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Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah; Praise the Lord--Psalm 148 The Lord’s My Shepherd, et al--Psalm 23

The only way to understand the psalms is on your knees, the whole congregation praying the words of the psalms with all its strength. --Deitrich Bonhoeffer. Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah; Praise the Lord--Psalm 148 The Lord’s My Shepherd, et al--Psalm 23 How Shall the Young Secure--Psalm 119

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Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah; Praise the Lord--Psalm 148 The Lord’s My Shepherd, et al--Psalm 23

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  1. The only way to understand the psalms is on your knees, the whole congregation praying the words of the psalms with all its strength. --Deitrich Bonhoeffer

  2. Hallelujah, Praise Jehovah; Praise the Lord--Psalm 148 The Lord’s My Shepherd, et al--Psalm 23 How Shall the Young Secure--Psalm 119 As the Deer--Psalm 42 This is the Day--Psalm 118 I Will Sing of the Mercies of the Lord--Psalm 89 You Are My Strength; I Will Call Upon the Lord--Psalm 18 Unto Thee O Lord--Psalm 25 How Majestic Is Your Name--Psalm 8

  3. P S A L M S FOR THE SOUL

  4. REASONS WE DON’T HAVE TO PRAY LIKE THE PSALMISTS The Psalms are part of the Old Covenant. The Psalms were written in culturally appropriate form. Jesus didn’t use the Psalms as a model when asked how to pray. The Hebrews didn’t pray like the Psalms .

  5. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” --Isaiah 38:2-3 I said in the middle of my days I must depart I am consigned to the gates of Sheol For the rest of my years. I said, I shall not see the LORD, The LORD in the land of the living; I shall look on man no more Among the inhabitants of the world. My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me Like a shepherd’s tent; Like a weaver I have rolled up my life; He cuts me off from the loom; From day to night you bring me to an end; I calmed myself until morning; Like a lion he breaks all my bones; From day to night you bring me to an end. Like a swallow or a crane I chirp; I moan like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety! What shall I say? For he has spoken to me, And he himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years Because of the bitterness of my soul.

  6. Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” --Isaiah 38:2-3 Lord, by these things men live, And in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh restore me to health and make me live! Behold, it was for my welfare That I had great bitterness; But in love you have delivered my life From the pit of destruction, For you have cast all my sins Behind your back. For Sheol does not thank you; Death does not praise you; Those who go down to the pit do not hope For your faithfulness. The living, the living, he thanks you, As I do this day; The father makes known to the children Your faithfulness. The LORD will save me, And we will play my music on stringed instruments All the days of our lives, At the house of the LORD. Isaiah 38:10-20

  7. REASONS WE DON’T HAVE TO PRAY LIKE THE PSALMISTS The Psalms are part of the Old Covenant. The Psalms were written in culturally appropriate form. Jesus didn’t use the Psalms as a model when asked how to pray. The Hebrews didn’t pray like the Psalms .

  8. WE MUST BELIEVE IN THEIR GOD God is The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” Psalm 14:1; 53:1

  9. WE MUST BELIEVE IN THEIR GOD God is God is the source For my days pass away like smoke, And my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning My bones cling to my flesh. Psalm 102:3-5 He will receive blessing from the LORD And righteousness from the God of his salvation. Psalm 24:5 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul And have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me? Psalm 13:1-2 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? Psalm 13:1 For my soul is full of troubles, And my life draws near to Sheol. … You have put me in the depths of the pit In the regions dark and deep. Psalm 88:3, 6 Those of low estate are but a breath; Those of high estate are a delusion; In the balances they go up; They are together lighter than a breath. Psalm 62:9 LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, Nor discipline me in your wrath. Psalm 6:1 Send out your light and your truth; Let them lead me; Let them bring me to your holy hill And to your dwelling! Psalm 43:3 For with you is the fountain of life; In your light do we see light. Psalm 36:9

  10. A profound manner of thought stands alongside this immediate and apparently primitive manner of thought. It seeks connection between YHWH and the illness, which is very different from Babylonian prayer where illness and distress are generally traced back to evil demons and magicians. Even at this point one can see how Israelite religions sought to trace everything that happens in the world back to YHWH, and to understand everything in relationship to YHWH. Hermann Gunkel; Introduction to the Psalms

  11. WE MUST BELIEVE IN THEIR GOD God is God is the source God is my rock, fortress, mighty tower, etc. …my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3 I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge…

  12. WE MUST BELIEVE IN THEIR GOD God is God is the source God is my rock, fortress, mighty tower, etc. God is love But I, through your abundance of steadfast love, will enter your house. Psalm 5:7 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; Save me for the sake of your steadfast love. Psalm 6:4 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me. Psalm 25:7 But steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the LORD. Psalm 32:10 The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Psalm 52:1 Answer me, O LORD< for your steadfast love is good. Psalm 69:16 When I thought, “My foot slips,” Your steadfast love, O LORD, held me up. Psalm 94:18 For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever… Psalm 100:5 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! Psalm 36:7 For his steadfast love endures forever… Psalm 136

  13. WE MUST BELIEVE IN THEIR GOD God is creator God is judge God is king God is shepherd God is near See pp 88-91

  14. WE MUST SEE US AS THEY DID We are sheep We are sinners There is no soundness in my flesh Because of your indignation; There is no health in my bones Because of my sin… I confess my iniquity; I am sorry for my sin. Psalm 38:3, 18 For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. Psalm 38:4

  15. ROMANS 3:10-18 None is righteous, no, not one; / no one understands; / no one seeks for God. / All have turned aside; together they have become worthless / no one does good, / not even one. Their throat is an open grave; / they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; / in their paths are ruin and misery, / and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Psalm 14:1-3 Psalm 5:9 Psalm 140:3 Psalm 10:7 Isaiah 59:7-8 Psalm 36:1

  16. I said, “I will guard my ways, That I may not sin with my tongue; I will guard my mouth with a muzzle, So long as the wicked are in my presence.” I was mute and silent; I held my peace to no avail, And my distress grew worse… Deliver me from all my transgressions. Do not make me the scorn of the fool! Psalm 39:1-2, 8

  17. Your people will offer themselves freely On the day of your power… Psalm 110:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips! Do not let my heart incline to any evil, To busy myself with wicked deeds In company with men who work iniquity, And let me not eat of their delicacies! Let a righteous man strike me--it is a kindness… But my eyes are toward you, O GOD, my Lord; In you I seek refuge; leave me not defenseless! Psalm 141:3-5, 8

  18. WE MUST SEE US AS THEY DID We are sheep We are sinners Sometimes we are innocent Upon you I have leaned from before my birth… God, from my youth you have taught me, And I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, God, do not forsake me… Psalm 71:6, 17-18 If you, O LORD should mark iniquities O LORD, who could stand? Psalm 130:3 Preserve my life, for I am godly… Psalm 86:2

  19. WE MUST SEE PRAYER AS THEY DID Prayer is necessary God hears Prayer works Prayer is life If I were hungry, I would not tell you, For the world and its fullness are mine… Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me. Psalm 50:12, 15 The Lord is near to all who call on him, To all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 In my distress I called upon the LORD; To my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, And my cry to him reached his ears. Psalm 18:6 I love the LORD, because he has heard My voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, Therefore I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2 I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction… And set my feet upon a rock… Psalm 40:1-2 In distress you called, and I delivered you… Psalm 81:7 Out of my distress I called on the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me free. Psalm 118:5 I sought the Lord and he answered me And delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4 For in death there is no remembrance of you; In Sheol who will give you praise? Psalm 6:5 Do the departed rise up to praise you? Psalm 88:10

  20. All these sentences have the meaning that only there, where death is, is there no praise. Where there is life, there is praise…There cannot be such a thing as true life without praise. Praising and no longer praising are related to each other as are living and no longer living…Nowhere is there the possibility of abiding, true life that does not praise God. Claus Westermann, Praise and Lament in the Psalms

  21. WE MUST SEE PRAYER AS THEY DID Prayer is necessary God hears Prayer works Prayer is life

  22. WE MUST PREPARE AS THEY DID Sacrifice--Psalm 5:3 (Jesus) Study God’s Word--Psalm 1 Live God’s Word--Psalm 26:1; 66:18 Broken and Contrite hearts--Psalm 51:17 Surrender our lives to God--Psalm 31:5 See pp 96-98

  23. WE MUST HAVE THE SAME GOAL Praising God For in death there is no remembrance of you; In Sheol who will give you praise? Psalm 6:5 Not to us, O LORD, not to us but to your name give glory. Psalm 115:1 O LORD, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth. Psalm 8:1 Do the departed rise up to praise you? Psalm 88:10

