The Bible Series Psalms
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Music, Melody, plays a huge part in people’s lives.
Many wake up to it
Many engage with it when they shower
We carry headphones at the ready
The radio plays it as soon as we start our vehicles
We engage in a variety of instruments
We have developed TV shows around it
There is a 26.2 BILLION DOLLAR industry around it! That is up 6% from 2021
Then we come to a book in this section of wisdom and poetry called PSALMS…
Psalms Facts
Psalms Facts
This book of Psalms is far more and greater than just a song book or a hymnal. At the CENTER of God’s Word is a book that expresses His heart like no other!
Comprised of Poems, Songs, and beautiful Prayers
The Book of Psalms comes from a Greek word meaning “a song sung to the accompaniment of a plucked instrument”
Hebrew meaning is book of Praises… almost every Psalm contains some form of praise to God
Most quoted book in the bible and second most quoted in the New Testament
The Psalms capture a multitude of moods and are able to relate to the reader and the vast variety of life circumstances one finds themselves in
(Psalm 23- comfort; Psalm 139 - worth & value; Psalm 96- PRAISE… wow God!)
Sing to the Lord a new song; Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the Lord made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before Him, Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary. Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; Bring an offering and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in holy attire; Tremble before Him, all the earth. Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns; Indeed, the world is firmly established, it will not be moved; He will judge the peoples with equity.” Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; Let the sea roar, and all it contains; Let the field exult, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy Before the Lord, for He is coming, For He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness And the peoples in His faithfulness.
The psalms transcend through all time, cultures, and life situations
You see and feel the personal response of the psalmist as they reflect on God
Psalms is a collection of these writings spanning from 1410 BC to 430 BC
There order is not listed in the chronological order
Rather an order that captures the heart and theme of this book
Each Psalm was written on or for a certain occasion
Many will have a “Superscript” prior to the psalm describing the event or time
Many are unknown when they were written or for what circumstance
When there is such information given it is best to interpret it in that context…
then apply the truths taught to our lives
Most of these Psalms were written by David (73)
(12) were by Asaph, (11) by the sons of Korah, (2) by Heman & Ethan, (3) were from Solomon & Moses,
YET (49) were written anonymously
The central purpose of Psalms is not music, (Even though there are a majority of songs and they were all put to musical notes), rather the focus is on WORSHIP…
Worship
worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being
an act of expressing such reverence
a form of religious practice, extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to
This book draws our attention on our Worship of God, not in a flippant manner but with reverence and AWE! We sing the Psalms, we study the Psalms, we read them and it should cause us to look to God and declare He is AWESOME!
God is WORTHY of all of our praise to Him
For WHO He is
For WHAT He has done
For WHAT He will do in the future
And the book of Psalms addresses all of this!
They key term in Psalms is … HALLELUJAH (167 Times)
The word itself is actually a command
Hallelu = Praise
YAH = Yahweh
Praise Yahweh or Praise the Lord!!!
Some translations translate HALLELUJAH as PRAISE THE LORD
Your study of the Psalms should evoke your Praise of HIM!
Psalms Genre
Psalms Genre
We predominantly see PRAISE coupled with LAMENT
Lament is an appropriate response to the evil we see in this world
Praise should come from our lament however… we look to God
Some focus on ones TRUST in the Lord
Multiples are clearly a HYMN to be sung before all declaring truths of God
There are those that burst forth with THANKSGIVING
We see great WISDOM expressed especially through the longest chapter (119) in the book of Psalms
Then there are the ROYAL psalms pertaining to the King, Kingdom, and Coming King
Psalms Books
Psalms Books
Psalms is structured into FIVE BOOKS
You will notice that we you loo at them that the Genres are mixed throughout
There however is a noticeable extra amount of the PRAISES in the very last book
When looking at the book of Psalms, seeing the vast array of Genre, at first glance it looks random… however as one reads this book through there is a very intentional flow and focus…
Psalm Overview
Psalm Overview
The book divided in FIVE BOOKS has a very similar flow to the TORAH
Chapters 1-2 blessed are those who delight in His law “Torah” first five books Psalm 1:1-2
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the Lord, And in His law he meditates day and night.
BOOK 1
David writes these and it looks to the king
It looks to God and His covenant faithfulness from Abraham
It declares the beauty, grandeur and awe of creation
As we are called to look at the king we are challenged to look to the coming king from David’s line
BOOK 2
We are called to look to worship, we consider the Temple in Zion
There is great expectation of the coming Messiah King
In these psalms we see the echo of the words from the prophets like Isaiah declaring the One who will come
God’s faithfulness is repeated and praised
BOOK 3
We read Laments, from those in Exile, The consequences of sin, grief
In this there is a holding on to the Promise to Come
There are pleas of God to remember, to be faithful
BOOK 4
The reminder and praise of God’s mercy
Declaring God reigns on His throne forever!
An anticipation and longing for His eternal kingdom
A forever king who will rule one day JUSTLY
BOOK 5
A loo at and praise that evil will be defeated
There is a great focus on the “Hallel” psalms
Lifting up praise, lifting up God, psalms of ascents
PRAISE THE LORD!
Each book ties all these books with the way each book or section ends…
Book 1 ends: Psalm 41:13
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
Book 2 ends: Psalm 72:18-19
Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders. And blessed be His glorious name forever; And may the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen.
Book 3 ends: Psalm 89:52
Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.
Book 4 ends: Psalm 106:48
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, From everlasting even to everlasting. And let all the people say, “Amen.” Praise the Lord!
Book 5 ends: Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
The last five chapters reiterate the Praise of the Lord… each one beginning and ending with the phrase!
We have a whole book focused on praising the Lord… declaring Him be blessed forever! How could this get old how could it be anything but worship!!!
The Great Hallel “Praise”
The Great Hallel “Praise”
Join with me in reading Psalm 136… I want you as a church to reply as I read:
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of gods, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who alone does great wonders, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who made the heavens with skill, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who spread out the earth above the waters, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who made the great lights, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: The sun to rule by day, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, The moon and stars to rule by night, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who smote the Egyptians in their firstborn, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And brought Israel out from their midst, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, With a strong hand and an outstretched arm, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who divided the Red Sea asunder, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And made Israel pass through the midst of it, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; But He overthrew Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. To Him who led His people through the wilderness, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; To Him who smote great kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And slew mighty kings, For His lovingkindness is everlasting: Sihon, king of the Amorites, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And Og, king of Bashan, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And gave their land as a heritage, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, Even a heritage to Israel His servant, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Who remembered us in our low estate, For His lovingkindness is everlasting, And has rescued us from our adversaries, For His lovingkindness is everlasting; Who gives food to all flesh, For His lovingkindness is everlasting. Give thanks to the God of heaven, For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Did you start to mindlessly respond?
Did you find yourself not really focusing on our God?
Did his power, His work, stir in your heart, reverence, awe, praise?
I opened giving some stats on music and melody… it touches so many aspects of our life.
Does the PRAISE OF GOD hold a crucial and central place in your life… or do you simply go through the motions without true worship?