Outcome of the book of Psalms

The Book of Psalms and the Babylonian Exile (c. 586–538 BC)

The Psalms help us understand Israel’s experience across three stages: life in Jerusalem, the disorienting experience of captivity, and the seventy years of exile.

How Israel came to exile

In Psalm 103:7, we read that God revealed his ways, including his character and deeds, to the children of Israel. But Judges 2:10–11 describes a generation that arose after Joshua and his contemporaries who neither knew the Lord nor remembered his deeds. They turned to the idols of the surrounding nations. This was the main reason God judged Israel by allowing the people to go into captivity in Babylon.

Other factors that contributed to the captivity included:

• The influence of the wrong company
• Deliberate choices and compromises
• The carelessness of Israel’s leaders
• Conflict with their enemies

Preserving faith and identity

The captivity was a pivotal era of spiritual and theological reconstruction for Israel. The Temple, the centre of worship, had been burned; the city, a source of security, had been levelled; and the people were marched to Babylon in chains. In these circumstances, writing and compiling Scripture became a vital way to preserve their identity and covenant with Yahweh.

Several Psalms capture the grief, raw emotion, and theological shifts of this period, including Psalms 137, 74, 79, 89, 42–43, 102, 107, and 126. These Psalms sit alongside other biblical books already studied, such as Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel.