THE PSALMS
"Things Concerning Himself"
Thoughts come from various sources: messages I have heard from individuals, assembly Bible studies, home life, and books I have read. The Holy Spirit is the Teacher who makes them real to me.
- "Believer's Bible Commentary: Old Testament." by William MacDonald. Thomas Nelson Pub.
- "The Life Application Bible." Tyndale House and Zondervan
- “The Wycliffe Bible Commentary.” Moody Press (Of particular value are the paragraph headings, which I have used extensively)
Beginning with those whom the Spirit of God guided to write the Book of Psalms, people throughout the ages have read and found comfort, help, and guidance for life in the Psalms. People who are in despair due to the loss of loved ones, health, or material possessions have turned to the Psalms and found solace in them, which helps calm their troubled spirits. Those who are lonely have experienced the comforting presence of the Lord with them as they read His words and claim them to suit their situation. Those in desperate grief have found solace in reading of others who have experienced the same, and have learned from them that which suited their present need.
In times of great joy and exaltation, we find in the Psalms words suitable to express our emotional experiences that, at the same time, they lift us higher than what is normal in life's experience; they give us words that are suitable to praise and worship that is becoming to a child of God, rather than the babble of nonsense some people claim to be praise, or screams of ecstasy that have no meaning or purpose.
The overall purpose of the book of Psalms is to put into words the record of the experiences of those who knew God and how they expressed their testimony, sorrow, joy, praise, and worship to God. Some psalms are prayers. Others are hymns to be sung publicly. Some express the hopes and aspirations of God's people. Others are confessions that brought life changes. Some were sung in great congregations, and others were the outpouring of the hearts of individuals when no one but God heard. In them all, the ultimate goal is to bring each person in every situation of life in which they may be found closer to the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ. In that way, we can give Him glory. From personal experience, that is what happens. We are drawn to our Lord and Savior in confidence and rest. We learn, like those before us, where and how to "cast [our] burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain [us]."
One's heart is opened when reading the psalms. The intellect is not dead nor denied, but the "soulish" part of our being responds to that which reaches the seat of our emotions when we read the book of Psalms.