Journey through the Psalms

$45.00

Bring the Psalms to life for prayer and worship in your church and learn to approach God with the emotional intensity of the ancient Psalmists.

Take an in-depth look at the book of Psalms — the prayer-book of the synagogue and the church. Through study of the word and insights gained through the arts, we are invited to approach God with the same honesty and intensity as the ancient Psalmists. Journey Through the Psalms is devotionally focused and possesses widespread and enduring appeal.

This eight-session course is based on the widely-used book Journey through the Psalms (available at Cokesbury and Amazon) and features video lessons by its author, Dr. Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary. The course includes lecture, choral speaking, visual art and other media.

“Journey Through the Psalms” will gladden the hearts of pastors and will invigorate the faith of those who worship seriously and attentively.” — Walter Bruggemann

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Product Description

Presenter

Dr. Denise Dombkowski Hopkins Denise Dombkowski Hopkins is Professor of Hebrew Bible at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. She earned her BA magna cum laude from Syracuse University, where she was named to Phi Beta Kappa. Her MA and Ph.D are from Vanderbilt University. She studied twice at the Ecumenical Institute for Advanced Theological Studies (Tantur) on the West Bank. She is the author of “Judith” in the Women’s Bible Commentary (expanded ed.; ed. C. Newsome and S. Ringe, WJK), and has been a preacher, speaker, and teacher in hundreds of churches. She has a particular interest in exploring the intersections between the Bible and our pastoral caring of one another in our congregations.

Lessons and Video Presentations

  • Lesson 1. Praying the Psalms, Praying Into Wholeness (14:23)
  • Lesson 2. The Synagogue, the Church, and the Psalms (14:40)
  • Lesson 3. Your Hallelujahs Don’t Have to be Hollow Anymore (13:28)
  • Lesson 4. You Get What You Deserve, Don’t You? (11:45)
  • Lesson 5. Complaining in Faith to God (10:59)
  • Lesson 6. Life in the Meanwhile (9:46)
  • Lesson 7. The Lord Reigns: Enthronement Psalms (11:13)
  • Lesson 8. I’ll Never Be the Same Again (6:08)

Lesson 1 Sample Video

Course Includes

  • Eight class sessions in your church or online, led by persons from your church for the people of your church
  • Video introductions on DVD or download to each of the eight class sessions
  • Leader’s Guide (PDF download available upon purchase)
  • Participant’s Guide (PDF download available upon purchase to share with your group)
  • Weekly letter from Professor Hopkins (PDF download available upon purchase)

Audience

Journey Through the Psalms is appropriate for laypersons in churches of all denominations. The course is devotionally focused and possesses widespread and enduring appeal. Leaders and advanced students are encouraged to read the Journey Through the Psalms book in connection with the course. (The book is probably too challenging for casual readers, but it is not required for successful participation in the course.)

Schedule

The course schedule is set by your local church. Like other Wesley Ministry Network courses, you may begin and end the class based on your church’s own calendar

Online Small Groups

To help congregations that might be unfamiliar with the technical aspects of distance learning, we have assembled a How-To Guide For Online Studies webpage filled with helpful tips and suggestions to get your study groups online.

Also, Journey Through the Psalms video lessons are available through the end of 2020 on Vimeo — so watching them is as easy as using YouTube. Vimeo allows you send the video links to group members and ask them to watch each video lesson on their own. Then everyone can come together on a phone conference call or video chat to discuss the materials. Upon purchase, you will receive the links for the Vimeo videos to share with your group.

Free Publicity Materials Downloads

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Did David write the psalms? Probably not. The ancient world was not really interested in authorship or copyrights. It was natural for ancient Israel to tie the psalms to David, who enjoyed a great reputation as singer, musician, and poet. David was introduced into Saul’s court as a musician (1 Sam. 16.17,23). David also made Jerusalem his political and religious capital by bringing the Ark of the Covenant (God’s portable throne) to it (2 Sam. 6). 1 Chronicles credits David with organizing the choir guilds and worship of the Temple. Designating a psalm “of David” was a way of honoring him.

2. What is a superscription? It is the text printed in small type above the first verse of the psalm. For example, above Psalm 3 is this superscription: “A Psalm of David, when he fled from his son Absalom.” Superscriptions often contain musical notations, e.g., “with stringed instruments” appears above Psalm 4, and “for flutes” appears above Psalm 5. In all, 117 of the 150 psalms have superscriptions, which were probably added to psalms in the process of collection. A superscription gives us one clue for interpreting a psalm but is not the only clue. Seventy-three of the psalms have “of David” in their superscriptions, but this does not necessarily mean that David wrote the Psalms (see FAQ 1 above).

3. Who are Korah and Asaph? They are the heads of major guilds of Temple singers (2 Chron. 20:19). Their names are found in the superscriptions (see FAQ #2 above) of several psalms: Korah (Psalms 42-49) and Asaph (Psalms 50, 73-83). Perhaps they collected these psalms or were responsible for their musical presentation.

4. What is a Song of Ascent? Psalms 120-134 have this phrase in their superscriptions (see FAQ 2 above). Perhaps these psalms were sung as pilgrims made their way up to Jerusalem.

5. What does “selah” mean? Scholars are not certain. It is perhaps a musical notation or a signal indicating a pause in the recitation of a psalm that allowed for music, dancing, or silence.

6. Why is the Psalter divided into five books? Early Jewish interpretation suggested that the five-fold division was to mirror the five books of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), which would give the psalms authority by association. Each of the five books of psalms ends with a doxology (praise verse to God). These doxologies (Psalms 41:13; 72:19; 89:52; 106:48; and 150:6) act as dividers.

7. Where does the word “psalm” come from? Psalm is the Greek translation (psalmos) of the Hebrew word mizmor that is found in 57 psalm superscriptions (see 2 above). A mizmor is a song sung to musical accompaniment.

8. What does “hallelujah” mean? The Hebrew title for the whole psalm collection is tehillim, which means, “praises” and is formed from the verb root hll, “to praise.” To this root is added “jah,” which is the German spelling of the shortened form of Yahweh, the divine name that is translated as LORD in most Bibles. Literally, “hallelujah” means, “praise (a plural command) Yahweh.” Thus, “hallelujah” means, “praise the LORD.”

9. What does metaphor mean? “Metaphor” (Greek) means literally “to carry across.” A metaphor is a figure of speech that describes one thing in terms of another. It is imaginative speech that helps create visual images. Psalm poetry is saturated with metaphors. Metaphors for God in the psalms include rock, fortress, refuge, deliverer, judge, creator, king. The metaphor of path or way runs like a thread through the collection, reminding Israel how to respond to God.

10. Is anger at God sign of a weak faith? Not in the psalms. Anger is just one of the many human emotions that the psalms express in honest conversation with God. Anger shows how much we depend upon God.

11. What is a Torah psalm? Psalms 1,19, and 119 are classified as Torah psalms. The Greek translation of the Bible (the Septuagint, third-century B.C.E.) translates Torah as “law,” but the word means much more than that. Torah is God’s “instruction” or “guidance” for Israel, which includes law, but also poetry, story, and genealogy. Jews call the first five books of the Bible the Torah. In Israel, Torah and creation are understood together, for following Torah is the way Israel is supposed to respond to God’s well-ordered creation.

12. What does Zion mean? Scholars are not certain. It is used in the Old Testament as another name for Jerusalem, or for the fortress in the city, or for the Temple mount area upon which God’s sanctuary is found. Zion is also used as a metaphor (see 9 above) for security and protection (Psalm 46; 125; Rev. 14:1).