Introduction to the Psalms

Oct 1

Text: Psalm 1, Psalm 2, and Psalm 150 ESV

Introduction

Good morning, Table Rock! My name is Ryan, and I am one of the pastors here.

I don’t know about you, but I had a cultural “awakening” of sorts when I was in high school and college. I was introduced to fine art, poetry, music. It is especially music that I found interesting. Throughout my youth we had listened to oldies, country music, and Christian music. Yet in high school and college I found not only the obvious pop and rock, but I heard classic rock, jazz, and some of the more interesting independent music. Music is still very interesting to me. Like this—I bet I can trigger a song in your head by just the mention of a few words. Whether it is:

The hymn Amazing Grace by John Newton
Hound Dog by Elvis Presley
R-E-S-P-E-C-T by Aretha Franklin
YMCA by The Village People
Happy by Pharrell Williams
ABC by The Jackson 5

Unless you didn’t grow up in America, undoubtedly one of those titles and artist names triggered the memory of a song, and its foot-tapping rhythms. It’s amazing how God designed us to be enraptured and our thoughts and souls to be captured through music and song! Songs not only use rhythm and melody to connect us, but it also speaks to our condition. It uses words set to tunes to speak to love, struggle, pain, and joy.

There is a reason why song is a universal through every culture, no matter how it is done. Scripture calls us to song again and again:

“Oh sing to Yahweh a new song; sing to Yahweh, all the earth. Sing to Yahweh, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1–2 ESV)

“Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” (Psalm 47:6 ESV)

One source says that overall, the Bible contains over four hundred references to singing and fifty direct commands to sing. (Footnote 1) As we begin a new series this morning in the Psalms, it is good for us to remember that this is what they are: they are poems and mostly songs! We have sadly lost the original scores to which they were sung, and—being in Hebrew—few of us could sing them, let alone pronounce the words. But what a sweet gift to see the truths of God displayed in song. How I wish we still knew and sang them often today. I can remember garbage songs from my youth—lyric for lyric whenever it pops up on Spotify— yet I struggle to retain a passage of scripture I have tried to memorize for a week. Imagine how helpful it would be to have Psalms memorized by singing them often.

Yet, that isn’t all that the Psalms are. Certainly, they were originally melodies, but they are much more than just any songs. They, too, are filled with all types of feelings and thoughts from the human experience, just like any popular song today. They talk about being still (Psalm 46), children (Psalms 55, 57, 61), being overwhelmed (Psalms 78, 88), loving your enemy (Psalm 41), and old age (Psalm 78). Sickness (Psalm 47). Vanity (Psalms 146, 147). This is what many love about the Psalms. When we can’t express the feelings we have during a period of life, we can often turn to the Psalms and find that same sentiment or emotion captured well there.

Unlike many current songs where they are written for a wide audience and to help connect with them even if the singer themselves hasn’t experienced the words of the song, the Psalms are rooted in history. If we want to take the time, we can often trace many of the Psalms back to the situation they came from in the books 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles and some of the later prophets like Nehemiah, Daniel, and Ezra. We can see how other God-fearers responded to him in their situation.

This can also be why some people come to the Psalms and say ‘meh.’ That isn’t me. That isn’t how I think, talk, or feel. We can approach it like we do music today and flip the switch to “another station” and head off to parts of the Bible we may like more. We might say to ourselves, “This doesn’t capture me; I am thankful to know how David, or another Psalm writer, thought and felt in these Psalms, but it really doesn’t help me today.”

My goal this morning is to help give us all a broad context for the Psalms as we enter into this series. One of our goals as pastors is to help you see what Scripture is saying, and the context it is saying it in. And the Psalms may be one of the places where we as pastors and you as readers of Scripture may oftentimes neglect that context. We cherry-pick favorite Psalms and sections, or even sometimes ignore them, without thinking about how they fit into the whole. We believe God sovereignly ordained how the Psalms were not only written, but how they were assembled as part of our Bible. And in doing so God had a plan for how we should look at and read the Psalms as a whole.

As we start our Psalm series looking at the character of God, I pray you see three things this morning:

The Psalms are all about knowing the person of God and how wonderful he is!
Knowing God’s character means knowing God’s plan.
God’s plan has always included his Messiah.

For those of you who already love the Psalms, I pray this gives you a context within which to set each Psalm. Sure, we may go to them to see our condition, a historical mention, and a great help in seeing the author’s express their feelings in God honoring ways. But the Psalms are so much more than just them or us! Similarly, if you aren’t a huge Psalms fan, I pray you will see how the Psalms speak about a God who is magnificent, who has always had a plan, and was giving us foretastes of the Messiah—Jesus—who we love.

