For the original hearers, the historical psalms were vivid reminders of God’s past acts on behalf of Israel. These history songs were written for passing on important lessons to succeeding generations. They celebrated the many promises God had made and faithfully kept; they also recounted the faithlessness of the people.
We cannot read this ancient history without reflecting on how consistently God’s people failed to learn from the past. They repeatedly turned from fresh examples of God’s faithfulness and forgiveness only to plunge back into sin. God can use these psalms to remind us how often we do exactly the same thing: Having every reason to live for God, we choose instead to live for everything but God. If we paid more attention to “his story,” we wouldn’t make so many mistakes in our own stories.
Selected historical psalms include: 68; 78; 95; 105; 106; 111; 114; 135; 136; 149.