SUMMER IN THE PSALMS

Shane Meredith

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Q: We have been reading Psalms in our year through the Bible plan. So be honest, DO YOU ENJOY READING PSALMS? (Typically some people love and some people do not and others are indifferent or like it just as much as other books of the Bible)

FOR ME I happen to love reading Psalms. Psalms and Proverbs are two of my favorite books of the Old Testament. I’m not the only one, many people love the Psalms and we will talk about why in just a minute.

This is one of the reasons for choosing Psalms

THE REASONS FOR CHOOSING PSALMS:

One of the reasons for choosing Psalms to study this summer is because I love it so much but that is really a secondary reason. There are so many other reasons...

Q: BUT LET ME ASK YOU FIRST; WHY DO YOU LIKE PSALMS, IF YOU DO, OR WHY DO YOU THINK SO MANY PEOPLE LOVE IT SO MUCH?

Perhaps one of the main reasons is that we often find ourselves in the words of Psalms. The different Psalms often express our emotions and condition at times.

Q: HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER AT SOME TIMES BEEN READING PSALMS AT FELT LIKE IT WAS SAYING EXACTLY WHAT YOU WERE FEELING?

This has happened to me many times. This is not just true of the Psalms of grief but Psalms can say what we are feeling about our joy, pain, struggle, suffering and emotions that factor into worship of God.

Psalm can be hard to get into if you do not like poetry style writing but in many ways it is not poetry as we think of it. It is so much more. It is inspired of God.

THE INCREDIBLE THING IS THAT IT IS INSPIRED OF GOD AS GOD USING THE LIFE, MINDS AND EXPERIENCES OF THE WRITERS THROUGH HIS HOLY SPIRIT TO EXPRESS TRUTHS.

It can be hard to get into because it is not in story form usually but IT GIVES GREAT TRUTHS IN SHORT PLAIN PHRASES THAT WE CAN QUICKLY GRASP BUT ALSO MEDITATE ON FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME.

I LOVE PSALMS BECAUSE OF THE VAST AMOUNT OF THINGS THAT YOU CAN LEARN FROM IT.

Q: WHAT IS IT THAT PSALMS TEACHES US?

It teaches us about (1) The nature of God, (2) His relationship and love toward us, (3) His care, concern and compassion for us, but also (4) how we need to be as (patient, humble, hopeful and cheerful) as God’s people. It shows us that we need to be obsessed with God as our Father, in love with His word (as shows) and very concerned about righteousness while hating wickedness and understanding where it will lead.

PSALMS TEACHES US ABOUT LIFE

IN JUST ONE PSALM WHEN WE ARE STRUGGLING, NEED GUIDANCE, FEEL GUILTY BECAUSE OF SIN, WHEN WE FEEL TRAPPED.

YOU ARE STRUGGLING (look at )

WHEN YOU ARE STRUGGLING: how to make it through difficulty

by TRUSTING IN GOD

Psalm 25:1–2 ESV

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me.

Psalm 25:1

by HOPING IN GOD: When we trust in God we can have hope instead of be in a state of worry, stress and despair.

Q: When we trust in God

pSALMS 25:

Psalm 25:3 ESV

Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.

Q: What does this verse imply that we will do if we trust in the Lord?

If we trust in God we will hope and wait on God, even if He doesn’t respond on our timeline.

WHEN YOU FEEL TRAPPED:

TURN TO GOD. For example (from this weeks reading): says,

Psalm 25:15–18 ESV

My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for he will pluck my feet out of the net. Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. The troubles of my heart are enlarged; bring me out of my distresses. Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins.

Psalm

ps 25:15-

WHEN YOU NEED GUIDANCE:

ASK GOD FOR GUIDANCE TO KNOW HOW TO LIVE

Psalm 25:4–5 ESV

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

Notice our desire should be guidance to know how to live in God’s ways. Before we focus on which way we should go in a certain area we should be desiring to know how to better live for God by His ways!

WHEN YOU HAVE SINNED

Psalm 3:5–6 ESV

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.

Psalm 25:

Psalm 25:7 ESV

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord!

Psalm 25:11 ESV

For your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.

Q: what all do these verses teach us about how to deal with sin?

If we have sinned we need to admit it to God and not hide it, we need to be humble enough to realize we have sin and how serious it is.

The most important thing is that God is a God of forgiveness because of His “goodness” and “steadfast love.”

HOW TO PRAY: () (We can grow so much in seeing how to pray deeply, with all of our emotions and heart.)

We are going to read a few verses and let’s pick out the lessons we can get on how to pray from this one Psalm.

Psalm 5:1–3 ESV

Give ear to my words, O Lord; consider my groaning. Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray. O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.

Q: WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS PSALM ABOUT PRAYER?

PS 5:1-3

(1) When we pray we should believe that God hears us (as Jesus also said), (2) if we are praying to God for help we should also consider if He is really the Lord of our lives (we do not want to only pray to God when we are in need), (3) morning is a great time to pray to give God our day before it ever starts, (4) when we pray and believe we need to wait (trusting in Him) and expectantly (because we know He is going to come through.

