There is a Book of Jubilees, which was found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, was written before the time that Jesus was on the earth. But I am writing about a different book, the Book of Psalms.
The Book of Psalms is largely attributed to King David, but also to Moses and Asaph. Traditionally, we view the Psalms as a “poetic” book, but Jesus, Matthew and Peter tell us that the Psalms are prophetic. After His crucifixion, Jesus appeared to the Disciples and told them that all these things had to happen to fulfill what was written about Him prophetically in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms. (Luke 24:44) Matthew 13:35 says that when Jesus spoke to the people in parables, He was fulfilling what was spoken through the prophet, and then Matthew quotes Psalm 78:2. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter stated that David was a prophet. (Acts 2:29-30)
There are one-hundred fifty Psalms. The Psalms can be viewed as three sets of fifty (Psalms 1-50, Psalms 51-100, and Psalms 101-150.) I believe these groups of fifty show redemption. In the Bible the number "fifty" represents redemption as discussed in previous lessons. These groups of Psalms demonstrate the Jubilee cycle from three different perspectives.
The first group of Psalms indicates Rebellious Man and starts out with “the ungodly” (1:4), “Why do the heathen rage?” (2:1), “many are they that (are) against me.” (3:1), “sons of men, how long will you turn my glory into shame?” (4:2), “workers of iniquity,” “deceitful man,” “wickedness,” “rebelled” (5:5, 6, 9, 10).
The beginning of the second group of Psalms follows the theme of Deliverance; “Deliver me” (51:14), “God bringeth back the captivity of His people” (53:6), “Save me” (54:1), “Give ear to my prayer” (55:1), “thou hast delivered my soul” (56:13), “Be merciful unto me” (57:1), “Deliver me” (59:1).
The third, and last, group of Psalms establishes the theme of the Righteous and the Land of Israel. “Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land,” “I will early destroy the wicked of the land” (101:6, 8), “The Lord shall build up Zion” (102:16), “the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting … to such as keep His commandments” (103:17-18), “let the wicked be no more” (104:35), “touch not mine anointed” (105:15).
It appears that these three groups of Psalms have the following themes:
The Lord has so much to reveal to us in His Holy Word. Praise His name forever!