Psalms: Songs for Every Season of Life
Notes
Transcript
Handout
The Bible’s Mix-tape
The Bible’s Mix-tape
Music has been a powerful tool in people’s lives. For centuries, music was distributed through tradition or through performance. Eventually, musicians created a nomenclature that allowed them to write down music - making it more complex but also making it available for people who couldn’t hear the initial performance.
In the 20th century, the ability to record music made it possible for people to enjoy music. Each decade of 20th century brought new music able to be enjoyed by a broad audience. We got to experience swing in the 20s and 30s, big band, the advent of Rock, the heavy metal, grunge, rap, pop, country, bluegrass, folk, punk, and so many more. For the early part of the century, the primary way to listen to this music was on a record player.
In the 1962, the Phillips corporation invented the cassette tape. With the invention of the cassette tape came another option for people, they could put a mixture of a variety of different songs from various artists on to one cassette. Some people call that a “mixtape”
(picture of a cassette)
Now, I know that for some of us, the only reason we know of cassettes is because of Star Lord in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. This character flew around the universe with a walk-man on his waist and old-school earphones on his ears, reminiscing of by-gone years to the tunes that his now-deceased mom prepared for him.
When Danielle and I were in high school, making these mix-tapes were fun and a regular part of life. You see, we couldn’t just make a playlist of our favorite songs - we had to actually record music from one cassette or record onto another one. It was a time consuming labor of love.
We would fill mix-tapes with our favorite songs - Christian rock, secular rock, worship, love songs - whatever songs fit our mood or conveyed a message to the recipient - those would make it on the 60-90 minute tape. The tunes would fill the speakers of our cars as we drove back and forth to school or to see each other.
I tell you that because today, as we continue looking at God’s story in scripture, we’re looking at the book of Psalms. We could call it the Bible’s Mixtape - or Playlist.
It’s a collection of 150 different songs or prayers. Some people have referred to the book of Psalms as a hymnbook.
Written by a variety of different authors, from different eras of Israel’s history, the Psalms give a poetic response to events in the lives of individuals and the nation.
Martin Luther even called it:
“The Bible in miniature”
(Dever, 483)
I think he called it that because in many ways it re-tells God’s story in poetic and personal ways. From creation, to the exodus, to the monarchy, to the exile and the return - Psalms covers it all.
As you read through the book, in some ways it seems like a random collection with little rhyme or reason. The Bible Project has done an excellent job delineating the structure and message of the book. If you’ve not had a chance to see that, let me encourage you to check it out: https://bibleproject.com/explore/psalms/
But, the book is not random. Those who put the book into its current form divided the psalms into 5 sub-books. Each book or sub-book concludes with a doxology that seems to conclude the preceding chapters. (Dever, 484) Let’s consider this for a moment:
Book 1:
Psalm
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
Book 2:
Psalm
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory!
Amen and Amen!
Book 3:
Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
Book 4:
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
And let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord!
Psalm 106:48
Book 5:
In many ways the last five chapters (146-150) become the final doxology for the entire book - so this sub-book doesn’t have a singular doxology, but look at how the last chapter wraps things up:
Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord!
Generally, these five books of Psalms convey praise to God but they also convey pain. The books title in Hebrew means “praises,” but the book itself is filled with so much more. (Longman, 238) - in fact many scholars agree that “Laments constitute the largest group of psalms in the Psalter.”
Laments constitute the largest group of psalms in the Psalter.
“Laments constitute the largest group of psalms in the Psalter.”
(Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993. Print.)
(Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas K. Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. 3rd ed. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1993. Print.)
Because of the nature of the Psalms, it’s difficult to look at it sequentially - so instead, I thought we’d consider it from personal stand point - like a sort of playlist or mixtape for various seasons of life.
Some of the seasons are up, some are down, but I think there is Psalm for every season.
So if were were to put these psalms or prayers or songs onto a mixtape or a playlist, I think one category might be...
Songs that we want to sing - praise and thanksgiving
Songs that we want to sing - praise and thanksgiving
Last Sunday, Danielle’s parent’s were talking about about how they met at Montgomery college. He was a sophomore basketball player, she was a freshman cheerleader. On the way to the games, the men and women were separated and there was general quiet as the guys got into game mode. On the way home, they could intermingle - which is how they met. When the team did well, they would sing Motown songs on the way home - like “My Girl”. They were excited and cheerful about the victory - and would let it be known in song.
The Psalms that we want to sing are the songs of praise and thanksgiving. These are the songs for when we feel close to God. These are the songs we can sing when we recognize that God is active and has done something marvelous in our lives.
