Topic: The Book Of Psalms -- A Brief Overview, Part 6 Of 7 

In the Book of Psalms, all these psalms--80-83-- are referred by their superscriptions to the Levite singers, and thus beer witness to the efforts of the Levites to reconcile the two branches of the chosen nation. The captivity of Manasseh himself proved to be but temporary; but the sentence which his sins had provoked upon Judah and Jerusalem still remained to be executed, and precluded the hope that God's salvation could be revealed till after such an outpouring of his judgments as the nation had never yet known. Labor and sorrow must be the lot of the present generation; through these mercy might occasionally gleam, but the glory which was eventually to be manifested must be for posterity alone. The psalms of Book IV.--bear generally the impress of this feeling. We pass to Book V. Psalm 107 is the opening psalm of the return, sung probably at the first feast of tabernacles. Ezra 3 A directly historical character belongs to Psalm 120-134, styled in our Authorized Version "Songs of Degrees." Internal evidence refers these to the period when the Jews under Nehemiah were, in the very face of the enemy, repairing the walls of Jerusalem and the title may well signify "songs of goings up upon the walls," the psalms being from their brevity, well adapted to be sung by the workmen and guards while engaged in their respective duties. Psalm 139 is a psalm of the new birth of Israel from the womb of the Babylonish captivity, to a life of righteousness; Psalm 140-143 may be a picture of the trials to which the unrestored exiles were still exposed in the realms of the Gentiles. Henceforward, as we approach the close of the Psalter, its strains rise in cheerfulness; and it fittingly terminates with Psalm 147-150 which were probably sung on the occasion of the thanksgiving procession of Nehe 12, after the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem had been completed.

From: Smith's Bible Dictionary. Fair Use. Presented for educational purposes only.

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