In
this series, I am considering
strategies for memorizing all the psalms of the Hebrew Psalter.
עַל נַהֲרוֹת בָּבֶל | 137:1 | By the rivers of Babel |
אוֹדְךָ בְכָל לִבִּי | 138:1 | I will give you thanks with all my heart |
מִזְמוֹר
יְהוָה חֲקַרְתַּנִי | 139:1 | יהוה you have examined me |
חַלְּצֵנִי יְהוָה מֵאָדָם רָע | 140:2 | Rescue me יהוה from human evil |
יְהוָה קְרָאתִיךָ | 141:1 | יהוה I call to you |
קוֹלִי אֶל יְהוָה אֶזְעָק | 142:2 | My voice to יהוה I will appeal |
יְהוָה שְׁמַע תְּפִלָּתִי | 143:1 | יהוה hear my prayer |
בָּרוּךְ יְהוָה צוּרִי | 144:1 | Blessed is יהוה my rock |
אֲרוֹמִמְךָ אֱלוֹהַי הַמֶּלֶךְ | 145:1 | I will exalt you my God the king |
- Psalm 137 closes the lament bracket with three voices of remembering. Lament has been with us since the early Korah Psalms 42-44.
- Psalm 138 begins a series of Davidic Psalms expressing confidence, יהוה will complete his work for my sake.
- Psalm 139 shows the intimate completion of this work, but trouble is still evident to the psalmist.
- The violence of Psalm 140 is no surprise and reflects the language of early Psalms 7-11.
- Psalm 141 closes the themes of traps and of the tongue that appear many times in Book 1.
- Psalm 142 David’s final maskil closes a frame of appeal that was opened in Psalm 107 at the beginning of Book 5.
- Psalm 143 looks for an end to enemies through God’s loving-kindness and recognizes that no one is justified in God’s sight.
- Psalm 144 is the last of the Davidic personal cluster and closes with the plea, set me free and the prayer for bounty.
- Psalm 145 is the final acrostic of praise with a heavy concentration of K sounds from the repetition of all and the second person singular pronoun. It closes with a doxology, allowing us to imagine the following five poems as a coda of praise for the whole Psalter.
The final Hallel sequence began the series
here. Consider how we might move to the next
strategy. This is suggested in the question: what is(are) the central verse(s) of each psalm?
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
הַלְלִי נַפְשִׁי אֶת יְהוָה | 146:1 | Hallelu Yah
Praise יהוה O my being
|
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
כִּי טוֹב זַמְּרָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ | 147:1 | Hallelu Yah
for it is good to sing a psalm to our God |
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
הַלְלוּ אֶת יְהוָה מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם | 148:1 | Hallelu Yah
Praise יהוה from the heavens |
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
שִׁירוּ לַיהוָה שִׁיר חָדָשׁ | 149:1 | Hallelu Yah
Sing to יהוה a new song |
הַלְלוּ יָהּ
הַלְלוּ אֵל בְּקָדְשׁוֹ | 150:1 | Hallelu Yah
Praise God in his holiness |
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