In your notes, we’ve listed psalms that might fit in each category that we’ll consider today. There is a great deal of overlap in the psalms and so some people divide them up in to two, three, five, seven and more different categories. I hope these help as we seek to give God praise and thanksgiving for His work in our lives and in the world.
Psalms of Praise
Psalms of Praise
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While not the largest segment of the book, these psalms generally make up the mood of the book of Psalms. These are joyful and celebratory. They they are specific and general.
We often songs like these to fill our weekly times of worship together.
The shortest Psalm is actually a praise psalm:
Praise the Lord, all nations!
Extol him, all peoples!
For great is his steadfast love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.
Praise the Lord!
Look briefly at the pattern in this Psalm. One of the things that is common in Hebrew poetry is the pairing or coupling of lines. If you’ll notice, “praise the Lord, all nations” is essentially re-stated in a different way in the next line - “extol him, all peoples.” Sometimes these couplets are repeating phrases. One thing we’ll notice when we get to Proverbs is that sometimes they are contrasting phrases.
In the next verse - the couplet is actually a two-line description of God’s enduring love and faithfulness. The end result is “Praise the Lord!”
If we were to meditate on this simple psalm, it’s not hard to notice who is to be praised (God), who is to do the praising (everyone), and why God is praiseworthy (steadfast love and enduring faithfulness). I think that there are countless ways that we can contemplate God’s steadfast love or “lovingkindness” and his faithfulness.
For the Israelites, they might have been considering God’s work in the Exodus - bringing the people out of Egypt. In fact has a song of Moses that recounts God’s as an exhibition of His steadfast love.
Even just look at us individually, God, in his love sent his son to be our replacement on the cross - calling us to be his children. I don’t know if the Apostle Paul had this Psalm in mind, but the love of God is clear to him as he opens his letter to the Ephesians.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:
It is out of His love that he chose us!
In some ways, singing a psalm like this might force us to consider just how we have seen God’s love and faithfulness in action - personally as well. Maybe consider discussing God’s love and faithfulness as you’re having lunch this afternoon!
Closely related to psalms of praise are...
Psalms of Thanksgiving
Psalms of Thanksgiving
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Many times, these psalms are in relation to God’s response to a lament.
Turn in your Bible’s back just one chapter to . Here, the Psalmist gets very specific in giving Thanks to God for the way that he has worked.
(Read some of from the Bible) (1-9)
(Read from the Bible)
I love the Lord, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.
Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!”
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous;
our God is merciful.
The Lord preserves the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
Return, O my soul, to your rest;
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling;
I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
The thankful tone of this Psalm gives some indication that God brought relief amidst a difficult circumstance. We don’t necessarily get to understand the specifics, but we do get to hear the Psalmists heart of gratitude on the other side of the pain.
Thanksgiving psalms give us a beautiful example of being specific in our gratitude. In , we saw an individual psalm of Thanksgiving, other psalms give us a more corporate or communal example. Let’s flip forward two chapters to (Bible).
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!
Let Israel say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let the house of Aaron say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say,
“His steadfast love endures forever.”
The Psalmist seems to be calling the nation to worship out of thanks for what God has done. He then goes into a more personal or intimate expression of Gratitude for God’s faithfulness.
All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees;
they went out like a fire among thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,
but the Lord helped me.
While some of these songs are centered on the particular history of Israel, they also provide for us a model that can guide our prayer. What would happen if we were to take some time to really consider all that God has done and to give him thanks? Even though there are scary health concerns with the Corona virus and frustrating tensions in our political environment and so much more, I think taking time to look back in gratitude for God’s goodness and faithfulness will help us navigate the present circumstances with confident assurance - knowing the God is sovereign.
Application:
God, I praise you for… (5 minutes)
God I praise you for… (5 minutes)
God, I thank you for… (5 minutes)
God I thank you for… (5 minutes)
God I thank you for… (5 minutes)
On these songs that we like to sing (praise and thanksgiving), sometime this week, will you take ten minutes in your devotional time or around a meal with your family to praise and thank God? It can be a prayer, it can be a verbal affirmation, written, songs, etc.
So the Psalms give us many examples and means of singing songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. In addition to giving us songs we want to sing in the joyful and prosperous seasons of life, the psalms also give us something for the dark and down seasons of the by showing us...
The songs we we don’t want to sing, but can - lament
The songs we we don’t want to sing, but can - lament
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(possible illustration - listening to music in the car - changing station to avoid a song we don’t like)
These songs of Lament actually take up the largest segment of the Psalms. The guys at the Bible project note that Laments seem to dominate the first part of the book of Psalms and gradually give way to psalms of praise as the book progresses.
