Book looks at contrasting voices in Psalms

The book of Psalms includes some of the most impassioned language about God in the Old Testament.  At the same time, the psalms as a collection constitute one of the most impassioned debates about the nature and activity of God on behalf of individuals, Israel and the created order.

In this learned yet accessible volume, Robert Foster, a lecturer in religion and New Testament at UGA, offers the first major introduction to this debate about the person and work of God as it unfolds in the book of Psalms.

If God is the just king, why does this king delay vindicating the oppressed and saving them from a wicked oppressor? What happens when God turns in divine judgment against the people of Israel? Does God keep the promises made to descendants of David and the covenant made with the people of Israel? Do the psalmists find God faithful and so worthy of the final commands in the Psalter to “Praise the Lord”?

These powerful questions drive the debate within the book of Psalms.