Dear Brothers & Sisters,
My apologies for not sending an email out sooner. I have chosen to write to you about the Psalms, so that I might spur you on to a greater love and understanding of this portion of the Word of God, which has nourished and strengthened God's people down through the ages.
Written over almost 900 years by several different poets & songwriters, the Psalms are the songs of the people of God, carefully collected to teach them and lead them to worship God in spirit and in truth. Arranged in five books, Book one: Ps 1-41, Book two: Ps. 42-72, Book three: Ps. 73-89, Book four: Ps. 90-106, & Book five: Ps. 107-150. The Psalms were not haphazardly thrown together. They trace the history of Israel from the time of David to the exile. Books one to three centre around the reign of David and his subsequent sons, the time of the Monarchy, while book four is oriented around Israel in exile, and book five ends on a note of praise anticipating return from exile. The all-encompassing nature of the psalms led men like Athanasius to call the psalms "an epitome of the whole Scriptures" and Martin Luther to refer to the Psalms as "a little Bible and the summary of the Old Testament". Regardless of how one understands the divisions of the Psalms it is evident that they echo the great themes of the law & the prophets always pointing to the one coming who would fulfill all the promises of God.
King David, the chief psalmist, is listed as author of 73 psalms (nearly half of the psalms). As such the psalms bear an unmistakable emphasis on the royal line of David. Bruce Walke writes in How to read & understand the Psalms "In the Psalms we encounter God's king throughout, and we must be careful to keep him in mind. 'The human subject in most of the psalms is the king/King'... the 'I' and 'me' of the Psalms is not Mr. Everyman; pervasively it is the king." In this way, we are reminded that the primary subject of which we sing is not us, but the King, the LORD's Anointed. No wonder, the apostles quoted the Psalms so often for they saw in them the Lord Jesus (the New Testament writers quote the Psalms 29 times).
Yet another aspect of the Psalms beauty is their ability to reveal the deepest parts of human emotion and teach us how we ought to relate towards God and one another. John Calvin called the Psalms an "anatomy of all the parts of the soul." He continued "the Holy Spirit has here drawn to the life all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short all the distracting emotions with which the minds of men are wont to be agitated." In some respects, I think this is why the Psalms have remained so precious to the people of God, for they give expression to our heart cries. Indeed, they direct our hearts up towards God, to pray to Him.
Some thoughts on how to read the psalms
First, one must be "after God's own heart" like David. The one who would truly learn from the psalms must read them to know and commune with God (anything less is to miss the mark of the Psalms). The beauty of the poetry and expression of the Psalms may be recognized by any reasonable person, but only the one who prays "your testimonies are righteous forever; give me understanding that I may live" (Ps 119:144) will truly understand and be blessed. We are ever in need of the Spirit of God to warm our cold hearts and give us the right affections (desires).
Second, pay attention to the context and message of the psalm.
1. Is there a particular occasion that would help us understand the Psalm? For example, the superscription above Psalm three informs us that this psalm was written when David fled from his son Absalom. This provides us with a fuller understanding of David's prayer.
2. Is there a fulfillment in New Testament Scripture?
3. Who is the subject of the Psalm? At times, psalms shifts from first person to third person, etc. Following who is speaking will help you better understand what is being communicated.
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Note: If you read carefully, you will notice many of the psalms appear to be interconnected in larger sections, sort of like a hymnal which has different sections on different themes (Adoration, Christ's Birth, etc). One such example of this is Psalms 3-9, which share verbal connections and themes related to betrayal and times of trouble).
Third, the Psalms were not intended to merely be read, but also prayed and sung. Many years ago, Augustine (who lived in the fifth century) wrote this practical advice: "Form your spirit by the affection of the Psalm… If the psalm breathes the spirit of prayer, do you pray; if it is filled with groanings, groan also yourself; if it is full of joy, do you rejoice also; if it encourages hope, then hope in God; if it calls to godly fear, then tremble before the divine majesty, for all things contained here are mirrors to reflect our own real characters… let the heart do what the words signify.”
Are you moved to prayer and praise when you read the Psalms? Are your hearts softened and formed by them? We have not truly encountered the Psalms until they, by the Spirit, have moved us to respond, until they have begun to shape our response. The LORD did not give us these songs merely to be dutifully recited. He gave us these songs to lead us as the people of God to weep, and pray, and sing for joy.
Now may the God of all grace and joy shape your hearts more and more after His heart, so that you may rest assured in the Refuge of the LORD's steadfast covenant love and follow after His Anointed.
Grace & Peace,
Matt
P.S. We are commanded by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 to sing "psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs". Yet for some reason psalm singing is a lost discipline (outside of Reformed churches which often have gone to the other extreme and sing only psalms). If you're looking for a good (and simple) resource for singing the psalms. Check out the Seedbed Psalter at https://psalms.seedbed.com/psalms-index/
This website is unique in that it provides several tunes that fit the meter of the Psalm, many of them familiar hymns, such as Amazing Grace, Come Thou Fount, and When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. In this way, you can sing many psalms without having to learn too many tunes.
P.P.S. Please do let me know if you ever have questions or topics you want me to address in upcoming emails. I always enjoy hearing your thoughts and ideas.
Matthew Deneault
Pastor at Christ Community Fellowship
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