What are the Psalms?
Let's take a look at Psalm 1, starting with verse one. The Book of Psalms starts with
“Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. He is planted like a tree, planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. It is not so with the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous, for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.”
Gods Word
The Psalms are God's word. The Psalms are not a separate companion volume to God's word. The Psalms are not an additional helpful guidebook, a helpful workbook or a helpful instruction manual about God's word. The Psalms themselves are God's word.
We can study the books of the gospels by reading Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We can study the Epistles by Galatians, Corinthians, and Thessalonians. We can read the Old Testament books of Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus. These are all God's Word, and so are the Psalms. There's something for us to learn from, to be instructed by, to be inspired by, to be empowered by through Psalms. The Psalms are God's word meant to challenge us and encourage us. They express in God's word, language that we might use that is found nowhere else in the scriptures. The Psalms are unique in that way. The Psalms are God's word, but they also stand out and stand apart. They are different in many ways from the rest of God's word. They are God's word, but you don't read them the same way you would the rest of God's Word. Chances are, if you took a Bible and you just set it down and you let it open up, you'll drop into the Psalms. There is a lot inside the Psalms for us to taste and see that the Lord is good.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.” Psalm 34:8
How the Psalms are Different
There's a lot for us to taste and to try out as we dive into the Psalms. How are the Psalms different from the rest of scripture? You might have noticed that Psalm 1 It's shaped differently than other Old Testament books. The words are different. The structure is different. The organization is different. The Psalms were originally written and composed to music. Even though these were originally sent to music and meant to be sung, it is the words that remain for us so we can be instructed. That doesn't mean we don't sing the Psalms. There are times when many of our hymns take lines from the psalms for us to sing. Many also sing from the Psalter, which is the book of Psalms set to music. While originally being composed, many of them as musical pieces, we don't have to sing them as musical pieces for us to gain from them what God intends for us to gain.
In Structure
Psalms is different from Genesis. They're different from the Gospels. They're different from New Testament epistles. And yet, inside the Psalms, we see pictures and previews of the coming Messiah. We receive instructions and commands about how we are to live. So while Psalms is different from all these other books in the Bible, there is so much that is in common with the rest of the scriptures.
We don't read the Psalms in the same way we read Genesis or Exodus. We don't read the Psalms in the same way that we would read a New Testament epistle. We read the Psalms as they are presented. So in Psalm 1, for instance, we're given this picture, “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked”. There is put before us at the very outset of the book of Psalms a way to live that is a blessing.
In verse four, we're told of another way of an alternative way of living. Verse four says, “Not so with the wicked. They are like chaff that the wind blows away.” Think about the picture in a Western movie when a tumbleweed blows through the town. This is the picture that we are given in Psalm 1 of what the wicked are like. The wicked are like tumbleweed. They're like the chaff. They're just blown away.
We're given a picture of two different ways of living, a way of living that is blessed, and a way of living that is like the chaff. We read Psalm 1, not like we would read Genesis, or like we would read Matthew. We read it differently. We read the Psalm as the psalm presents itself.
If we only had the Psalms, would we still worship the same God?
I want to encourage you that if we only had the Psalms, we would still see in the Psalms a great God who has made all things.
If we only had the Psalms, we would still see that we have been made and we are fallen. We are sinful and we are in need of redemption.
If we only had the Psalms, we would see that God is the great forgiver and the great provider of redemption.
If we only had the Psalms, we would even still see the Holy Spirit.
If we only had the Psalsm we would still see that there is a need for a Messiah, and we would see God's provision of the Messiah, the cornerstone that has been rejected has become the chief cornerstone.
Do you know the most often quoted book in the Bible? The Psalms are the most quoted book. The book that Jesus most referenced during His earthly ministry. We learn about God from the Psalms a lot more than we might have initially thought.
What do the Psalms Instruct?
The Psalms are a wonderful guide to living a life in worship. When we hear the word worship, we think of Sunday morning when we all get together to sing and pray. For many of us, this is what we think of when we think of worship. But the Psalms give us a guide that is outside of the context of a sanctuary. The guide given to us in the Psalms is a guide about daily living. It's about what life is like while you're walking along a creek, while you're in a field, while you're driving, while you're in the midst of a great struggle, or you miss someone. The Psalms instruct us to worship in all of these circumstances, to live lives that are worship-filled. Not to live lives that say, “You need to be here in this place, 24/7”. Rather, God has come down and dwelt among you, and He will be with you 4/7. Wherever you go, worship Him.
These are the instructions that the psalm leads us to. It leads us to the reality that everything we experience in life is a catalyst. It's an igniter. It's a fire starter for worship that in the best of times and in the worst of times, we go to God and we say, as Job said, you give and you take away, Blessed be Your name. The Psalms give us a catalyst that gives us language. They show us and instruct us how we are to cry out to God. how we are to draw closer to God, how we are to wonder and adore God in all of his majesty, as we walk, as we talk, as we drive, as we weep, as we rejoice, as we sing, and as we sit in silence.
We might ask, in closing, what are the Psalms good for in the midst of our busy modern lives? I'm going to say something that I hope is not too offensive, but I hope it's just offensive enough to some of you who need to be offended this morning. I'm not looking at anyone in particular.
What Aid are the Psalms in Our Busy Modern Lives?
None, if you don't open them. All of this wonderful treasure trove to help lead you when you're mourning, to help guide you when you're celebrating, to help you through a daily monotonous rhyme all of this treasure trove to bring you closer to the Almighty God whom we worship. It is of no use to you if you never open it. It's like buried treasure, and the map is lost. The map is right there. Many of you have several maps of it in your home. You have Bibles all over the place, on your phone, on your laptop, and on a bookshelf.
God's Word is a treasure trove for our lives to be lived to Him in worship. I want to encourage you, reading the Psalms will aid you in the midst of all of life's circumstances. The Psalms are incredibly practical. They're incredibly helpful during our busy modern lives. They strengthen us, they encourage us, they challenge us, they instruct us, they teach us, they build us up, and they reveal to us the companionship that God has provided for us. The Psalms contain nothing less than the expressions of every aspect of a believer's life as they submit to the Lord, including in prayer, and undergo the challenges that this world will throw at us.