ORDER AND CONTENT OF THE PSALMS

One thing we cannot miss—the Psalms are all about God! Just look at the amount of times he is mentioned in 150 Psalms:

The LORD—Yahweh (695x), Yah (43x)
God—Elohim (365x); El (77x); Eloah (1x)
Lord, Sovereign—Adonai (67x)
Most High—Elyon (22x); Shaddai (2x)
LORD Almighty / Lord of hosts—Yahweh Sabaoth (13x)

**Sidebar** Now, a quick sidebar. Many of you know, but it may be new to some of you, that when you see the words “the LORD” where LORD is capitalized, this is the Bible’s way of writing God’s name— Yahweh. In fact, it was the Hebrew authors who first put his name down and substituted the vowels of his name “Yahweh” with the vowels from the word “Adonai,” which means Lord, so they would remember to not say it out loud. They wanted to preserve reverence for God’s name. Now, we have no problem with that nor that Scripture uses LORD. And, it can be a very snobbish Christian thing to do to correct people when they use LORD and tell them it should be Yahweh. That isn’t our goal here. However, in this series, since we are looking at the character of God in the Psalms, we wanted to use his name. We want you to see how this isn’t just the title “LORD,” a distant God who is simply over us, but a very personal God who we know— Yahweh—who loves us and reveals himself to us through Scripture. **End Sidebar**

Not only are the Psalms full of mention of our God, but there is a flow to them. There are many ways people have written books to approach the Psalms. Some group them by content—what they are about, who wrote them, how they speak to us. What at face value may seem to only be a collection of random Psalms in fact has a distinctive arrangement. Almost all scholars agree there are five books of Psalms arranged together. Each section has an introduction and a “doxology,” or praise to God, at the end of each one. The books are arranged like this:

Introduction: Psalms 1–2
Book 1: Psalms 3–41
Book 2: Psalms 42–72
Book 3: Psalms 73–89
Book 4: Psalms 90–106
Book 5: Psalms 107–145
Conclusion: Psalms 146–150

And there is a flow to these Psalms. If we simply look at the types of Psalms from Lament to Praise, we begin to see this flow:

Notice how there are almost no praises at the beginning of the Psalms, yet they increase as we go along. It is observations like these that begin to create a visual of the flow of the Psalter. When we look closer at the different books of the Psalms, we see a redemptive historical flow emerging. What that means is the pattern follows God’s working in Israel as he establishes his people, he establishes his king, the people rebel, the people are exiled, and then God renews his work and his promise in Israel. One scholar (Footnote 2) says it this way:

Book 1: Psalms 3–41

“Psalms begin with attention on David, identifying earthly challenges to the Davidic throne; nearly all the psalms are Davidic. At stake here is the kingdom in crisis or under threat.”

Book 2: Psalms 42–72

“Within this section the monarchy is firmly established, worship is centered in Jerusalem, and the focus becomes the Davidic covenant; again, almost all the psalms are Davidic.”

Book 3: Psalms 73–89

“Highlight shifts to the division and increased wickedness of the nation, including the lack of alignment with Davidic covenant; almost no psalms are Davidic.”

Book 4: Psalms 90–106

“From here, the psalms address the devastation of exile, the need for covenant faithfulness (as echoed in the lives of Moses and David), and the power of God; again, almost no psalms are Davidic.”

Book 5: Psalms 107–145

“The psalter ends with renewed focus on God’s Word and worship in Jerusalem and with great praise, all in light of God’s restoring and renewing work in the post-exilic period; the increased number of Davidic psalms suggest a rising anticipation for the fulfillment of the messianic promises.”

PSALMS 1, 2, & 150

And our Psalms this morning, Psalms 1, 2, and 150, are the bookends to this great work of God. We want to look at them to see the trajectory that is laid out for us in Scripture for the Psalms. As we look at these three Psalms we are going to see two main points:

Live in Yahweh’s Good Law
- A Comparison: Righteous man and the Wicked
Walk in Yahweh’s Merciful Refuge
- Life lived out: Wicked, Yahweh, Righteous man

Live in Yahweh’s Good Law

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of YAHWEH, and on his law he meditates day and night.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for YAHWEH knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1 ESV)

We are given an example here of two different types of people. On the one hand, is the righteous man. He does what would please God, which is follow God’s law—God’s commandments—and thinks about them day and night. As Christians, we can quickly jump over this passage. We have read many of the passages in the New Testament, like Romans 7, which tell us we have died to the law, that the law aroused our passions and gave us no hope for life, but we now live through the grace that we have received in Jesus. We often think law=bad. Yet we forget the parts in Romans 7 where Paul says things like this:

“What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means!” (Romans 7:7 ESV)

“Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means!” (Romans 7:13 ESV)

God’s commandments throughout Scripture are good. They reveal to us God’s perfect will for our life, and how we don’t measure up to that life. A truly righteous person would love God’s commands and would affirm that they would be a good life for us if we could follow them well. That is what this Psalm says. A righteous person following God’s good law would be like a tree planted beside water. It flourishes! Drinking deeply of God’s commands are good for us, especially now as we know that we have received grace for all our mistakes in following it through Jesus.

