Book Of Psalms

The Book of Psalms ( or ; he, תְּהִלִּים, , lit. "praises"), also known as the Psalms, or the Psalter, is the first book of the ("Writings"), the third section of the Tanakh''—is read after the Shacharit">morning service each day of the week (starting Sunday, Psalms: 24, 48, 82, 94, 81, 93, 92). This is described in the Mishnah (the initial codification of the Jewish Oral law, oral tradition) in the tractate ''Tamid''. According to the Talmud, these daily Psalms were originally recited on that day of the week by the Levites in the Temple in Jerusalem. From Rosh Chodesh Elul until Hoshanah Rabbah, Psalm 27 is recited twice daily following the morning and evening services. There is a '' Minhag'' (custom) to recite Psalm 30 each morning of Chanukkah after Shacharit: some recite this in place of the regular "Psalm for the Day", others recite this additionally.

When a Jew dies, a watch is kept over the body and ''tehillim'' (Psalms) are recited constantly by sun or candlelight, until the burial service. Historically, this watch would be carried out by the immediate family, usually in shifts, but in contemporary practice this service is provided by an employee of the funeral home or ''chevra kadisha''.

Many Jews complete the Book of Psalms on a weekly or monthly basis. Each week, some also say a Psalm connected to that week's events or the Torah portion read during that week. In addition, many Jews (notably Lubavitch, and other Chasidim) read the entire Book of Psalms prior to the morning service, on the Sabbath preceding the calculated appearance of the new moon.

The reading of psalms is viewed in Jewish tradition as a vehicle for gaining God's favor. They are thus often specially recited in times of trouble, such as poverty, disease, or physical danger; in many synagogues, Psalms are recited after services for the security of the State of Israel. Sefer ha-Chinuch states that this practice is designed not to achieve favor, as such, but rather to inculcate belief in Divine Providence into one's consciousness, consistently with Maimonides' general view on Providence. (Relatedly, the Hebrew verb for prayer, ''hitpalal'' התפלל, is in fact the reflexive form of ''palal'' פלל, to judge. Thus, "to pray" conveys the notion of "judging oneself": ultimately, the purpose of prayer—'' tefilah'' תפלה—is to transform ourselves.)

In Christian prayer and worship

New Testament references show that the earliest Christians used the Psalms in worship, and the Psalms have remained an important part of worship in most Christian Churches. The Eastern Orthodox, Catholic, Presbyterian, Lutheran and Anglican Churches have always made systematic use of the Psalms, with a cycle for the recitation of all or most of them over the course of one or more weeks. In the early centuries of the Church, it was expected that any candidate for bishop would be able to recite the entire Psalter from memory, something they often learned automatically during their time as monks. Christians have used Pater Noster cords of 150 beads to pray the entire Psalter.

Paul the Apostle quotes psalms (specifically Psalms 14 and 53, which are nearly identical) as the basis for his theory of original sin, and includes the scripture in the Epistle to the Romans, chapter 3.

Several conservative Protestant denominations sing only the Psalms (some churches also sing the small number of hymns found elsewhere in the Bible) in worship, and do not accept the use of any non-Biblical hymns; examples are the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, the Presbyterian Reformed Church (North America) and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).

* Psalm 22 is of particular importance during the season of Lent as a Psalm of continued faith during severe testing.
* Psalm 23, ''The is My Shepherd'', offers an immediately appealing message of comfort and is widely chosen for church funeral services, either as a reading or in one of several popular hymn settings;
* Psalm 51, ''Have mercy on me O God'', called the ''Miserere'' from the first word in its Latin version, in both Divine Liturgy and ''Hours'', in the sacrament of repentance or confession, and in other settings;
* Psalm 82 is found in the Book of Common Prayer as a funeral recitation.
* Psalm 137, ''By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept'', the Eastern Orthodox Church uses this hymn during the weeks preceding Great Lent.

New translations and settings of the Psalms continue to be produced. An individually printed volume of Psalms for use in Christian religious rituals is called a Psalter.

Furthermore, psalms often serve as the inspiration for much of modern or contemporary Christian worship music in a variety of styles. Some songs are entirely based on a particular psalm or psalms, and many quote directly from the Book of Psalms (and other parts of the Bible).

Eastern Orthodox Christianity

Orthodox Christians and Greek-Catholics (Eastern Catholics who follow the Byzantine rite) have long made the Psalms an integral part of their corporate and private prayers. The official version of the Psalter used by the Orthodox Church is the Septuagint. To facilitate its reading, the 150 Psalms are divided into 20 ''kathismata'' (Greek: καθίσματα; Slavonic: каѳисмы, ; lit. "sittings") and each '' kathisma'' (Greek: κάθισμα; Slavonic: каѳисма, ) is further subdivided into three ''stases'' (Greek: στάσεις, lit. "standings", sing. στάσις, ''stasis''), so-called because the faithful stand at the end of each ''stasis'' for the Glory to the Father ....

At Vespers and Matins, different ''kathismata'' are read at different times of the liturgical year and on different days of the week, according to the Church's calendar, so that all 150 psalms (20 ''kathismata'') are read in the course of a week. During Great Lent, the number of ''kathismata'' is increased so that the entire Psalter is read twice a week. In the twentieth century, some lay Christians have adopted a continuous reading of the Psalms on weekdays, praying the whole book in four weeks.