Without all the other things you could learn one huge prayer from just the thing in verse 3 that says, “wait expectantly.” Q: Do you pray with any excitement, expecting anything to happen?

Q: WHAT DO WE LEARN FROM THIS ABOUT PRAYER?

TRANS: one of the things that I love the most about Psalms is what is shows us about the nature of God. If you want to understand God more Psalms is good to study!

PSALMS TEACHES US ABOUT GOD.

AND (HOW WE SHOULD FEEL TOWARD HIM!)

WHO GOD IS!

There are so many things about God that Psalm reveals. For example: : God watches over the righteous, : God rules over all, : God is a protector (shield) and He answers our cries for help, : God is a God of peace and we can feel safe because of Him.

These are all great but one of the greatest truths about that is extremely prevalent in Psalm is that God’s love endures forever. This is said in a number of ways but it is very prominent in the phrase “unfailing love.” (It is the reason we can trust in Him. Not just because He can help but because He loves us enough TO help.)

For example: ,

Psalm 119:64 ESV

The earth, O Lord, is full of your steadfast love; teach me your statutes!

Psalm 119:76 ESV

Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.

Also has this as its theme: for example verse 1-3...

Psalm 136:1–3 ESV

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;

Q: WHAT DESCRIPTION OF GOD IN PSALM IS YOUR FAVORITE AND WHY?

Rock, redeemer, fortress, dwelling place, King, Shepherd, judge, light, shield, our chosen inheritance, our strength, helper, our comfort, refuge, our portion, King over the flood, counselor, love, Father, protector,

2. WHO GOD IS TO US!

Rock, redeemer, fortress, dwelling place, King, Shepherd, judge, light, shield, our chosen inheritance, our strength, helper, our comfort, refuge, our portion, King over the flood, protector, Father, provider, sovereign, worthy of praise, guide, maker, all knowing, all powerful, trainer, merciful, leader, creator and others...

3. WHO WE ARE TO GOD! (And should be to Him)

Q: WHAT DOES PSALMS SAY ABOUT WHO WE ARE TO GOD?

WE ARE: His creation, His treasured possession, the apple of His eye, His beloved, His children,

We also get insight into what it is to have a close relationships with God. For example seeking God and wanting to be near Him more than anything else is shown.

Psalm 73:28 ESV

But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.

Psalm 73:

Now let’s test our knowledge of Psalms...

Q: WHAT TWO TYPES OF PEOPLE DOES PSALMS OFTEN CONTRAST?

Psalms often contrast the righteous and the wicked as in . (Read)

Psalm 1:1–4 ESV

Psalm 1 ESV

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Q: WHY DO YOU THINK GOD DOES THIS SO MUCH IN PSALMS AND PROVERBS?

(1) We need to be reminded which way is best and which way God is pleased with. The enemy often gets us (just as he did Eve) by turning our focus away from any consequences, (2) We need to know that in the end living for God brings great blessings (even if it brings persecution).

(ill: When I was a kid, even though I did learn the content of Psalms very well I got overarching theme that it is good to be good (righteous) and that helped me to have a mindset that rejected just doing whatever everyone else was doing.)

Now to clarify what happens to good and bad people:

Q: HOW IS IT THAT PSALMS SAYS SO MUCH ABOUT ALL THE GOOD THAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE RIGHTEOUS WHILE MANY RIGHTEOUS SEEM TO SUFFER?

Those who are righteous will reap the benefits of their actions just as the wicked will (both in the end and in this life.) and 6:9

Galatians 6:7 ESV

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Galatians 6:9 ESV

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Also, these who are living with God have all the benefits of that relationship, both spiritual, physical and mental. (God watches over, cares for, guides and hears us.)

Those who are not do not have those benefits and also suffer certain consequences. For example: I have never had to suffer the consequences of...

PSALMS SHOWS US THE PRICELESS NATURE OF GOD’S INSPIRED WORD!

Perry demonstrated this in his lesson on renewing your love for God’s word by giving a challenge to read and meditate on it. (I very much appreciated that because that is one of the greatest needs for us today as God’s people.

We are not missing the access to God’s word. We have all the access we want. We have free access to all kinds of Bible translations and biblical helps yet many people do not know the basis of it. WHY? WHY DO PEOPLE NOT KNOW IT BETTER?

To really know it you have to have a love for it enough to study it, not just an obligation.

Q: WHY DO PEOPLE NOT HAVE MORE OF A DESIRE TO STUDY GOD’S WORD?

They do not grasp everything there is to gain from it. They do not read it to seek to apply it to their lives.

Psalm 119:14–16 ESV

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

Psalm 119:

Psalm 119:15–16 ESV

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.

See the meditation and not forgetting come with delighting in it.

Q: WHY DID HE DELIGHT IN GOD WORDS AND WAYS?

They kept Him from sin (V11), God’s word counseled him (v24), God word gave him hope (v49), helped though struggles (v92), made him wise (V97).

