"Based on the New International Version."

Includes bibliographical references (pages 521-523) and indexes.

Blessed are those who meditate on the Lord's instruction (Ps. 1) -- The Lord's king and rebellious peoples (Ps. 2) -- Security in the midst of attack (Ps. 3) -- The true God of agricultural blessing (Ps. 4) -- Entering the Lord's house (Ps. 5) -- Mercy for the languishing (Ps. 6) -- Acquittal for the falsely accused (Ps. 7) -- The Lord's majesty and the crowning of humanity (Ps. 8) -- Delivering the helpless from social oppression: Part I (Ps. 9) -- Delivering the helpless from social oppression: Part II (Ps. 10) -- The Lord on His heavenly throne (Ps. 11) -- The Lord's refined words and humans with double tongues (Ps. 12) -- How long, O Lord? (Ps. 13) -- There is no one who does good: Version 1 (Ps. 14) -- Instruction for temple entry (Ps. 15).

Confessing loyalty to the Lord of the land and His benefits (Ps. 16) -- Holding to the Lord's paths amidst threatening stalkers (Ps. 17) -- The king's thanksgiving for military victories (Ps. 18) -- God's revelation in the skies and the scriptures (Ps. 19) -- Intercession for the king before battle (Ps. 20) -- Thanksgiving for the king's victories in battle (Ps. 21) -- My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me? (Ps. 22) -- My shepherd and my host (Ps. 23) -- A victory procession and instruction for temple entry (Ps. 24) -- A wisdom prayer for those who fear the Lord (Ps. 25) -- Walking in integrity and loving the Lord's house (Ps. 26) -- Seeking security in the house of the Lord (Ps. 27) -- To be spared from the Lord's judgment on the wicked (Ps. 28) -- The voice of the Lord in the thunderstorm (Ps. 29) -- Living praise versus deathly silence (Ps. 30).

My God as refuge from social alienation (Ps. 31) -- Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven (Ps. 32) -- The trustworthy Lord over nature, nations, and armies (Ps. 33) -- Taste and see that the Lord hears and delivers (Ps. 34) -- Images of war, the hunt, false accusation, and wild beasts (Ps. 35) -- Deceived deceivers, and the feasting followers of the Lord (Ps. 36) -- Cultivating faithfulness until the flourishing wicked wither (Ps. 37) -- A prayer for the sick (Ps. 38) -- Turn your gaze from me before I am no more (Ps. 39) -- Past and future deliverances and present trust and obedience (Ps. 40) -- Vindication for the sick person (Ps. 41) -- The would-be pilgrim who thirsts for God: Part I (Ps. 42) -- The would-be pilgrim who thirsts for God: Part II (Ps. 43) -- Betrayed by God in battle? (Ps. 44) -- In praise of the king at his wedding (Ps. 45).

Our mighty fortress (Ps. 46) -- Applause for the ascending king of all the earth (Ps. 47) -- Zion's divine defender (Ps. 48) -- God will redeem my soul from the grave (Ps. 49) -- A misunderstanding of sacrifice and the presumption of hypocrites (Ps. 50) -- The penitential Psalm (Ps. 51) -- The wicked uprooted and the righteous flourishing in God's house (Ps. 52) -- There is not one who does good: Version 2 (Ps. 53) -- Deliverance from Godless opponents (Ps. 54) -- Betrayed by a friend (Ps. 55) -- When I am afraid, I trust in God (Ps. 56) -- God's salvation for the individual and the international manifestation of His glory (Ps. 57) -- A God who judges unjust judges (Ps. 58) -- Threats from personal attackers, urban unrest, and foreign nations (Ps. 59) -- Defeat in battle with Edom (Ps. 60).

A pilgrim's prayer to fulfill vows at God's house (Ps. 61) -- Rest in God (Ps. 62) -- A pilgrim's thirst for God in a dry and weary land (Ps. 63) -- The wicked with tongues like arrows and the divine archer (Ps. 64) -- Praise to the God of Zion as Creator and God of agricultural fertility (Ps. 65) -- Corporate and individual thanksgiving to the God who acts (Ps. 66) -- The God who blesses Israel's harvests and His international praise (Ps. 67) -- In celebration of the ritual procession of the Cherubim-Ark (Ps. 68) -- From the miry depths (Ps. 69) -- Shame for my persecutors and joy for God's worshipers (Ps. 70).

When I am old and gray (Ps. 71) -- Intercession for the king to bring prosperity to the land and justice to the needy (Ps. 72) -- God's goodness redefined: the nearness of God (Ps. 73) -- The destruction of the temple and the eruption of chaos (Ps. 74) -- It is God who brings down and exalts (Ps. 75) -- The God of Zion breaks the weapons of war (Ps. 76) -- Has God forgotten to be merciful? (Ps. 77) -- A history lesson: from Ephraim to Judah, from the Exodus to Zion (Ps. 78) -- God's reputation and the destruction of Jerusalem (Ps. 79).