When we read laments, we can sometimes shudder at the severity of the language. The psalmists cry out to God from the midst of deep pain. Sometimes he accuses God of ignoring the situation.
Let’s consider the very first lament in the book of Psalms - - a lament of David as he ran from his son Absalom () (screen):
A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son.
O Lord, how many are my foes!
Many are rising against me;
many are saying of my soul,
“There is no salvation for him in God.” Selah
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
I cried aloud to the Lord,
and he answered me from his holy hill. Selah
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.
Arise, O Lord!
Save me, O my God!
For you strike all my enemies on the cheek;
you break the teeth of the wicked.
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalm 3
This is not merely a compliant. A Biblical lament has something more than just whining and crying.
Mark Vroegop, a pastor in Indianapolis and author of the book Dark Clouds and Deep Mercy defines a lament as:
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
To you they cried and were rescued;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by mankind and despised by the people.
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!”
Yet you are he who took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother’s breasts.
On you was I cast from my birth,
and from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
Be not far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is none to help.
Many bulls encompass me;
strong bulls of Bashan surround me;
they open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint;
my heart is like wax;
it is melted within my breast;
my strength is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
For dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers encircles me;
they have pierced my hands and feet—
I can count all my bones—
they stare and gloat over me;
they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
But you, O Lord, do not be far off!
O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dog!
Save me from the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!
I will tell of your name to my brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted,
and he has not hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he cried to him.
From you comes my praise in the great congregation;
my vows I will perform before those who fear him.
The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
For kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not keep himself alive.
Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation;
they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn,
that he has done it.
Lament: A prayer in pain that leads to trust
We can see this pattern in . David expresses his frustration. He feels the pain of betrayal, the hurt of his dire situation.
And yet - as we see in verse 3 - even just part way through, he acknowledges God’s presence and role in the midst of the situation.
But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, and the lifter of my head.
Psalm 3:3
He continues to offer his complaint in the situation and calls on God to act, but then concludes with a solemn benediction:
Salvation belongs to the Lord;
your blessing be on your people! Selah
Psalm 3:8
He concludes his lament with a sense of trust.
Laments like these give voice to our frustration - they give us a means to cry out to God.
Mark Vroegop shared his wife’s simple but heartfelt lament in the midst of the pain of miscarrying a child. She said:
“God I know you are good, but it doesn’t feel like that right now.”
When God allows us to encounter trials, difficulties, seasons of suffering, these psalms of lament can help us cry out to God.
Application:
Write a prayer of lament over the coronavirus crisis - or over some more personal situation you may be facing
Sample lament:
God, we know from your Word that you are the creator of all things. You are the sustainer of life and even a divine physician.
We also know from your Word that our world is corrupted by sin - the sin introduced by Adam and Eve, the sin perpetuated by our rebellion.
Our world is being tormented right now by an enemy that seems invisible. The spread of this coronavirus is striking fear in our society. It’s causing people to be sick and even die. It is causing a great deal of financial turmoil that could ultimately leave people destitute and vulnerable to other threats.
Why have you allowed this Lord? Why does this threat fit into the permissive will of your sovereign plan?
Lord you know that our scientific and medical professionals are making progress, but a vaccine is still months away.
Lord, please act. We cry out for your aid! We pray for healing, for peace!
Even if you choose to allow this disease to run its course, God we will trust you.
Job cried out to God in response to his pain. The psalmists give us numerous examples of this. Jesus even quotes from as a lament on the cross when he said:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?
Scripture seems to give us permission to lament. The question is, are using this biblical resource? We may not want to sing songs of lament, but we can - it might even be good for us to do so.
These categories of Psalms - praise, thanksgiving, and lament, make up most of the Psalms. But here are couple more groupings of songs that we sing:
The songs we didn’t know we needed to sing - didactic and confidence
The songs we didn’t know we needed to sing - didactic and confidence
While in some ways, these songs could possible be included in songs of praise, there is a different element to them. These songs both teach lessons and reinforce truths. These could be songs for the learning and maturing seasons of life.
Didactic or teaching songs
Didactic or teaching songs
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These truly teach lessons.
teaches a lesson about the blessings of the person who walks in the ways of the Lord. Sure - he will still encounter challenges, but he will be more firmly established in the midst of trials.
can read a bit like a confession, but it teaches about the benefit of confessing sin. Let’s turn there for just a moment.
In addition to psalms that instruct us in some truth about God and His world, there are...