Aside from ''kathisma'' readings, Psalms occupy a prominent place in every other Orthodox service including the services of the Hours and the Divine Liturgy. In particular, the penitential Psalm 50 is very widely used. Fragments of Psalms and individual verses are used as '' Prokimena'' (introductions to Scriptural readings) and ''Stichera''. The bulk of Vespers would still be composed of Psalms even if the kathisma were to be disregarded; Psalm 118, "The Psalm of the Law", is the centerpiece of Matins on Saturdays, some Sundays, and the Funeral service. The entire book of Psalms is traditionally read out loud or chanted at the side of the deceased during the time leading up to the funeral, mirroring Jewish tradition.

Oriental Christianity

Several branches of Oriental Orthodox and those Eastern Catholics who follow one of the Oriental Rites will chant the entire Psalter during the course of a day during the Daily Office. This practice continues to be a requirement of monastics in the Oriental churches.

Catholic usage

The Psalms have always been an important part of Catholic liturgy. The Liturgy of the Hours is centered on chanting or recitation of the Psalms, using fixed melodic formulas known as psalm tones. Early Catholics employed the Psalms widely in their individual prayers also; however, as knowledge of Latin (the language of the Roman Rite) became uncommon, this practice ceased among the unlearned. However, until the end of the Middle Ages, it was not unknown for the laity to join in the singing of the Little Office of Our Lady, which was a shortened version of the Liturgy of the Hours providing a fixed daily cycle of twenty-five psalms to be recited, and nine other psalms divided across Matins.

The work of Bishop Richard Challoner in providing devotional materials in English meant that many of the psalms were familiar to English-speaking Catholics from the eighteenth century onwards. Challoner translated the entirety of the Little Office into English, as well as Sunday Vespers and daily Compline. He also provided other individual Psalms such as 129/130 for prayer in his devotional books. Bishop Challoner is also noted for revising the Douay–Rheims Bible, and the translations he used in his devotional books are taken from this work.

Until the Second Vatican Council the Psalms were either recited on a one-week or, less commonly (as in the case of Ambrosian rite), two-week cycle. Different one-week schemata were employed: most secular clergy followed the Roman distribution, while regular clergy almost universally followed that of St Benedict, with only a few congregations (such as the Benedictines of St Maur) following individualistic arrangements. The Breviary introduced in 1974 distributed the psalms over a four-week cycle. Monastic usage varies widely. Some use the four-week cycle of the secular clergy, many retain a one-week cycle, either following St Benedict's scheme or another of their own devising, while others opt for some other arrangement.

Official approval was also given to other arrangementsSe
"Short" Breviaries in the 20th and early 21st century America
for an in-progress study by which the complete Psalter is recited in a one-week or two-week cycle. These arrangements are used principally by Catholic contemplative religious orders, such as that of the Trappists.See for exampl
the Divine Office schedule at New Melleray Abbey
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The ''General Instruction of the Liturgy of the Hours'', 122 sanctions three modes of singing/recitation for the Psalms:
* directly (all sing or recite the entire psalm);
* antiphonally (two choirs or sections of the congregation sing or recite alternate verses or strophes); and
* responsorially (the cantor or choir sings or recites the verses while the congregation sings or recites a given response after each verse).
Of these three the antiphonal mode is the most widely followed.

Over the centuries, the use of complete Psalms in the liturgy declined. After the Second Vatican Council (which also permitted the use of vernacular languages in the liturgy), longer psalm texts were reintroduced into the Mass, during the readings. The revision of the Roman Missal after the Second Vatican Council reintroduced the singing or recitation of a more substantial section of a Psalm, in some cases an entire Psalm, after the first Reading from Scripture. This Psalm, called the ''Responsorial Psalm,'' is usually sung or recited responsorially, although the ''General Instruction of the Roman Missal'', 61 permits direct recitation.

Lutheran and Reformed usage

Following the Protestant Reformation, versified translations of many of the Psalms were set as hymns. These were particularly popular in the Calvinist tradition, where in the past they were typically sung to the exclusion of hymns (exclusive psalmody). John Calvin himself made some French translations of the Psalms for church usage, but the completed Genevan Psalter eventually used in church services consisted exclusively of translations by Clément Marot and Théodore de Bèze, on melodies by a number of composers, including Louis Bourgeois and a certain Maistre Pierre. Martin Luther's Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott is based on Psalm 46. Among famous hymn settings of the Psalter were the Scottish Psalter and the paraphrases by Isaac Watts. The first book printed in North America was a collection of Psalm settings, the Bay Psalm Book (1640).

By the 20th century, they were mostly replaced by hymns in church services. However, the Psalms are popular for private devotion among many Protestants and still used in many churches for traditional worship. There exists in some circles a custom of reading one Psalm and one chapter of Proverbs a day, corresponding to the day of the month.

Metrical Psalms are still very popular among many Reformed Churches.

Anglican usage

Anglican chant is a method of singing prose versions of the Psalms.

