Psalms are to be seen as prayers, it is as testimonies of faith and despair. By applying a multi-dimensional matrix of methods the authors of these essays open perspectives on new insights in these ancient hymns.

Bob Becking, Ph.D. (1985) in Theology, Utrecht University, is chair of the department of Old Testament Study at Utrecht University. He is the author The Fall of Samaria (Brill, 1992); Between Fear and Freedom: Essays on the Interpretation of Jeremiah 30-31 (Brill, 2004). He acted as co-editor of the Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible (Brill, 1995). With his Utrecht colleagues he published: Only One God? (the Biblical Seminar 77), 2001.
Eric Peels, Ph.D. (1992) in Theology, Apeldoorn Theological University. He is professor of Old Testament Studies at Apeldoorn Theological University and Research Associate of the Department of Old Testament Studies, University of the Free State, South Africa. He is the author of The Vengeance of God (Brill, 1995); Shadow Sides: God in the Old Testament (Paternoster, 2003).