28 Psalms

There is no portion of the Bible that is as frequently read, as the book of Psalms. It provides instruction, inspiration, motivation, and consolation.

The Psalms were composed over a span of about one thousand years. The earliest was by Moses (Psalm 90) in the fifteenth century B.C. It is the longest book in the Bible, and the New Testament frequently quotes from this book. Psalms is book number 19 in the Old Testament of the Bible and it contains 150 chapters. Psalms are a Bible within a Bible and a hymnbook, hymns of praise. God loves to hear His people sing His praises. Now we are all not singers, but we certainly can sing along. The book of psalms is a major part of His inspired word. This book holds great importance among Christians down through the centuries. This is an important book and will help in the crises of life. It is possibly the most widely used book in the Bible, and is the important book which shows men speaking to God. Psalms express just about every emotion, happiness, serenity, peace, hatred, vengeance and bitterness. In the Psalms we find human beings struggling honestly with life and communicating honestly with God without holding back. So same goes for today we struggle with problems and emotions the same was as our ancestors did, the book of Psalms is one of the most relevant and loved books in the entire Bible.

Psalms 1 to 41 – The advice of God to man
Psalms 42 to 72 – The advice of God to Israel
Psalms 73 to 89 -The sanctuary and the Law
Psalms 90 to 106 - Israel and the nations of the earth
Psalms 107 to 150 - God and His Word

There are three great themes in the Psalms:

• Cries for rescue from sin and misery

• Songs commemorating deliverance

• Hymns of praise and gratitude

They deal with real people facing real situations and recording their real feelings. The Psalms were often written in response to situations that believers were facing – good or bad. This means that we can associate very much with what is written. In fact that whatever our situation, however we feel, there is a Psalm for that moment. This is why we love them so much. We can expect to find Christ in some way in every Psalm. All evangelicals know and agree that some Psalms are messianic and inspire our hopes and beliefs. This is because the New Testament writers quote from them!

There are many themes running through the Psalms like the character of God, The Kingdom of God, The Messiah of God, The worship of God, The experience of Man. The main lessons in Psalms is, praise is important. To praise God we must come to know Him as revealed in His word and we must be involved with God in our personal lives through prayer and trusting Him so that we experience His all sufficient help. The psalmists knew God in this way.

We need to put more emphasis on praise in our Christian lives. Prayer is important, lots of the psalms are prayers, crying out to God from the severe tests in life. The psalms show us that no experience in life is too high or low to exclude God. We are to call on Him when life is not going well and we are to call on Him when life is wonderful. Corporate praise is important, corporate praise is when we all come together (Sunday mornings) to praise the Lord as one body of believers. It does not matter about the size of the room because Jesus said: that where there is two or three are gathered in His name, He will be in the midst.

God’s chosen people are those who choose Him. We choose to worship Him. We choose to praise Him. Corporate praise is very important as God desires it and deserves it. His plan for us daily is that we would choose His Will, His Wisdom, His Ways, His word and His worship. Day by day, we are to become more and more like what God originally had in mind when He created man. Through all aspects of corporate praise and individual worship we are made better. God expects praise and welcomes worship. When we come together corporately, it should be time of celebration because our God is an awesome God. Beauty and creativity are important. God is creative and He delights in beauty. We see His handiwork in the natural world, and the Psalms are full of appreciation for the beauty that God has created. The Psalms reflect the creativity of the authors who wrote them and God is pleased with it. When we enjoy the beauty of good art, music and literature, created by people who are created in God’s image, we should praise God the Creator. But especially, we should praise God through the beauty of His creation all around us.

We should read the Psalms every day. Doing this will help guard, sustain and deepen your heart before God. Remember, the main author of most of the Psalms was a man after God’s heart. Memorize them, Sing them and pray them. We can ask God to teach us about Himself and about ourselves as we study the Psalms.