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The Five Psalmists

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According to merriam-webster.com (2015) a Psalmist is very simply put, “a writer of Psalms.” There were many different Psalmists that played an important role in writing the five different books of Psalms. In order to properly analyze a Psalm, one must look at the historical context of the Psalm, the major literacy features of the Psalm and any contemporary expressions that have been used for the Psalm. The Psalm that is being analyzed for this assignment is Psalm 24.
Psalm 24 can easily be summed up as a Psalm that articulates the power of God, or as Kidner(2009) sums it up in the chapter of Psalm 24, the “King of Glory, The All- Creating, The All-Holy and The All-Victorious.” But to fully grasp what the Psalmist is trying to say one must …show more content…

The words “lift up” were used in this Psalm four different times. Repeating these words could mean that the Psalmist was trying to emphasize the importance of being lifted up into the glory to God. We should also recognize that some of the words that were used in this Psalm had a different meaning than what we use them for today. For instance, “He who has clean hands and a pure heart” (Psalm 24, 4, NIV). The psalmist is not saying that we should wash our hands and have a pure heart he is saying we need to have the right actions and the right intentions. For example, in Matthew 27 it talks about Jesus coming before Pontius Pilot and the people telling him to crucify Jesus. In verse 24 it says, “When Pilot saw he was getting nowhere, but instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent in the mans blood,” he said “It is your responsibility.”(Matthew 27, 24, NIV). Pilot washed his hands, but not for the right intentions. He wanted to not have the blame put on him even though he knew it was wrong, and ultimately his decision to have Jesus crucified. The psalmist is trying to reinforce that one can say that they are “washing their hands” of something, but if in reality one is not doing them for the right intentions it means nothing. It is the same as Pontius …show more content…

This psalm would make an excellent song by itself, but there are none. The song that is closely related to this Psalm in today’s society is Mighty To Save, by the band Hillsong United(2006). When listening to the lyrics of this song, specifically, “My Saviour, he can move the mountains, My God is mighty to save. Forever author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave”(Hillsong United, 2006). This song talks about God being all-powerful, all-creating and all-victorious just like David described when he wrote Psalm 24. In today’s society people are caught up in the digital craze, and need to have everything at the click of a button or a touch of an app on a smart phone. With songs like these and with radio stations like KLOVE, the message of not only Psalm 24, but the bible as a whole can get out on a much broader spectrum. Hopefully, more songs like this can continue to be written and touch the hearts of people who do not know God yet, or who know Him but have chosen to fall away from His

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