The Spirit (רוח) in the Book of Psalms

What is it about?

This exploration of the book of Psalms has shown that ‘spirit’ represents the nature, actions, and attributes of God either explictly or implicitly. The Spirit is God’s breath that carries the energy of life, the wind that represents God’s mysterious power, and the Holy Spirit that dwells in the believer. Moreover, God’s power is manifested with purpose. The Spirit brings both blessing and judgment, life and death. The Spirit upholds the righteous and scatters the wicked. Taken together, these ‘spirit’ texts show that God’s Holy Spirit is active in two broad theological arenas: purity and power. In the arena of power, the Spirit creates all life and ends all life. All created life is the product of the work of the divine Spirit; therefore, all life is sacred to God as the work of the Holy Spirit. In addition to being the agent of God’s life-giving power, the Spirit is the administrator of God’s moral authority. The Psalms show that the Spirit is ‘holy’, even as God is holy; and the ‘good Spirit’ is God’s agent engaging humanity for ‘good’. God is invested in the life of the whole creation, and he is personally concerned to nurture holiness and wellness in humanity. The moral and ethical dimensions are exhibited through the Spirit’s salvation, guidance, support, and sanctification of believers and through the Spirit’s execution of judgment against evildoers. God rules over his creation, and that rule is administered by the Holy Spirit.

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