Last night we looked at some of the psalms written by David as we drew our studies on his life to a close. David wrote 73 of the 150 psalms, but these are scattered throughout the whole book and are not in any chronological or thematic order (reminding us that life cannot always be neatly packaged!) We see psalms of celebration and rejoicing, psalms of quiet trust, psalms of lament and complaint, Messianic prophetic psalms and much more.
We looked at Psalm 37, Psalm 145, Psalm 139 and Psalm 140 in some detail, reminding ourselves of God’s nature, how there are only two kinds of people (the righteous and the wicked) and how God works on our behalf. We looked at the fact we are made in God’s image and knit together in our mother’s womb and how this gives us worth and dignity beyond our own understanding. The fact that God is in sovereign control of our world means we do not need to fret or worry, but are called to live a life of trust.
The Psalms form the prayer book and song book of the Bible and remind us of the first rule of relationship with God: communication. David’s psalms show us him praying in all situations (good and bad), not withdrawing when bewildered and hurt and confused, but bringing all his feelings to God.
The Psalms remind us also of objective truth. David focuses our attention on the truth of who God is and what He does and has done. He gives us an objectivity (in poetic language) we can cling to. By reiterating truth in all situations, we are anchored to God. By doing this in the form of poetry and song, he allows head and heart to be aligned together, and thus integrity, congruence and wholeness are maintained.
The Psalms also remind us that worship involves a choice. So often, David says ‘I will bless the Lord’, ‘I will praise the Lord’, ‘I will exalt the Lord.’ We choose how we respond to life; may we respond as he did with praise, worship, surrender and trust.