Songs of Confidence
Songs of Confidence
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Rather than trying to teach a truth or a lesson, songs of confidence seem to reflect the psalmists belief and trust in God. These have a means of reinforcing theological truths. Let’s consider briefly part of . (screen)
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
Psalm 91:
in the middle section of the Psalm - it talks about God’s protection and sustaining power. The psalm then concludes:
“Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
Psalm 91:14-
There are so many hymns and songs that we sing to day the fit in these categories. They are not necessarily sung to God, but to each other as a testimony and affirmation, a reminder of God’s work.
For example:
Martin Luther’s - A Mighty Fortress
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow'r are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
or as we sang this morning -
Forever - “Give thanks to the lord our God and king....”
He will hold me fast - the final verse of this song says:
For my life He bled and died, Christ will hold me fast;
Justice has been satisfied; He will hold me fast.
Raised with Him to endless life, He will hold me fast
'Till our faith is turned to sight, When He comes at last!
He will hold me fast, He will hold me fast;
For my Saviour loves me so, He will hold me fast.
Is He Worthy? - call and response
Do you feel the world is broken? (We do)
Do you feel the shadows deepen? (We do)
But do you know that all the dark won't stop the light from getting through? (We do)
Do you wish that you could see it all made new? (We do)
It continues to ask about creation and the challenges we experience in the fallen world, ultimately asking who is worthy to deal with this? Answering - Jesus is.
I love the last verse of this song:
Does the Father truly love us? (He does)
Does the Spirit move among us? (He does)
And does Jesus, our Messiah, hold forever those He loves? (He does)
Does our God intend to dwell again with us? (He does)
Oh, what a joy it is to be reminded that the challenges we face are not far from God and that one day we will dwell with him for eternity!
The whole point is that these didactic psalms and psalms of confidence are designed to instruct and reinforce truths about God and his work in the world. These are not necessarily sung to God, but from us to those who hear.
or even as we sang this morning - Forever - “Give thanks to the lord our God and king....”
Application:
Read one of the teaching psalms and meditate on its truths - possibly even memorize it (or part of it)
Chose one of the songs of confidence and reflect on how this impacts your current situation
There is one final group of songs that I’d like us to consider...
The songs we really need to sing - confession
The songs we really need to sing - confession
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One of the things that I love about scripture is that it is filled with people like you and me. People who are full of flaws and fallenness. I know, it doesn’t sound like a good thing, but it is. One reason I think that it’s good is that these people make mistakes, just like you and me. These people screw up in big ways - just like you and me. These mistakes can lead to seasons of remorse.
These Psalms of confession help us to understand how some of these psalmists expressed their sin to God when they were confronted with their sin. Probably the clearest example of this is the very familiar - a confession that David prayed after he had been convicted of the sins he committed surrounding the adulterous affair with Bathsheba and the arranged murder of her husband () (Bible).
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
He goes on to talk about how he will learn from this and teach this to others. In fact, might just be some of the instruction that he offers to pass along.
Our society is in a place where we want to justify every wrong action and make what is evil in God’s sight acceptable. We have to recognize that...
Our feelings are not the standard.
Our culture is not the standard.
The shifting trends are not the standard.
God’s holiness is the standard.
helps us understand that it’s not just these big sinners that are guilty of missing the mark of God’s standard - it’s everyone (screen).
But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
David, in order to atone for his sin had to offer up an animal as a sacrifice. Jesus became our sacrificial lamb, once and for all. He was the replacement for our sin - if we would only “receive” it by faith.
Beloved - our sin still hinders our relationship with God, but if you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, he has paid for it forever. You are no long identified by that sin, but by his forgiveness.
Friend - if you have not yet trusted Jesus as your savior - I hope you will see your need to confess your sin, to repent, and receive by faith the permanent forgiveness that is offered through Jesus Christ.
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Application:
Take time to reflect where you have “fallen short of the glory of God” () and confess that sin to God using the attitude and language of one of these confessions.
Closing thoughts
Closing thoughts
The Psalms provide for us a beautiful expression of our faith in every season of life.
When we are joyous - we can sing psalms of praise
When we are grateful - we can sing songs of thanksgiving
When we are facing trials and challenges - we can pour our our souls to God in lament.
When we need to be reminded of who God is and how He is working - we can reflect on the didactic and confidence psalms.
When we face the reality of our sinfulness - we can be led by the psalms of confession.
The references that are in the handouts are not exhaustive - there are other psalms that don’t quite fit in these categories. But for these, I hope that this will be a helpful resource for you as you worship God and pray to Him guided by the psalms that are appropriate for each season of your life.
Let’s pray.
Benediction:
“Be still, and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!”
The Lord of hosts is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah