Maybe I should have talked about the Psalms prior to this. I have quoted them often. David, when he was hunted by King Saul, intent on killing him, said, “I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living. Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low; deliver me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I.” ” Psalm 142:5-6 Psalms are for real.
The Psalms can take us through every human emotion, show us how to call on Almighty God to save us, deliver us, draw us closer to Him. Regardless of the emotion or difficulty, the psalmist always speaks the truth about his God. The psalter is full of examples of praise and prayer. David prays in Psalm 143, “Revive me, O LORD, for Your name’s sake! For Your righteousness’ sake bring my soul out of trouble.” In Psalm 144, David gives praise, saying, “I will sing a new song to You, O God; on a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You …”
Psalm 51, another psalm of David, is an excellent guide for how to seek the Lord’s forgiveness for sin. This particular instance was after David had taken Uriah’s wife, Bathsheba, and committed adultery with her, and had Uriah killed in battle. David acknowledges his sin and tells God, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight …” David asks for God’s cleansing, praying, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
There are a significant number of psalms that speak of the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Psalm 2, gives prophetic utterance to the coming Messiah, “… the LORD has said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” The psalm ends with the admonition, “Kiss the Son, lest He be angry, and you perish in the way, when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.” Psalm 22, 45, 89 and 110 are just a few of the other psalms that speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 27 expresses the psalmist’s strong desire, “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.”
The Book of Psalms for Worship, Crown & Covenant Publications, 2009.