Studies in the Psalms
Overview
Studies in the Psalms is comprised of various studies of the theologian S. R. Driver. Sermons given at Christ Church Cathedral, as well as some published articles on the Psalms, are included in this volume. Together, they combine to give a practical picture of how to study and interpret this Old Testament book.
Top Highlights
“The Psalm deals with a difficulty which sometimes pressed heavily upon the pious person under the Old Dispensation, who knew only of this world as the scene of God’s dealings with men, and missed the clear evidence of God’s justice which they desired to see in the reward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked. The difficulty was this: Why should good men suffer, and bad men prosper?” (Page 288)
“and the Messianic Psalms contain, not predictions, but ideals” (Page 21)
“He is both mindful of him, and visits him: he is not lost to His omniscience; and His ‘visitation’—that is, His constant and continuous providential regard—sustains his life, supplies his needs, and ministers to his happiness.” (Page 237)
“Its central thought is the world-wide dominion of the King of Zion” (Page 51)
“The words cannot, as from Hebrews 1:8 onwards has often been supposed, be an affirmation of the divinity of the Messiah, for the simple reason that the king whom the psalmist celebrates, though he is invested with ideal attributes, is not the Messiah—least of all the Christian Messiah, for he marries a queen and has children, who are spoken of in such terms that it would outrage all reasonable exegesis to understand them in any but a literal sense.” (Page 82)
Samuel Rolles Driver (1846-1914), born in England, was a Hebrew scholar and professor, as well as a writer of numerous theological resources including commentaries on Genesis, Leviticus, Jeremiah, and Job.