For one of my classes this semester, we summarized 10 different Psalms. Wanted to share it as a way to encourage you to see how the Psalms work together to instruct and encourage our hearts no matter what we face in life.
PSALMS REVIEW
Psalms is a book
of heartfelt cries, honest prayers, and beautiful praises. It’s a book that
teaches us how to fall before God in the good times and the bad times, how to
praise God on the mountain tops and praise Him in the depths of the lowest pit,
and how to recognize His goodness when we are overwhelmed with all that life
throws at us.
Psalm 91 is a chapter of comfort and
promise as it reminds us where to run and hide when life is uncertain. Psalm
91:1 reminds us that dwelling in the secret place of the Most High is essential
to knowing God. Dwelling means taking up residence, not passing through.
Abiding in Christ and exploring His promises of safety (vs. 4-10), refuge (vs.
4, 9), protection (vs. 7, 10-13), deliverance (vs. 14-15), and satisfaction
(vs. 16) require that we slow down long enough to savor the quietness and
comfort of being sheltered and loved by Someone higher, more sovereign, and
more powerful than we could ever imagine. Psalm 91:14b in The Message says, “I’ll
give you the best care if you’ll only get to know and trust Me.” What all do we
miss in our relationship with God when we rush in and out of His presence with
our busy lives instead of curl up and savor that mental image of hiding in His
Secret Place while being covered by God’s feathers and securely tucked under
His wings (vs. 1, 4)?
In Psalm 18, David glorifies and vividly
describes the power and deliverance of God as God led him to victory against
his enemies. This victory was accomplished through God’s power (vs. 7-15) and
through God-given tools and strength (vs. 32-50). But in order for David to tap
into God’s power and help, he first chose to call upon the Lord (vs. 1, 3, 6)
and he trusted in God to fight these battles for him (vs. 6, 21, 30). We don’t
have to run in fear when Satan attacks us or when we experience conflict “For
You have armed me with strength for the battle” (vs. 39a).
As I confront my
past and desire healing, my top questions are: When my abilities, talents,
performance, and all the strivings to prove my worth are stripped away, who am
I? Do I even matter if I can’t contribute, strive, or prove? God, where were
You? Did You see me? And Psalm 139
gently answers my questions by showing me how carefully God designed me. Yes, I
am one person out of millions, but I am one God personally and gently knit and
held together. And if He was covering me in my mother’s womb (vs. 13) when I
was still an unformed substance (vs. 16), then He was holding me in the bad times (vs. 8) as much as He is still
holding me today (vs. 10, 18).
Psalm 19 highlights the beauty and
treasure we have in God’s words. God speaks to us in various ways (vs. 1-6) and
His words are perfect, sure, right, pure, clean, and true (vs. 7-19). Desiring
and keeping His Word bring us rewards (vs. 11), cleansing (vs. 12), and
protection (vs. 13).
Psalm 32 encompasses the basics we need
for the Christian life—confession (vs. 3-5), salvation and forgiveness (vs.
1-2, 5), Divine direction combined with trust (vs. 8-10), and praise (vs. 11).
God fulfilled His promises to me in Psalm 32:8 numerous times and it goes
hand-in-hand with Psalm 91:1 because direction always comes when we take time
to dwell.
Dwelling
highlights truth, promise, and praise over feelings, emotions, and circumstances.
Dwelling enables us to read the Psalms from a different frame of mind allowing
us to see God, not just another passage. Psalm
16 is like that. When we dwell, we realize that everything comes from God
(16:1-4) and what He gives is good (vs. 5-6). We have hope and a steadiness of
heart (vs. 7-10) because we realize our joy is dependent upon experiencing His
presence (vs. 11). So then, why we are quick to lose focus and stray from under
God’s wings when everything that can satisfy our hearts is found as we dwell in
His presence?
Psalm 23 reiterates the goodness of the
Lord as He fulfills our longings (vs. 1), gives us rest and restoration (vs.
2-3), personally leads us and comforts us (vs. 4-5), and overflows us with
goodness and mercy (vs 5-6). And once again, this causes us to want to dwell with
God and to dwell with Him forever (vs. 6).
Psalm 34 seems to issue a dare as David
dares us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” When we take David up on
that dare, we discover that God hears us and delivers us from our fears and
troubles (vs. 4, 15, 17, 19). He protects us (vs. 6, 20-21), fills us (vs. 8-10),
stays with us (vs. 18), and He redeems us (vs. 22). The last verse in Psalm 34
in The Message translation responds to the dare with “…no one who runs to Him
loses out.” (vs. 22b). A month ago, I was driving down the highway and pouring
out all my ugly to God. I fiercely yelled at Him and begged Him to show me that
He is good like He does for everyone else. I don’t want to read or hear that He
is good, I want to know that He is
good. Three weeks later, God’s goodness appeared left and right and in unmistakable,
odd, and awesome ways that each whispered, “I am good. You can trust Me with your healing.”
Psalm 96 and Psalm 100 are pure praise chapters. These chapters command us to
praise God (96:4, 100:4), to thank Him (100:4), and to bring Him the glory due
to His name (96:4-13). I’d like to think that as a result of dwelling (Ps.
91:1), we begin developing a new language of praise as we see and experience
who God is–good, everlasting, truth, creator, salvation, majestic, beautiful,
strong, judge, sovereign. This language of praise was never meant to be kept to
ourselves—we are to spread this praise to all generations and to all the earth.
May I discipline
myself to slow down, rest, curl up, and dwell in the presence of God so that I
may know Him and continually “taste and see that He is good” as I experience
the same deliverance, restoration, joy, and praise that David wrote about in
these ten Psalms!
