Why the Psalms?

Discouragement, depression, fear, anxiety, anger, happiness, loneliness, love, awe, sorrow, regret, shame, exultation, marveling, delight, joy, gladness, peace, grief, desire, hope, brokenheartedness, gratitude, zeal, pain, confidence….

This is a list of human emotions experienced by everyone throughout the course of their lives. Whether you seek to conquer your emotions like the Greek Stoics or fully embrace and be overcome by them like the Hedonist or find yourself somewhere in-between, emotions are a natural part of life. We experience and know everything from depths of sorrow to the heights of joy in part through emotion. This incredible range of emotion is one way in which we know that we have been created in God’s image, for God Himself is emotional; He knows the infinite depths of sorrow and the everlasting heights of joy.

Whether we like to show them or not, it is completely undeniable that emotions are a part of life. When you woke up this morning you might have regretted staying up so late last night, or maybe you were happy because the sun was shining. Perhaps you were frustrated because your wife was taking too long to get ready or fearful that someone might not like your clothes. Truth be told, emotion is attached to every action and thought of life, without exception, and is vitally important in our relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son.

Given the God-given nature of emotion and the importance of emotion in relating to God through Jesus, it should be no surprise then to learn that the list of emotions mentioned comes from the Bible in the book of Psalms.

Yes, our next sermon series will be in the book of Psalms! God has placed within my heart the desire to study with you a portion of the Psalms. I’m not entirely certain why, but I do know that I have been developing an appreciation for the Psalms and the more I read them and study them, the more I am amazed by our loving Creator and gracious Savior.

Why don’t we regularly read the Psalms?

I recognize through that the Psalms are not usually preached through. In my long life of 27 years, I’ve never sat under a pastor who preached a series through the Psalms. Perhaps you have, and if so you’re already ahead of me, but my limited experience has told me that 21st century protestant evangelical Christianity does not often teach from Psalms. In fact, many Christians in America don’t even read the Psalms. Sure we might have a couple go-to Psalms that we are familiar with, but I would venture to guess that most don’t regularly read from the book of Psalms. Up until about two years ago I too was that person.

I thought about why people may not regularly read from the Psalms, and I came up with four answers.

First, I think we have a hard time understanding them. Psalms are Hebrew poetry and we might just not understand their wording or meaning. They contain so much figurative language that’s unclear and we just don’t know what to do with it. The Psalms are also very different from the New Testament writings which are far more clear and understandable in their meaning and application. Honestly, it’s just easier to be told what to do and the Apostle Paul is great at that! We may also be confused or scared by some of the strong language of hate or cursing found in some of the Psalms. For examples, Psalm 109:8-10 says, “May his days be few; may another take his office! May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow! May his children wander about and beg, seeking food far from the ruins they inhabit!” Wow…the psalmist is laying out a curse and that seems pretty off based to us here in the New Testament…what do we do about that? We don’t understand the Psalms.

Second, there is a certain mindset, especially among men, that the Psalms are just too emotional. Western society has hammered into men that emotions are for women and children. Men are taught and raised to suppress or ignore emotion. Still today many men think it’s inappropriate or somehow beneath them to cry. We are told that showing emotion is weakness and we don’t want to appear weak. What’s bizarre today is that society is now saying it’s okay for men to show emotion but women are increasingly feeling the pressure to behave like men by being tough and unemotional in front of others so this isn’t limited only to men!

Third, I think there is an aversion to the simple fact that the Psalms are poetry. I confess that I hated poetry when growing up and for that reason I didn’t like reading the Psalms. Poetry takes work to understand and most of us are just not willing to put in the time required to experience the truth contained within them. We like to be spoon fed and if we need to put in work, we just avoid it altogether.

Finally, we Protestant, Nondenominational, Evangelical Christians might think reading and praying the Psalms is too Catholic. From the Third Century AD on, the Catholic church has made the reading of Psalms part of daily and weekly worship and meditation. The Psalms are used as liturgy and prayed by priests and chanted by monks and in an effort to distance ourselves from anything Catholic, the regular reading of the Psalms was abandoned, and we have this feeling like reading or praying or meditating on the Psalms is somehow a distinct practice of the Catholic Church.

