이 연구의 목표는 시편의 활용을 예배에서는 물론 생활에서도 찾으려는 데 둔다. 시편 연구는 궁켈 이후 분석적 방법론이 우세한 상황이다. 유대교와 중세 수도원에서는 시편 150편 전체를 경전의 틀에서 활용한 전통이 유지되었다. 시편의 분석적 연구가 역사성과 관련하여 시편의 새로운 이해를 도왔지만 실제 활용은 상대적으로 적을 수밖에 없었다. 따라서 이 논문은 유대교의 성서일과, 중세 동방교회의 시편 활용, 그리고 가톨릭의 성무일과를 중심으로 시편이 어떻게 쓰였는지 살핀다. 성서일과는 절기에 따라 시편을 읽도록 구성한 것으로 교파의 신학과 특색이 드러난다. 특히 유대교의 3년 주기 일과표는 일찍이 정기적인 독서를 통하여 시편 읽기의 중요성을 일깨웠고, 동방교회는 시편의 분량에 따라 본문을 신축성 있게 배열한 점이 눈에 띄며, 제2차 바티칸 공의회 이후 가톨릭은 중세의 복잡한 시편활용을 간소화하여 현대인들에게 어필할 수 있는 장치를 마련했다는 특징이 있다. 이 연구의 성과는 시편을 생활 속에서 실천하는 수행적인 방식으로 활용하며 이해할 수 있게 안내한다는 사실이다. 중세의 성서읽기는 동양적 고전낭독에 비견할 수 있다. 즉 시편의 정기적인 낭독은 생활에 스며들게 하는 수련으로 결국 하나님을 만나고 합일하는 과정을 제도적으로 실천한 것이다.
The purpose of this research is to determine the way in which the Psalms were utilized, not only in worship but also in real life, and thus I investigated how the Psalms were used in ancient Jewish community, in the medieval Orthodox church, and in the Catholic community. The Book of Psalms is a collection of compositions that the Israelites sang toward God on various occasions. A close look shows that this collection consists of 5 books, that is, Book I (chaps 1 41), Book II (chaps 42 72), Book III (chaps 73 89), Book IV (chaps 90 106), and Book V (chaps 107 150). Why is it divided into 5 Books? It is often said that David, presumably regarded as its author, is responsible for these five books just as Moses is for the Pentateuch. In recent research, however, the division is shown to be related to a three year cycle of communal readings of the Israelites. This suggests how deeply the Psalms impacted the Israelites, communally as well as individually. Later, the Western church and the Orthodox church of medieval times began to follow the Judaic tradition. In this respect, a comparative study of the two traditions is also necessary. Meanwhile, theopoetics is a technical term that articulates Yahweh as the origin of revelation and mystery in real life, through poetic emotion. This gives a new perspective from which to radically understand the Psalms. First, theopoetics can inspire poetic imagination, with the understanding that the collection of Psalms is a record of the human quest for God, but not an object of historical criticism. Second, it distinguishes the communication of the Psalms from that of the Pentateuch and the Prophets. In short, the latter are divine teachings and proclamations toward Israel, whereas the former are Israelite responses and confessions toward God. Nonetheless, the Psalms form a part of the biblical canon. If so, how do the Psalms as part of the canon play a role in daily life? The conclusion that I came to in this study is that the Israelites read the Psalms regularly and repeatedly as an annual reciting of scripture. The Psalms are difficult when you read them for the first time. Thus, the ancient biblical community took an assigned portion of the Psalms routinely every 3 years. Such regular reading sheds light on every word of the Psalms. In this way the reciting of the Psalms becomes a duty of a devotee, and further the text of the Psalms simultaneously becomes part of the texture of daily life. This is why Hieronimus called the Psalms the Grand Temple. The Psalms lectionary specifies performative and disciplined reading. The result of this research is, therefore, to lead us to use and understand the Psalms in performative readings in our daily lives.