The Stories In The Story: Psalms

Intro- What is your favorite song of all time?

-Hey Jude….

written for John Lennons son Julian…Jules

Every song has a story behind it.

Everybody has a story. Everybody’s story matters. Everybody who encounters Jesus can changed for the better.

What are the Psalms?

The Book of Psalms. It's a collection of 150 ancient Hebrew poems, songs, and prayers that come from all different periods in Israel's history

The Psalms contain several authors including David, Asaph, the sons of Korah, and other worship leaders. One-third of the poems are anonymous. David likely authored 73 of them.

Different types of Psalms- Lament, Praise, Thanksgiving, Kingship and Covenant, Songs of Trust, and Wisdom

The New International Version (Psalm 51)

1 Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,

and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned

and done what is evil in your sight;

so you are right in your verdict

and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth,

sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;

you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;

wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness;

let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9 Hide your face from my sins

and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence

or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,

so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,

you who are God my Savior,

and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord,

and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;

you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart

you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,

to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,

in burnt offerings offered whole;

then bulls will be offered on your altar.

2 Samuel 11 David and Bathsheba

You are not your worst moments.

We can experience a wide range of emotions while trusting in God.

God is worthy of our praise and faithful to have our trust regardless of our circumstances and situations.

There is healing on the other-side of hurt. There is redemption on the other-side of wrong-doing. There is peace on the other side of chaos. And there is God in the midst of it all.

God will walk through it all with you and take care of you.

English Standard Version (Psalm 23)

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

2  He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

3  He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness

for his name’s sake.

4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

5  You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

6  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD

forever.

“A man can’t be always defending the truth; there must be a time to feed on it.” ― C.S. Lewis

“If the Divine call does not make us better, it will make us very much worse. Of all bad men religious bad men are the worst. Of all created beings the wickedest is one who originally stood in the immediate presence of God.” ― C.S. Lewis

The author of this treasured hymn was Louisa M.R. Stead, born in England in 1850. As a young girl, she experienced a strong desire to become a missionary. At around 21 years old, she immigrated to America and resided in Cincinnati, Ohio for some time. While attending a camp meeting in Urbana, Ohio, her calling to be a missionary intensified; however, her ambitions to serve in China were hindered by her frail health.

On a summer day around 1880, Louisa and her husband, George, took their young daughter Lily to Long Island Sound for a picnic outing. While enjoying their day together by the seashore, they were suddenly alerted by cries for help from a young boy struggling against the tide offshore. Without hesitation, Louisa’s husband plunged into the water in an attempt to save him.

Tragically, both drowned as Louisa and Lily watched helplessly from the shore—their world shattered before their eyes; despair threatened to engulf them both after experiencing the terrible loss of their husband and father.

In those darkest moments following loss and grief so profound, Louisa turned to the one constant in her life: her Savior Jesus Christ.

Louisa was left without any means of financial support, and she and her daughter were in dire poverty. One day when there was no food in the house and no money, Louisa opened the front door to find that someone had left groceries and money sitting there for her. That same day, she sat down and wrote: “Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus.” She and her daughter later became missionaries to Africa, and she remarried.

Opposition shouldn’t stop our obedience.

Some psalms tell their stories directly. Other psalms are clearly written in the midst of a story. Psalm 51 is written in the midst of David's sorrow over his sin with Bathsheba. Psalm 56 is written when David was seized by the Philistines. Psalm 130 is written from the bottom of a pit — either spiritual or literal — and tells the anguish of a trapped man. Psalm 137catches the psalmist by the rivers of Babylon, weeping in unresolved anger. At the end of the psalm, he still has not fully dealt with his trouble. It ends with him saying "Happy is he who repays them for what they have done for us—happy is he who takes their infants and dashes them against the rocks!" (Try reading that one to a sleepy Sunday morning congregation!)

Dietrich Bonhoeffer notes that while the rest of the Bible is God's Word to us, the Psalms are words given by God to be said back to Him.