Overflow Daily...ish: Intro to the Psalms

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. 
Psalms 1:1-2 

The Psalms. They are beautiful, they are tragic, they can be confusing. Confusing, because when we think about the Bible as whole, we generally describe it as God’s Word to us. And yet the Psalms do not feel as though they are God’s Word to us, but more so that they are our words to God. Many of the songs that the church sings are based on the Psalms and we never sing them to one another, but we orient ourselves, rightly, to giving worship to God. So why is it that the Psalms are included in the Scriptures? Why does it seem that they are all so very different from one another? And how are we supposed to interpret the Psalms? These are way too large of questions to be sufficiently addressed in a 500-word blog so if you will grant me with some liberty, I will explain each point succinctly.

First of all, the Psalms are included because in God’s infinite wisdom He chose to include them. Through the preservation of the Holy Spirit, we now have the Psalms and, ultimately, it is because we need them. God’s word is sufficient for us to teach us how it is we ought to live, and the psalms are grand examples for how we can worship, praise, complain, cry, and trust in God’s sovereignty.

There are so many and one reason I think that it is a good thing we are provided with plenty of examples for how we can approach God. To support my point with a negative example, I have seen some fall into the trap that the Lord’s prayer is the only way that a Christian should pray because that was how Jesus responded to the disciples when they asked him “teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1-4). We do not idolize words or make them repetitious because we see that there are many correct ways to approach God.

Lastly, how is it that we should interpret the psalms? Well, that largely depends on what kind of psalm you are reading. In the following Wednesday posts, I will be going over each of the following types of Psalms. This is by no means the ultimate and final arrangement of the Psalms, but it is one that I have found to be very helpful.
  • Hymns
  • Community complaints
  • Individual complaints
  • Individual songs of thanksgiving
  • Royal psalms
  • Torah psalms
  • Oracle psalms
  • Blessing psalms
  • Taunt songs
  • Songs of trust
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Alex

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