of God’s Law. The first and last Psalm in Book 1 frame the Book. Similar to Psalm 1, Psalm 41 begins with the pronouncement of blessing on God’s king: “Blessed is the one who considers the poor!” (41:1a).

Book 2, which continues in much of the same thread as the first Book, consists of songs that note the expansion of David’s rule, but also the difficulties that David faces—both due to his own sin as well as the challenges of living in a sinful world. As Book 2 begins to draw to completion we see an aging King David: “So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come” (71:18). Nevertheless, God’s steadfast love and faithfulness prevails as Book 2 ends with a song for Solomon, whose rule marks the continuation of the Davidic Covenant: “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice! Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people, and the hills, in righteousness! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor!” (72:1-4). At the end of Psalm 72, and thus, the completion of Book 2, we are told: “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended” (72:20). While this is not literally the last Psalm that we will see that is attributed to David, it does mark the end of the Psalter’s movement of David ruling as King.

Book 3 (Psalms 73-89) focuses on the early reign of Solomon but also the continuation of David’s line down to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC. This third book, which is the shortest of the five, traces the slow march toward exile as the Temple and the nation are razed. Book 3 is filled with warnings of judgment and calls to repentance: “If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes” (89:30-32). And yet Book 3 also contains strong notes of hope because of the confidence that the LORD will remember His covenant to David: “but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips” (89:33-34).

Book 4 (Psalms 90-106), while oriented around notes of captivity and exile, focuses not only on the steadfast love and faithfulness of the LORD, but also His unrivaled power to bring about His promises. The fourth book opens with a song of Moses, who is then referenced six more times in this Book (Moses is only mentioned once in all of the other Books). Like in the days of Moses, a New Exodus is anticipated through the songs of Book 4. Before the fourth book ends, confident that God will remember His covenant (106:45), God’s people cry out, “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise” (106:47).

Book 5 (Psalms 107-145) continues the flow by describing the LORD’s people returned from exile: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south” (107:2-3). The consistent theme of the songs throughout this fifth book is upon the Davidic King who conquers His foes and rescues His people. So the LORD’s people cry out: “Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We bless you from the house of the LORD” (Psalm 118:25-26). Following the pattern from Book 1, where the announcement of David’s victory (Psalm 18), is immediately followed by a Psalm that accentuates God’s Word (Psalm 19), the announcement in Book 5 of the victory of the Davidic King (Psalm 118), is also followed by a Psalm that accentuates God’s Word (Psalm 119). God’s King is a righteous king, who reigns according to God’s Word (see Deuteronomy 17:14-20). The LORD’s appointed King is truly devoted to and genuinely directed by (and earnestly imparts direction according to) God’s Word. Of course, an implication of the King’s commitment to God’s Law is that the King’s people follow suit in regard to God’s Law.

As the LORD raises up a Davidic King giving Him victory, the LORD’s people will express praise: “I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, who gives victory to kings, who rescues David his servant from the cruel sword” (144:9-10). And through the Davidic King, God’s Kingdom itself will be established forever: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations” (145:13). The entire collection of Psalms then ends with five-fold songs of praise. These combined Psalms comprise the musical finale of our cantata. The Lord has rescued His people through a Davidic king. The Lord’s people offer glad praise. The final words from the Psalms issues a universal call to glorify God: “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the LORD!” (150:6).

As we reflect on the flow of the Psalter we can consider how through the Psalms we can grasp our identity as the LORD’s people: “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand” (See Psalm 95:6-7). We are the LORD’s people! This reality must shape our identity. The LORD has sent His Son, who is the righteous man described in Psalm 1 as well as the anointed King described in Psalm 2. The LORD’s people trust in His Son. And in knowing whose we are, we can also grasp the blessings to which we are beneficiaries: “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (See Psalm 103:2). It is only by living in light of the reality of what the LORD provides to His people, can His people face the sins and sufferings of life. Thus, a vital aspect of grasping whose we are and what He has provided for us occurs as we internalize God’s Word: “Blessed is the man…his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night” (See Psalm 1:1-2). Being blessed by the LORD should give rise to blessing the LORD in praise: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!” (See Psalm 150:6).

That’s all for Embrace the Word for Friday, March 27, 2026. I look forward to being back with you for the Monday, March 30, 2026 episode of Embrace the Word as we take a look at Psalms 42 and 43.