The Psalms as Lament for Exile and Praise for a Return

This wonderful piece by Nicholas Piotrowski summarizes the entire book of Psalms, showing that this collection of poems was intentionally organized to lament Israel’s exile and praise God for her return. In the process, the book generates hope for a future glorious return of God’s people through a new, resurrected David.

Here is a taste:

…while psalms attributed to David decreased over books 3 and 4, his psalms are back in force in book 5. Psalms 108–110, 122, 124, 131, 133, and Psalms 138–145 are all ascribed to David. The emphasis that emerges is that “the answer to the problem of exile is David.” Having been laid “in the dust” at the end of book 3 (Ps. 89:39), David is now literarily back from the grave.

Check it out!