These are four reasons I came up with based on my own life and from observation of others that I believe we don’t regularly read the Psalms. Maybe you disagree or maybe you have more but either way, we are missing out on incredible transformation by ignoring the Psalms.

Six reasons we should read the Psalms

Having given reasons why we don’t read the Psalms, I’d like to give you six reasons why every Christian should read the Psalms!

First, the Psalms are part of the Bible and are inspired by God and useful for teaching, reproof, correction, and for training in righteousness so that the Christian may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God would not have given us the Psalms if they were not important to the growth and development of our faith. Neglecting the Psalms would be like eating a diet lacking vegetables: you won’t die but you’d be a lot healthier if you read the Psalms.

Second, Psalms is the most often quoted book in the New Testament. Depending on who you ask, between 120 and 140 verses from Psalms are quoted in part or in whole (Psalm 110:1 is the most quoted Psalm). Jesus Himself quoted more from the Psalms than from any other book: He quoted the Psalms 16 times. These two facts should convince you as the very least that the Psalms were important to Jesus and the writers of our beloved New Testament. And if the Psalms were important to them, they should certainly be important to us. In fact, we may go a step further and say that knowing and understanding the Psalms will help us to better understand Jesus and the New Testament.

Third, the Psalms are relatable. They were written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and as was mentioned at the start, they are full of raw emotion. In Psalms you see the best of human emotion and the worst. That’s comforting, for there are certainly times when we need to shout out to the Lord in anguish or anger while still being guided to trust and give thanks to the Lord. The Psalms provide that for us. John Calvin once said, ““for there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror…the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs and sorrows fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all the distracting emotions with which the minds of mankind are wont to be agitated.” Also, the ancient Church father Athanasius said, “The Psalms as I view them are like a mirror in which the reader can see himself and the movements of his soul; he can recite these prayers as through this were actually so.” The Psalms are relatable for every Christian in any walk of life or faith.

Fourth, the Psalms teach us how to pray. The Psalms in and of themselves are prayers and songs to God and about God and they have been used as such for over 3000 years. The Psalms teach us that it’s okay to be upset at God or our circumstances and we can tell God as much, but they also teach us to continue trusting God even when we don’t understand.

Fifth, the Psalms point us to Jesus. Jesus said in Luke 24:44, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Like the rest of the Bible, the Psalms are Christocentric and so they teach us about Jesus and point forward to Jesus’ first and second comings. Dietrich Bonheoffer said, “If we want to read and to pray the Psalms, we must not ask first what they have to do with us, but what they have to do with Jesus Christ.”

Finally, the Psalms inspire the believer with hope in the kingdom of God. The Psalmist often describes the perfect person, nation, king and kingdom and a time when justice is carried out and wickedness is punished. None of these things will happen before Jesus comes again and so we are reminded continuously of the perfect kingdom of God that is yet to come.

Are there more reasons why we should be regularly reading the Psalms? Of course! But I hope that these six are reason enough for you to be convinced about the importance of studying the Psalms.

Blessing from God’s Word

Next week we will begin studying in earnest but as I close, I’d like you to notice a particular point about Psalm 1. Psalm 1 is considered the introductory Psalm for the whole book and in the first three verses, the psalmist, David, describes the one who delights and meditates on God’s word as blessed or happy. “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.” But the wicked who don’t delight in God’s word are not blessed but rather cursed and destined to be blown away by the wind of God’s judgement.

The Bible, God’s word, is the key to bringing lasting happiness and blessing in this life and in the life to come. The one who delights in and meditates on God’s word is truly blessed while everyone else do doesn’t is essentially cursed. Of all the books of the Bible, Psalms is perhaps the book best designed to help us learn how to delight in and meditate on God and His word. If we learn to love and delight in this portion of God’s word, we will find that our love for the rest of God’s word will grow as well.

This next week, take some time to start reading through the Psalms to prepare your hearts for Sunday when we dig into Psalm 1. Examine your hearts and ask yourself if you are truly one of the blessed who delights and meditates on God’s word and then pray that God will give you an insatiable desire for His word and for the transformation it brings. I am convinced that we will learn more about ourselves and more about God and more about our Savior Jesus then we ever have before!

We are in for an exciting ride, and I pray that God will make His word come alive in a new way for every one of us.