It seems that one book of the Bible that has interesting theories are based on Psalms. I heard one person suggest that Psalms 90-100 belong to Moses' blessing on the 12 tribes in Deuteronomy 32-33. Another taught that if you stick "19" in front of the number of the first 99 Psalms is a prophecy of what would happen in relatively recent history (e.g., Psalm 38 tells events that happened in 1938, or that, since "He is coming" is mentioned twice in chapter '96 and once in Psalm 98, it implies the rapture would take place in 1997. Okay, at least one of these above is off.
A similar but much more likely theory is proposed by James Hely Hutchinson in "Answering the Psalmist's Perplexity: New Covenant Newness in the Book of Psalms." His thesis is that the Psalmist in Psalm 89 was struggling between the unconditional covenant with David and the fact that Judah was in exile with the Davidic throne empty. As a result, Psalms develops an answer, which is in the New Testament with Christ.
In the first chapter, Hutchison defends his method including using a single book to deal with a 66 book issue and an Old Testament book to establish New Testament teaching. This is followed up with looking at seven views of how the Old and New Testaments interact from the Westminster Confession model to dispensationalism.
He launches into his theory in chapter 3. First, he deals with how Books 1-3 of Psalms (respectively Psalms 1-41, 42-72, and 73-89) sets the scene for "the Psalmist's Perplexity." Next, he looks at how the Book 4 (90-106) provides the building blocks for the answer. The outworking of the answer is covered in Chapter 5 through Book 5 (Psalms 107-150), before he focuses on the Law and the New-Covenant Believer's ethical life. He concludes by reviewing the spectrum of beliefs covered in chapter 2 and - surprise, surprise - he favors the one in the middle, though he is quick to point out this is not even close to being a salvation issue.
I found this book interesting, but not the strongest in the series. "Answering The Psalmist's Perplexity" is the 62nd in what is currently a 62 book series, and none have been out in the past year and a half (it was published in January, 2024). Additionally, D.A. Carson is listed as the series editor, except in this one, he shares billing with Benjamin L. Gladd. So I'm curious what the future is of the New Studies in Biblical Theology.
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