  24. WE MUST BE RIGOROUSLY HONEST Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, Where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, And the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying out; My throat is parched. My eyes grow dim With waiting for my God. Psalm 69:1-3 You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak… Will the Lord spurn forever, And never again be favorable? Has his steadfast love forever ceased? Are his promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he in anger shut up his compassion? Psalm 77:4, 7-9 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning. my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, And by night, but find no rest. Psalm 22:1-2 Why are you cast down, O my soul, And why are you in turmoil within me?… My soul is cast down within me… Why are you cast down, O my soul, And why are you in turmoil within me? Psalm 42: 5, 6 11 God, why do you cast us off forever? Why does your anger smoke against the sheep of your pasture? Psalm 74:1 How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul And have sorrow in my heart all day? Psalm 13:1-2 Why, O LORD, do you stand far away? Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble? Psalm 10:1

  25. Kalas quote on p. 100 Brueggemann quote on p. 100

  26. WE MUST BE RIGOROUSLY HONEST Honesty and the collection of the Psalms We are not surprised, then, that the Psalter does not present a systematic picture of God and his relationship to the world. The psalms give us theology written in intimate relationship with God and in close touch with life. Tremper Longman, How To Read the Psalms A decided shift takes place as we move from the beginning of the book to its end. As we move toward the end, praise overtakes lament until at the very end of the book we have a virtual fireworks of praise…In a very real sense, the book of Psalms moves us from mourning to joy. Tremper Longman, How To Read the Psalms

  27. WE MUST BE RIGOROUSLY HONEST We are allowed to feel emotions other than joy. God is big enough to handle our emotions. We should not cover up our emotions. God wants to hear our emotions. We must continue to turn to God as our salvation. Over time, God will turn our emotions to joy.

  28. WE MUST BE CREATIVE The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Psalm 18:2 Each evening they come back Howling like dogs And prowling about the city. There they are, bellowing with their mouths With swords in their lips-- For “Who,” they think, “will hear us?”… They wander about for food And growl if they do not get their fill. Psalm 59:6-7, 15 For when I kept silent my bones wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; My strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Psalm 32:3-4 Purge me with hyssop , and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; Let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, And blot out my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a right spirit within me. Psalm 51: 7-10 The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23:1

  29. You’ve known the frustration, I’m sure, in the experiences of human friendship and love, of saying to someone, “I just wish I could find the words to tell you what you mean to me” or “what our friendship means to me.” So it is that the psalmist wants a “new song.”…But our wonderful spiritual ancestor doesn’t say, as we might, “I can’t find words to express what I feel.” He would see this, I think, as an unholy cop-out. So he launches into rolling phrases of praise, making us the richer for it. J. Ellsworth Kalas, Longing to Pray

  30. WE MUST MAKE THE COMMITMENTS THEY DID Vowed to give thanks--Psalm 7:17 Vowed to praise God--Psalm 9:2 Vowed obedience--Psalm 26:11 Vowed to proclaim God to everyone--Psalm 18:49 See pp. 105-106

  31. I know then that the matter is not finished when I have pled and God has heard, but that something else must still come. I know that I owe something to God. It is totally false to belittle this as a bargain…On the contrary, it is only through the promise that I bind to my petition that the petition gains its weight and value. I know that with the promise that I add to my petition I have entered into a relationship with God. Claus Westermann,Praise and Lament in the Psalms

  32. WE MUST PRAY WHEN THEY DID See pp. 106-107

  33. WE MUST LISTEN FOR GOD’S RESPONSE PSALM 30 Vss. 1-3: Petitioner praying Vss. 4-5: Didactic voice Vss. 6-12: Petitioner praying PSALM 32 Vss. 1-2: Didactic Vss. 3-7: Confessor praying Vss. 8-11: Didactic voice

  34. As important as it is to view the psalms as the sacred poetry that was used in ancient Israelite and Judean worship, this conclusion fails to do justice to another crucial dimension of the psalms: it fails to deal with the fact that the psalms were appropriated, preserved, and transmitted not only as records of human response to God but also as God’s word to humanity. The New Interpreters Bible

  35. WE MUST WAIT FOR THE LORD Wait for the LORD; Be strong, and let your heart take courage; Wait for the LORD! Psalm 27:14 Be strong, and let your heart take courage, All you who wait for the LORD! Psalm 31:24 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, And in his word I hope; My soul waits for the Lord More than watchmen for the morning, More than watchmen for the morning. Psalm 130:5-6

  36. P S A L M S FOR THE SOUL

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