Kralovske zalmy
- This is the last of the 6 *royal psalms. The word "royal" means "as a king". We call the psalms royal because they call God king. The *royal psalms (93 and 95-99) tell us that he is ruling over all the world. Psalms 94 and 100 are sometimes included with the *royal psalms, but they are not really *royal psalms.
- Psalm 18
- Psalm 20
- Psalm 21
- Psalm 45
- Psalm 72
- Psalm 101
- Psalm 110
- Psalm 132
- Psalm 144
ten psalms by their subject matter of kingship as the 'royal psalms'. Specifically the royal psalms deal with the spiritual role of kings in the worship of Yahweh. Aside from that single qualification, there is nothing else which specifically links the ten psalms.[citation needed] Each of the psalms make explicit references to their subject, the king. However, it has been posited that other psalms, which do not mention the king directly, may have been written for royalty (e.g. Psalm 22).
the covenant promised David
The Story of Psalm 99
This is the last of the 6 *royal psalms. The word "royal" means "as a king". We call the psalms royal because they call God king. The *royal psalms (93 and 95-99) tell us that he is ruling over all the world. Psalms 94 and 100 are sometimes included with the *royal psalms, but they are not really *royal psalms.
Jews are people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their children. The Jews spoke Hebrew, and they wrote the psalms in Hebrew. But 200 years before Jesus was born, they translated them into the Greek language. This was because many of the *Jews that lived in Egypt spoke Greek. Now the Hebrew Bible does not say who wrote the *royal psalms. But the Greek Bible does! It says that David wrote all the *royal psalms. But Bible students think that what really happened was this. The exile was when the Babylonians beat the *Jews and took them to Babylon. When the *Jews came home from the exile, they found that the Babylonians had destroyed their *temple. So, they built it again. Then they made the book of psalms to sing in it. The temple was the house of God in Jerusalem. They took some old psalms of David, and changed them a bit. This was because they wanted psalms that said this: God is greater than any other king is! He is greater than the king of Babylon, who had made them live away from their own land. God used another king, Cyrus of Persia, to destroy Babylon. Then the Persian king sent the *Jews home.
For Christians, the *royal psalms tell us that God is still king. He is still ruling over the whole world. When things seem bad, we must still love and obey him. He is king and, in the end, everyone will have to obey him. Even those that do not love him. But many Bible students think that the psalms tell us more than this. They tell us that God himself will come back to the earth and rule as king. Then everyone will see that God is the King!
A List of Royal Psalms
The Jewish Study Bible, in its notes on Psalm 2, defines “royal psalms” as “those concerning kings.” It goes on to say that “None [of them] mentions a specific king by name, and their origin and uses remain obscure.” It also gives a “possible list of royal psalms” which is reproduced below. To the original list I have added italicized elements. The first to be noticed is that I added the verse citations for any explicit reference to the “king” that appears in the psalm. Some of the psalms do not make explicit reference to the king as “king,” and, because of this, do not show a verse citation.
Psalm 2:6
Psalm 18:50
Psalm 20:9
Psalm 21:1, 7
Psalm 45:1, 5, 11, 13, 14, 15
Psalm 72:1
Psalm 89:18
Psalm 101
Psalm 110
Psalm 132
Psalm 144
*These verses were not on the original list but are included here because they are psalms that include an explicit reference to a “king” who is not God. I did not include psalms where merely a synonym or allusion to the king appeared (such as Psalm 28, where a reference to “His anointed” occurs in verse 8).
The original list is from The Jewish Study Bible, ed. by Adele Berlin and Marc Zvi Brettler, Oxford University Press (2004) p. 1285