Online Lecture by Dr.Willem A. VanGemeren
Topic: Introduction to the Book of Psalms
《诗篇》概览
Date: July 31, 2026 (Friday).
Time: 5-7 pm. (PST)
Platform: Zoom
Speaker: Dr. Willem A. VanGemeren
• Professor Emeritus of Old Testament and Semitic Languages at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, where he was the doctoral program director for ten years. Since 2016, he has been Distinguished Professor of Old Testament Theology at Chongshin University and Seminary in Seoul, Korea. He has been involved in education since 1974 and has taught and preached in a number of countries.
Summary of the Lecture：
Key-Points:
1. The first two psalms open the gates to the sanctuary of the Psalter.
2. The Book of Psalms is divided into five books, much like the Torah (Pentateuch)
has five divisions.
3. The Book of Psalms reveals structural/editorial connections.
4. Root metaphors frame the message of the Psalter.
5. The Book of Psalms invites readers to “see” the Psalms.
Psalms 1; 2.
The first two psalms give a hermeneutic orientation to the Book of Psalms, that
is, they offer ways of reading, understanding, and seeing the world in the light of God’s
instruction. The Book of Psalms is a book of Torah-like instruction (1:2), encouraging
individuals to walk on the path of wisdom (1:1-2). The righteous person is “happy” and
thrives like a tree planted in God’s sacred garden, whereas the wicked perish like chaff
scattered by the wind (1:3-4, 6). The second psalm drives home a similar distinction, but
at the political level. God has appointed David to establish his kingdom on earth at Mt.
Zion (2:1-9) with the ultimatum that unless people find refuge in God, they will perish
(2:10-12). The book of Psalms is God’s instruction that leads to true happiness (1:1;
2:12).
Entrance into the psalmic world requires the gift of seeing the God of the psalmists. The
Book of Psalms encourages readers to make associations between the psalms, to see the
connective metaphors, similes, repetitions, and images. The literary world of the Psalms
encourages readers to cultivate what William Brown calls “the poetics of the Psalmic
imagination.” Since God is the subject of each psalm, the Psalms introduce readers to the
ways of the Lord. Yet, it is helpful to enter into the metaphorical world of the Psalms
with literary appreciation. and an awareness of the world of the Ancient Near East.
The Psalter is God’s self-revelation in five books. The fivefold division of the Psalms
intentionally breaks up the one book of Psalms into five books, patterned after the five
books of the Torah of Moses. The Psalms were brought together in a composition that
reveals order, unity, and diversity. The editing of the Hebrew Psalter into five books
reflects three stages:
1. Books I (Pss 1-41) and II (Pss 42-72) develop perimeters of hope: the cultivation
of wisdom (tree), the search for God, the dawning of the light of God’s kingdom, and the
assurance of Zion. The Davidic psalms long for and celebrate God’s manifest presence
and encourage God’s people to follow them. The Korahite psalmists lament God’s
hiddenness (Pss 42-44) and exclaim God’s excellence in words and in images (Pss 45-
48). The psalmists speak of God’s glorious presence at Zion and prepare the readers for
the issues raised by the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) and the Babylonian captivity (586-538
BC).
2. Book III brings together the voices of Asaphites, Korahites, and David. The
psalms tackle the motif of God’s hiddenness, especially the darkness of the holocaust
(586 BC) when Jerusalem and its temple were destroyed, the Davidic monarchy ceased,
and the people of Judah were forced into exile (Pss 73-89). The exile was a time for selfcritical reflection on the faith and practices of Israel.
3. Books IV (Pss 90-106) and V (Pss 107-150) bring comfort to God’s people with a
message of God’s protection of his servants who find refuge in him. God has not
abandoned David or his people. The hope for the “anointed” of the Lord lives on in his
servants. Though Israel has a long history of rebelliousness (Pss 106), the Lord offers
redemption to “David,” Israel, and humanity wherever they may live on earth and
however they may have sinned against him (Ps 107). Their destiny and dignity are tied up
with the future of Zion, God’s inviolable, transcendent, universal, eternal, and
incorruptible kingdom. When they call on his name, he will save them. They will give
thanks to him and will praise him together with the whole of creation. The Concluding
Hallel psalms (“praise psalms”; Pss 146-150) praise God for his benevolent and
beneficent rule. The Psalms witness to the dawning of a new age of a redeemed creation
and humanity.
Email: donald.cac@errchina.com for the lecture papers and zoom link