The vinedresser and the plundered vine of Israel (Ps. 80) -- Listening to the liberator (Ps. 81) -- God judges the gods (Ps. 82) -- The conspiracy of the nations (Ps. 83) -- The pilgrim's longings to "see" the God of Zion (Ps. 84) -- A forgiven people seeking forgiveness and God's promise of Shalom (Ps. 85) -- A servant appeals to his Lord for protection (Ps. 86) -- The nations "reborn" in Zion (Ps. 87) -- From the darkness of the grave (Ps. 88) -- A hymn of Yahweh's kingship, an oracle of David's kingship, and a lament over David's defeat (Ps. 89) -- Human frailty and sin, divine eternality and anger, and a prayer for mercy (Ps. 90).

The protection of my God in the midst of threat (Ps. 91) -- The withering of the wicked and the flourishing of the righteous (Ps. 92) -- The divine king is mightier than the chaotic waters (Ps. 93) -- Impending judgment on the oppressive wicked and interim promises for the righteous (Ps. 94) -- Today, if you hear His voice (Ps. 95) -- The divine king comes to judge the earth (Ps. 96) -- The God of the thunderstorm and the proclamation of His righteousness (Ps. 97) -- The saving righteousness of the divine king and the cheers of nature and the nation (Ps. 98) -- Holy, holy, holy is the responsive divine king (Ps. 99) -- An invitatory to enter the temple's gates with praise (Ps. 100).

Vows about acceptable and unacceptable associates (Ps. 101) -- A prayer for the afflicted and the ruins of Zion (Ps. 102) -- The Lord compassionate and slow to anger (Ps. 103) -- The Creator and His providential ordering of creation (Ps. 104) -- In praise of the Lord of history: from Abraham to the settlement in the land (Ps. 105) -- A confession of sin from Israel's history: mercy for the generations of the Exodus and the Exile (Ps. 106) -- The Lord of reversals: thanksgiving of desert wanderers, prisoners, the sick, and sailors (Ps. 107) -- Prayer for God's exaltation and for His victory over "Edom" (Ps. 108) -- A prayer against those who curse and accuse (Ps. 109) -- The Davidic king promised dominion over enemies (Ps. 110).

Pondering the Lord's great works of the Exodus and Conquest (Ps. 111) -- Blessings of those who fear the Lord (Ps. 112) -- The incomparable God of condescension and exaltation (Ps. 113) -- Trembling at the appearance of the God of the Exodus (Ps. 114) -- The maker of Heaven and Earth praised and invoked to bless Israel (Ps. 115) -- A thank offering for deliverance from death (Ps. 116) -- Nations to praise the Lord for His faithfulness (Ps. 117) -- A festival procession for giving thanks (Ps. 118) -- Meditating on the Lord's instructions: from A to Z (Ps. 119) -- Sojourning in a foreign land among the deceitful and warlike (Ps. 120).

The maker of Heaven and Earth watching over His pilgrims (Ps. 121) -- Peace for Jerusalem, the city of pilgrims (Ps. 122) -- Seeking mercy with eyes lifted heavenward (Ps. 123) -- Providing escape from the malevolent (Ps. 124) -- Wicked rule to be removed from the land of Zion (Ps. 125) -- The restored exiles sowing in tears and reaping with joy (Ps. 126) -- The Lord, the builder of the house (Ps. 127) -- A blessing on the family who fears the Lord (Ps. 128) -- Oppressed but not crushed (Ps. 129) -- Out of the depths (Ps. 130) -- The quieted soul (Ps. 131) -- A tale of two oaths: David's for the Lord's dwelling and the Lord's for David's dynasty in Zion (Ps. 132) -- The heavenly blessing of harmonious fellowship (Ps. 133) -- Nocturnal praise (Ps. 134) -- Dumb idols and the living God of the Exodus (Ps. 135).

The enduring love of the Creator and saving God of the Exodus (Ps. 136) -- Remembering Jerusalem by the rivers of Babylon (Ps. 137) -- The Lord on high preserves the lowly in the midst of trouble (Ps. 138) -- Surrendering to God's inescapable, all-searching presence (Ps. 139) -- Just justice for the violent and for the needy (Ps. 140) -- A prayer for the heart in the midst of threat and temptation (Ps. 141) -- Alone and persecuted (Ps. 142) -- No one is righteous before God (Ps. 143) -- The Davidic mercies and deliverance from foreigners (Ps. 144) -- The divine king and His universal kingdom (Ps. 145) -- The helper of those who cannot help themselves (Ps. 146) -- God of creation and restorer of Jerusalem (Ps. 147) -- Praise from the heavenly hosts and creatures here below (Ps. 148) -- Praise in the mouth and a sword in the hand (Ps. 149) -- Doxology to the book of Psalms (Ps. 150).

Craig Broyles examines the Psalms as a diverse collection of poems whose main roots are in Jerusalem's worship services. Both in the past and in the present, they provide dynamic liturgies though which the worshipper encounters God--often with vigorous dialogue--and finds meaning for life. Broyles makes the best of contemporary scholarship on the Psalms accessible to both general readers and serious students.