Brief Book Review: The Psalms: Structure, Content & Message

 

Author: Claus Westermann

Publisher: Augsburg Publishing House, paperback, 128 pages

Reviewed by Rev. Garth Wehrfritz-Hanson

The Author

Claus Westermann (7 October 1909 - 11 June 2000) was a German Protestant Old Testament scholar. He was a professor at the University of Heidelberg from 1958 to 1978. 

Born to African missionaries, he finished his studies in 1933 and he became a pastor. During his theological studies he started studying the Old Testament, and became particularly interested in the content of the Psalms. 

He has published several other works, including: Handbook To The Old Testament, Handbook To The New Testament, and The Old Testament And Jesus Christ. 

Westermann is considered one of the premier Old Testament scholars of the twentieth century. Particularly notable among his scholarship is his lengthy and comprehensive commentary on the Book of Genesis, especially covering Genesis 1-11. 

Contents

There are 13 chapters, plus an Introduction and a Selected Bibliography. The chapters include: 1. The Community Psalm of Lament (CL). 2. The Community Psalm of Narrative Praise (CP). 3. The Individual Psalm of Lament (IL). 4. The Individual Psalm of Narrative Praise (IP). 5. The Psalm of Descriptive Praise or Hymn (H). 6. Creation Psalms. 7. Liturgical Psalms. 8. Royal Psalms. 9. Enthronement Psalms. 10. Wisdom Psalms. 11. Psalm 119. 12. Conclusion. 13. The Psalms and Christ. 

Brief Highlights

It has been many, many years since I read this volume. I picked it up from my bookshelf since I decided to preach on the Psalter pericopes of the Revised Common Lectionary this church year, 2020-2021, and thought it would be a helpful resource for sermon preparation. (My sermons can be read at my main Dim Lamp site.) Although it is only 128 pages, Professor Westermann packs quite a lot into it. 

In his Introduction, Professor Westermann states that Psalms: "are prayers (words directed to God in supplication or rejoicing), poetry (poetical expressions of thought), and song (they go beyond the mere speaking or even recital of a poem and become music)." (p. 11) I would add that there is the element of story in the Psalms; which focus on a variety of human experiences and saving actions of God. The Introduction also focusses on the: origins, collection, superscriptions and notations, musical designations, poetic forms, types and genres of the psalms. 

In his chapter on IL, Westermann makes the following observation concerning enemies: "Psalm 22 contains, to be sure, an extensive description of enemies, but not one single petition against them. On the other hand, Psalm 109 consists of almost nothing but petitions against enemies. Between these extremes are many intermediary forms of petitions and complaints about enemies." (p. 67)

In his chapter on H, the author relates time and space to Hymns/Psalms of Descriptive Praise: "The praise of God should extend to the uttermost limits of time and space, for only thus can God be affirmed as the Lord of time and space, no matter how far they may extend." (p. 84)

In his chapter on Liturgical Psalms, Westermann identifies occasions and types of these psalms: Pilgrimage songs for festivals, songs of Zion regarding the city of Jerusalem, psalms of blessing, psalms with entrance instructions into the temple, psalms of procession with the ark. 

Christian readers will likely be interested in the chapter on The Psalms and Christ. In his discussion, the author states: "In three passages the Psalms point unambiguously to what has happened in Christ." (p. 123) Readers can learn more about them by purchasing this book.