In the early 17th century, when the King James Bible was introduced, the metrical arrangements by Thomas Sternhold and John Hopkins were also popular and were provided with printed tunes. This version and the '' New Version of the Psalms of David'' by Tate and Brady produced in the late seventeenth century (see article on Metrical psalter) remained the normal congregational way of singing psalms in the Church of England until well into the nineteenth century.

In Great Britain, the 16th-century Coverdale psalter still lies at the heart of daily worship in Cathedrals and many parish churches. The new Common Worship service book has a companion psalter in modern English.

The version of the psalter in the American Book of Common Prayer prior to the 1979 edition is the Coverdale psalter. The Psalter in the American Book of Common Prayer of 1979 is a new translation, with some attempt to keep the rhythms of the Coverdale psalter.

Islam

According to the Islamic holy book, the Qur'an, God has sent many messengers to mankind. Five universally acknowledged messengers ('' rasul'') are Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, each believed to have been sent with a scripture. Muslims believe David ('' Dāwūd'') received Psalms, or ''Zabur'' (cf. Q38:28); Jesus ('' Īsā'') the Gospel, or ''Injeel''; Muhammad received the Qur'an; and Abraham (''Ibrahim'') the Scrolls of Abraham; meanwhile, the ''Tawrat'' is the Arabic name for the Torah within its context as an Islamic holy book believed by Muslims to have been given by God to the prophets and messengers amongst the Children of Israel, and often refers to the entire Hebrew Bible. God is considered to have authored the Psalms.

Psalms in the Rastafari movement

The Psalms are one of the most popular parts of the Bible among followers of the Rastafari movement. Rasta singer Prince Far I released an atmospheric spoken version of the psalms, '' Psalms for I'', set to a roots reggae backdrop from The Aggrovators.

Psalms set to music

Multiple psalms as a single composition

Psalms have often been set as part of a larger work. The psalms feature large in settings of Vespers, including those by Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi, Marc-Antoine Charpentier (84 settings H.149 - H.232) and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who wrote such settings as part of their responsibilities as church musicians. Psalms are inserted in Requiem compositions, such as Psalm 126 in '' A German Requiem'' of Johannes Brahms and Psalms 130 and 23 in John Rutter's '' Requiem''.

* (6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, 143) by Orlande de Lassus—1584
* by Mikołaj Gomółka—c. 1600
* ''Psalmen Davids'' (1619), Symphoniae sacrae I (1629) and ''Becker Psalter'' (1661) by Heinrich Schütz
* '' Chandos Anthems'' by George Frideric Handel—1717–18
* '' Zwei englisch Psalmen'' (1842), ''Sieben Psalmen nach Lobwasser'' (1843), ''Elijah'' (1846), and '' Drei Psalmen'' (1849) by Felix Mendelssohn
* ''Eighteen Liturgical Psalms'' by Louis Lewandowski—1879
* '' Biblické písně'' by Antonín Dvořák—1894
* by Arthur Honegger—1921
* ''Symphony of Psalms'' (38, 39, 150) by Igor Stravinsky—1930
* '' Chichester Psalms'' by Leonard Bernstein—1965
* '' Tehillim'' by Steve Reich—1981
* ''Four Psalms'' (114, 126, 133, 137) by John Harbison—1998

Individual psalm settings

There are many settings of individual psalms. One of the better known examples is Gregorio Allegri's '' Miserere mei'', a '' falsobordone'' setting of Psalm 51 ("Have mercy upon me, O God"). Settings of individual psalms by later composers are also frequent: they include works from composers such as George Frideric Handel, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Liszt, Johannes Brahms and Ralph Vaughan Williams. Psalms also feature in more modern musical movements and popular genres.

See also

* Exclusive psalmody
* History of music in the biblical period
* Penitential Psalms
* Psalm of communal lament
* Selah
* Zabur
* Genevan Psalter
* Pesher

Notes

References

Bibliography

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External links

TehillimForAll
to read Psalms (Tehillim) together with others

Tehillim Online
to read psalms of David in Hebrew or transliterated.

Learn Tehillim Online
to read and hear TEHILIM OF THE DAY in Hebrew.

Full reading and translation of all 150 Psalms




Audiobook—King James Version
* Various versions

Translations

* Jewish translations:
*
Tehillim—Psalms (Judaica Press)
translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
* Christianity, Christian translations:
*
Book of Psalms—NIV
*
''Revised Grail Psalms''
(see: Grail Psalms)

Commentary and others

* Online encyclopedia
*
"Psalms."
Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
* Jewish
*
reading of Tehillim—Psalms and many explanation.
*
Psalms (Judaica Press)
translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org
*
Penetrating beneath the surface level of the Tehillim—Psalms
*
Reading of Tehillim—Psalms in ancient tunes and explanation.
Also
free series
that teaches how to read the cantilation notes of Psalms
* Christian
**
**

Commentary on the Psalms
by Gordon Churchyard, at www.easyenglish.bible
*
Introduction to the Psalms
by Wilbert R. Gawrisch
*
Introduction to the Psalms
a Forward Movement publication
** .

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9th-century BC books
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Works attributed to David
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