Psalms, Book 1
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 21 Title: The Ancient Promise Introduction This Psalm is frequently thought to be a response to Psalm 20. The idea is that in Psalm 20 we have a prayer for victory in battle through the king of Israel and then in Psalm 21 we have a celebration of God’s…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 20 Title: The Battle Belongs to the Lord Introduction Its been a while since we sang it in our worship but we once learned the song , “The Battle Belongs to the Lord.” I remember the children liked that song. Our Psalm in this study is a battle song…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 19 Title: The World and the Word Introduction There’s an old saying, “God’s Word will keep you from sin or sin will keep you from His Word.” This Psalm is theologically profound. It sums up God’s revelation to us both in creation and in the Bible and yet we…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 18 Title: My God for Life Introduction Psalm 18 is a long and wonderful rehearsal of God’s faithfulness to David and therefore to all his people. The Psalm also appears in II Samuel 22. There are a number of variations but overall the theme and development of the Psalms…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 17 Title: True Hearted and Loyal Introduction This Psalm emphasizes a recurrent theme in this section of the Psalter, namely, David’s sufferings and persecutions from his enemies. Especially during the time of Saul’s animosity these sufferings were extreme, which is why there are so many prayers and pleas for…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 16 Title: The Favor of God Introduction This Psalm is quoted prominently in the New Testament with a fuller than usual explanation of its intent. Peter applies the end of this Psalm to the resurrection of Christ in his sermon on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2. He…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 15 Title: The Blessed Servant Introduction Both Psalm 15 and Psalm 24 deal with the character of the individual who may ascend the hill of the Lord and dwell in His house. Although Psalm 24 is uniquely a processional hymn attached to the bringing of the ark into Zion…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 14 Title: The Song of Fools Introduction Before we embark on an examination of the teaching of this Psalm it is appropriate to remark about a peculiar phenomenon. Psalm 14 is almost identical to Psalm 53. However it would be a mistake to overlook the distinctions which are important…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 13 Title: The Complaint, the Cry, the Confession Introduction This Psalm of David falls into the general category of complaint. Although the exact occasion is unknown, many of these Psalms appear to be from that period of David’s life in which he was an outcast, pursued and persecuted by…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 12 Title: Good Thoughts in Bad Times Introduction We must pause at this point to make a general observation. Of the first 11 Psalms six deal rather comprehensively with David’s enemies, and thus the persecution of God’s people. Perhaps our lack of interest in the Psalms or our failure…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 11 Title: Facing Trouble Introduction This Psalm is apparently written during that period of David’s life when he was pursued and persecuted by Saul. The Psalm revolves around a particular temptation with which David was faced. It is a temptation with which we are all faced at some point…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 10 Title: The Great Tribunal Introduction We have already seen that Psalm 10 is a continuation of the theme of Psalm 9 calling for God’s judgment on all the enemies who persecute His people In the LXX these two Psalms are one. This is probably the original form since…
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Series on the Psalms Text: Psalm 9 Title: The Proclamation of God’s Justice Introduction Although Psalms 9 and 10 may be considered separately as they occur in our English Bibles, we should note that in the LXX, or Greek translation of the Old Testament they are one Psalm. This is probably the original form since…
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Series on Psalms Text: Psalm 8 Title: The Wonder of Being God’s Man Introduction The First two Psalms set the general tone of the Psalter by reminding us of the word of the Lord applied to life, and the triumph of God’s kingdom through his chosen servant Jesus. The Psalms that follow this, three through…
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Series on Psalms Text: Psalm 7 Title: Remedy for Slander Introduction The occasion of this Psalm is given in the superscription, A shiggaion of David, which he sang to the LORD concerning Cush, a Benjamite. Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was the son of Kish and the name of this Benjamite, Cush,…
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