The Psalter can be viewed as a distillation of Israel's history, spirituality, liturgy, wisdom, Torah and messianic hopes. This course will examine some of the key elements of Hebrew poetry exemplified by the Psalms. In the study of the Psalms according to their literary forms or genres, their unique poetic and thematic features will be highlighted. Some consideration will be given to thematic groupings of Psalms such as Creation Psalms and Penitential Psalms. The spirituality of the Psalms will be explored both through Patristic literature and modern authors. This course will consider the messianic and Christological reading of the Psalms.