PSALMS MATERIAL
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
The Psalms, as they were organized follow that massive, mega theme. Psalm 1-2 introduces the book as a whole and presents us with two options. We can either righteous and flourish like a tree planted by streams of water or we can be wicked and washed away in judgement.
Psalms 1 and 2 simply tell us that there is a way of blessedness and a way of destruction. There is no third option. It is that simple. Don’t overcomplicate it. Here is one way and here is another way.
The final 5 Psalms, Psalms 146-150 all start and end with the same exuberant phrase, “Praise the Lord.” Do you know that the exhortation to “Praise” God occurs 43 times in the final 5 books! It’s amazing! .
Do we get it? Do we catch the Psalmists drift?
In between the beginning and the end of the Psalter is a collection of 143 poems, songs and prayers that arise out of different eras in Israel’s history and that collection of writings has been organized into 5 different books. Each of those books ends with a similar refrain to periodically remind us of God’s universal rule and reign over His creation. So book one ends with…
13 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
Book two ends with…
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
Book three ends with…
52 Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.
Book four ends with…
48 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! And let all the people say, “Amen!” Praise the Lord!
Book five ends with…
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!
We amended the way we initially planned out our Summers in the Psalm series because we recognized that many of the first 72 Psalms are lament Psalms; that is they grapple with the harsh realities of living in a broken, yet to be fully restored world. So in order to get a varied sampling of Psalms and not just hear almost exclusively from King David who wrote 38 of the first 41 Psalms, I thought it would be good to expand our horizons and look at the beginnings of each of the 5 books that make up the Psalter as a whole.
