According to Hassell Bullock, "No collection of poems has ever exercised as much influence on the Western world as the Book of Psalms." The attraction for Jews, Christians, and others is surely the personal element that pervades these poems, which describe the human situation in all its complexity. Though the Psalms are perhaps the most familiar portion of the Hebrew Bible, they are also among the most difficult to interpret. As a result, Bullock has created this guide to introduce readers to the study and interpretation of the Psalms. Encountering the Book of Psalms begins by examining the nature, structure, and authorship of the Psalter and providing readers with specific principles for interpretation. The author goes on to examine the use of the Psalms in worship from the ancient world to the twenty-first century. He further explores how the psalmists used historical reflection to serve their theological purposes, and he concludes by investigating different types of psalms (e.g., praise, lament, and wisdom).

C. Hassell Bullock (Ph.D., Hebrew Union College) is Franklin S. Dyrness Professor of Biblical Studies at Wheaton College. He is the author of An Introduction to the Old Testament Poetic Books and coeditor of The Literature and Meaning of Scripture.