The Psalter tells the story from Adam to Solomon and the temple, down into exile, and finally looking forward to a new creation (just like the prophets) and, therefore, the restoration of all humanity. The door back into to our true Edenic home is opened through the great end-times sacrifice of the coming Davidic priest-king.

The Poetic Exile

Given the theological severity of the historic exile, it is no surprise that emblems of exile and the hope for return would appear throughout the Bible. One thinks of the constant threat of enemies in Judges, the loss and return of the ark in 1 Samuel, Ruth’s departure and return, and David’s flights from danger.1

The same dynamic is powerfully at work in the Psalms. The Bible’s poetic literature “functions to provide a pause in the storyline to reflect on the tragedy of the exile, its causes and significance.”2 This is principally seen in the Psalter’s organization into five parts:

Book 1: Psalms 1–41
Book 2: Psalms 42–72
Book 3: Psalms 73–89
Book 4: Psalms 90–106
Book 5: Psalms 107–150

Gerald Wilson has argued that the psalms that begin and end each book serve as thematic “seams” that stitch the otherwise diverse psalms together.3 Thus a discernable pattern emerges that matches the narratological flow of the entire Old Testament, emphasizing exile and hope for return. The definitive turning points are the rise of David, crowning of Solomon, descent into exile, and rising of Israel out of exile into a new creation.4 For our purposes at this point in our study, books 1 to 4 tell the story of Israel’s exile out of the land.

Book 1 begins in a garden setting (Ps. 1:2–3) and describes the rise of the house of David as a response to the rebellion of the nations against God (Ps. 2). David’s ascension is a difficult one, however. He is a suffering king, often on the verge of death (Pss. 18:4; 22:1, 15; 23:4; 41:5). Yet he always comes out of the figurative grave to rule the nations (Pss. 16:10–11; 18:43; 22:19–21, 27; 23:5; 41:10).5 This brings us to the first “seam,” the climax of book 1. Psalm 41 concludes with these lines:

By this I know that you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
But you have upheld me because of my integrity,
and set me in your presence forever.
Blessed be the LORD.
(Ps. 41:11–13)

The triumph over the “enemy” and the enjoyment of the Lord’s “presence forever” shows David’s role in bringing Genesis 3:15 to completion and reopening the door to Eden.

Yet Psalm 42, the first psalm of book 2, appears to have been written from exile, when the temple—that place of God’s presence—is a ruined heap, and the “enemy” taunts by saying, “Where is your God?” (Ps. 42:9–10, cf. Ps. 42:3).6 Thus, the last psalm of book 1 and first psalm of book 2 bring together the end goal of David’s reign—triumph over the enemy and entrance into God’s presence—and the ever-looming threat of exile. In other words, books 1 and 2 are stitched together with a yes-but-more seam. “Hope in God!” comes the cry (Ps. 42:5, 11; cf. Ps. 43:5).

Such expectations build higher by the end of book 2. Psalm 72 is the pinnacle of the Psalter the way 1 Kings 8–10 is the pinnacle of the historical books of the Old Testament, capturing the full vision of Genesis 3:15 and the nations’ return to Eden.7 Solomon is on the throne, ruling with justice and righteousness (Ps. 72:1–2). Sun, moon, and earth are invoked (Ps. 72:5–7) as this son of Judah has “dominion . . . to the ends of the earth” (Ps. 72:8; echo of Gen. 1:28) and victory over his “enemies” (Ps. 72:9; echo of Gen. 3:15), and tribute (particularly gold) and obeisance are brought by the nations (Ps. 72:10–11, 15; allusion to Gen. 49:10). The result, therefore, is that “the whole earth [is] filled with [the Lord’s] glory” (Ps. 72:19). In short, what David saw from afar at the end of book 1, his son Solomon realizes in a climactic way at the end of book 2.

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