Ian J. Vaillancourt. Treasuring the Psalms: How to Read the Songs That Shape the Soul of the Church

Vaillancourt begins this new volume with a brief introduction. He then structures the body of his book according to three headings: the Story, the Savior, and the Soul. The first section traces the canonical structure of the Psalter. Vaillancourt subdivides section one into five chapters on the compositional history of the Psalter: individual songs making up the book (ch. 1) the superscriptions (ch. 2), Psalms 1–2 as a gateway to the book (ch. 3), the broad narrative structure of all five books of the Psalter (ch. 4), and the canonical function of the royal theme in the Psalms (ch. 5). The final chapter of section 1 functions as a bridge to section 2 on the Savior. Section 2 explains how to read the Psalter christologically. Vaillancourt includes in this section four chapters: two on the Psalms and Christ, one on the Psalms and the New Testament, and one on the Psalms and the Christian. The final chapter in section 2 serves as a bridge to the third section on the soul. Section 3 focuses on reading the Psalms today both individually and corporately. This section includes three chapters on the direct application to Christians of the lament psalms, thanksgiving psalms, and praise psalms. Vaillancourt finishes with a brief conclusion, but this is not the actual end of the book. The true end is a set of six short appendixes, entitled “Digging Deeper,” available for download as a pdf on IVP’s website. These final chapters explore the history of canonical readings of the Psalms, historical approaches to the superscriptions, questions that remain about the superscriptions, a thematic approach to categorizing individual psalms (in contrast to Gunkel’s form-critical approach), engagement with Bruce Waltke on Christian use of the imprecatory psalms, and Hebrew terminology for praise.This volume is a good popular-level introduction to the Psalter. It is not a volume directed at the specialist. I find the overwhelming majority of the arguments and presentation virtually unobjectionable. Vaillancourt is refreshingly conservative, evangelical, and Christocentric. I sense no hint of compromise with anti-Christian higher criticism. Several points are especially worth singling out for praise. First, he skillfully avoids the common critique of Christocentric readings that such a hermeneutic neglects direct application of Old Testament texts to believers. Vaillancourt, of course, includes multiple chapters doing exactly that. Second, his discussion of psalms—especially 118—in Matthew’s passion narrative is enlightening and will be especially edifying for new students of the Psalter. This section even directed me to resources I intend to use in my own research. Third, Vaillancourt avoids a wooden use of form-critical categories that too often appear in the field. His approach is reasonable, flexible, and literarily sensitive.Still, a few points could have been improved. First, I would have liked more discussion of uncertain musical terms in the Psalms. Vaillancourt spends some time on the subject, but he mostly focuses on the historical superscriptions, as well as the phrase “to the choirmaster,” which we do understand. This is in spite of the fact that he raises the question of terms like “higgaion” and “miktam” (p. 3). What does the uncertainty of such terms say about all Scripture being “God-breathed and profitable for teaching”? That is the sort of question I suspect a popular-level reader might have. Second, he raises the question of the Elohistic Psalter’s existence on page 4 but does not provide an answer in any detail. Third, he posits that the closing words of Ps 72, “The prayers of David, the son of Jesse are ended,” indicate the existence of an earlier Davidic collection of psalms. However, as others have noted, the Elohistic Psalter begins in book 2 and ends part way through book 3. Positing an earlier Davidic collection that ends at Ps 72 potentially conflicts with the idea of the Elohistic Psalter because it would split that redactional grouping in half. This critique might not be immediately evident to the popular level reader, but it is to the specialist. Additionally, Vaillancourt posits an alternate proposition that the postscript to Ps72 indicates that the text’s focus is shifting away from the historical David. Thus, when book 5 resumes including Davidic psalms, they are primarily focused on an eschatological David. I am strongly sympathetic to such an idea, but I am curious how it fits with the claim of the postscript indicating an earlier collection. I can personally imagine some ways to harmonize the two positions, but I would have liked Vaillancourt to offer some explicitly, or at least note the tension.On three points I also want to note my light disagreement. First, I am not convinced that Christians should refrain from praying imprecatory psalms about their earthly enemies. Certainly, we must pray for redemption and strive to forgive, but the saints in Rev 6 seem to have no problem harmonizing that with imprecatory prayers. Second, I am not convinced that “Adoni” in Ps 110:1 and “Adonai” in 110:5 are different individuals. I am inclined to read both as referring to the Davidic king. Third, I am not convinced Ps 110 is the only direct prophecy in the Psalter. As Vaillancourt points out, נאם marks it out as an “oracle” or “divine utterance,” but I do not see why the absence of the term in other psalms means they are not direct prophecies. I do, however, appreciate his categories of prophecy, typico-prophecy, and typology. This creates a spectrum that helpfully prevents readers from woodenly shoving psalms into one box or another.I want to conclude my review by emphasizing how accessible and good this book is. My quibbles concern details, which themselves are controversial. I heartily recommend this book for undergraduate and church use.