So these are all things that we can get out of studying Psalms, if, IF we will put the effort into meditating on how the truths that we get from it apply to us.

TRANS: something else for us to consider when we are thinking about studying Psalms...

JESUS’ USE OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS

We know that Jesus often quoted the scriptures. What is interesting is which books He quoted and which ones He quoted most. So just for fun we are going to guess what were the top four books of the Old Testament Jesus quoted.

Here are the rules: No googling it, no asking the scholars in the room. SO FIRST:

Q: What were the top four books Jesus quoted in the gospels?

Psalms is obvious, Deuteronomy, Exodus and Isaiah.

Q: What order should they be in from least quoted to most quoted with #1 as being the one He quoted most? (** PUT ON WHITE BOARD)

#4 - Exodus: 7x, (#3 - Isaiah: 8x,) #2 - Deuteronomy: 10x, and (#1 - Psalms: 11x).

Q: NOW, let’s do a top ten of which Old Testament books are quoted most in the New Testament? (**PUT ON WHITE BOARD)

Psalms (68 times) Isaiah (55) Deuteronomy (44) Genesis (35) Exodus (31) Leviticus (13), Proverbs (8), Zechariah (7), Jeremiah (5), Hosea (5)

#1 - Psalms (68 times) #2 - Isaiah (55) #3 - Deuteronomy (44) #4 - Genesis (35) #5 - Exodus (31) #6 - Leviticus (13), #7 - Proverbs (8), #8 - Zechariah (7), #9 - Jeremiah (5), #10 - Hosea (5) (Again Psalm is #1. It is the longest book so that accounts for...

Isaiah (55)

Deuteronomy (44)

Genesis (35)

Exodus (31)

Leviticus (13)

Proverbs (8)

Zechariah (7)

Jeremiah (5)

Hosea (5)

Jesus knew the Psalms and we should know it as well. It is an awesome book. It is also awesome because of how many times it points to Jesus.

PSALMS POINTS TO JESUS

This is one of the most incredible things about the book of Psalms. There are messianic Psalms (or Psalms that are mostly prophecies about Jesus) which are so specific and incredible. Those preaching Jesus in the New Testament use them to prove Christ.

Let’s do a little reverse reference quiz: we will look at the Psalm and you tell me where it is used in the New Testament. (And who used it)

Q: who used these references from the Psalms and where are they found in the NT?

Psalm 16

Psalm 16:10 ESV

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

PSALMS POINTS TO THE MESSIAH

Peter in and Paul in .

Psalm 110:1 ESV

The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”

Jesus, () Peter, () Hebrew writer, () Paul, (), Peter, ().

One of the most incredible Psalms is chapter 22 from which Jesus quoted on the Cross.

Psalm 22:1 ESV

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

When you go on to read the Psalm it describes what was going on the the day that Jesus was crucified, from Jesus being mocked (), dividing His clothes (22:18), to His hands and feet being pierced () to the exact things that they were saying to Him (). (c.f. ).

Psalm 22:7–8 ESV

All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

Psalm 22:8 ESV

“He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!”

So Jesus saying the first line of this Psalm could potentially got them to thinking about what else the Psalm said and looked around and seen it happening.

BIG LIFE CHANGING TRUTHS IN JUST A FEW SHORT PHRASES

One of the things that I love the most about Psalms is that you can find huge potentially life changing truths packed into just one or two short phrases.

This does not mean we need to not study the context of the phrases or the things in them in comparison to the larger context of the Bible.

But many times you can get big lessons in a small amount of time by just reading a Psalm and trying to apply it to life. Let’s look at some examples of this that I found in my personal bible study.

Psalm 119:24 ESV

Your testimonies are my delight; they are my counselors.

Psalm

Q: BEFORE I TELL YOU WHAT I WROTE, WHAT BIG LESSON DO YOU GET FROM THIS?

I wrote two things: (1) “God’s Spirit and God’s word can together counsel us if we are filled with both and rely on them.” (2) “Before seeking counsel from others, ask what does God’s word say about it?” (Let’s try again...

Psalm 34:18 ESV

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Q: BEFORE I TELL YOU WHAT I WROTE, WHAT BIG LESSON DO YOU GET FROM THIS?

If you are hurting or broken hearted, God cares and wants to help you. Verse 15 also relates this along with .

Psalm 27:10 ESV

For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in.

Psalm

Q: WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE, WHAT LESSON IS HERE?

“No matter who rejects us or neglects us God will receive us.” and “Parents usually receive us, but Gods love is even greater.” (ONE MORE…)

Psalm 119:76 ESV

Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.

Psalms 119

Q: WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE, WHAT LESSON IS HERE?

“Even when we fail, God’s love does not.” We can see that if we believe in God’s love, that it is unfailing, then we can find comfort in it when we are afflicted as the previous verse says.

There are so many more. And Psalms is also a great book to go to for learning how to pray deeply to God. It is even good to learn some of the things that are prayed and use them in our own prayers.