The obvious contrast is the wicked. They are like chaff—the extra pieces of the stalk and leaves of the wheat plant that when tossed into the air, float away, while the good seeds fall back into place. The wicked—those who do not follow God’s good commandments—have no place with Yahweh, nor with his people. We are being called to walk in God’s good law.

Walk in Yahweh’s Merciful Refuge

And as we continue we see how these two roles play out in the walks of these people, we also get another interesting perspective.

“Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against YAHWEH and against his Anointed, saying, “Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.”

He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, “As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.”

I will tell of the decree: YAHWEH said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve YAHWEH with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” (Psalm 2 ESV)

We get the reverse order here in this second Psalm of our introduction. We see the wicked, and those who represent them—their kings and rulers. Not only do they not follow God’s law, but they rebel against him.

“Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.” (Psalm 2:3 ESV)

We would expect this. What we don’t expect, is the sudden arrival of God himself—Yahweh—and his comments.

Yahweh sits in heaven and laughs. Not because he doesn’t care about his people, not because he doesn’t love his creation, but because he has no fear of those who ignore and rebel against ways. Why? Because he has His King!

When God looks at those in rebellion, openly mocking him, he has one thing he says to them:

“As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill.” (Psalm 2:6 ESV)

That is what is to strike fear into the hearts of those in rebellion. God doesn’t come down immediately and crush them. Rather he says, “I have my king.” Why is this to be something for those in rebellion to even care about or be concerned? Because of what he says next:

“I will tell of the decree:

YAHWEH said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” (Psalm 2:7–9 ESV)

Everything is his! He has been given it by Yahweh! Every person, everywhere, is his. And to disobey him unrepentantly will be met with a “rod of iron.” When we see flagrant sin today: when we see abuse, murder, adulterers, sexual promiscuity, and many more, we are to remember that God has his King! This is a reminder that he will deal with the sins that have been committed against us, and he will deal with our sin as well. And that is why we are so thankful this terrifying reality also comes with a sweet, sweet call. The section about the righteous in Psalm 2 is embodied by this call:

“Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve YAHWEH with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.” (Psalm 2:10–12a ESV)

We see that righteousness, even here in the Old Testament, is not just about “doing” all the commandments but rather, as we find ourselves in rebellion, to come back to Yahweh with fear and trembling, and “Kiss the Son.” Love God’s good king! Know that in his mercy and love for you his wrath will turn aside as you put your faith in him.

YAHWEH in the PSALMS

Yes, Table Rock, when we come to the Psalms, it has psalms about struggle, triumph, failure, and praise. We can go to it and relate to it! We see our life, our path, in the words of the psalmists. Yet, it is so much more than that! It is revealing to us God and his character. A God who has always had a plan, and who has completed that plan in Jesus Christ! When we look at the different sections of the Psalms, we see Yahweh:

Book 1, Psalms 3–41: Yahweh, the God who instructs, elects, and delivers his king and people.
Book 2, Psalms 42–72: Yahweh, the God who establishes his king and delivers.
Book 3, Psalms 73–89: Yahweh, the God who rebukes and disciplines his people.
Book 4, Psalms 90-106: Yahweh, the God who remembers his people and sustains the faithful.
Book 5, Psalms 107–145: Yahweh, the God who restores and renews, in anticipation of his kingdom fulfillment.

And this all is punctuated as we see Yahweh and his great King Messiah! Royal Psalms like this one—Psalm 2—and others are used throughout Scripture in connection with God’s Messiah.

Psalm 2 is in Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, Hebrews 5:5. Psalm 72:8 is in Zechariah 9:10. Psalm 45 is in Hebrews 1:8–9. Psalm 110:1 is in Matthew 22:41–46, Acts 2:34-36, Hebrews 1:13, Hebrews 10:11–13. Psalm 110:4 is in Hebrews 5:5-6, and Hebrews 7:15-22.

We see a picture of a King throughout the Psalms. A king greater than any king that Israel ever had. He is an all-conquering King! Yet he is also the innocent sufferer. In this way we see, all over the Psalms, our main points:

The Psalms are all about knowing the person of God and how wonderful he is!
Knowing God’s character means knowing God’s plan.
God’s plan has always included his Messiah.

PRAISE BE TO YAHWEH!

How I wish we had time to look at the entire conclusion to the Psalms—Psalms 146–150—but we have a time limit on our use of this facility and your ability to sit in these chairs! But it is a beautiful summary of what our response to the character of God should be. It should be praise!

“Praise YAHWEH! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise YAHWEH! Praise YAHWEH!” (Psalm 150:1–6)

Knowing the character of God should bring us to praise him!

Communion

As we come to communion, it should be filled with praise. In both the backward look at what God did for us in Jesus, and as we look forward to being with him fully without sin in the new heavens and the new earth, it should bring us to praise. It is because God has the character he does, as we will see throughout this Psalm series—because he is our Refuge, he is Merciful and Gracious, our Keeper, Our Help, Our Hope, Our Salvation, our very Sovereign God and Priest King—that we can and must praise him. It is because he has this character that our hearts sing the songs they sing today to the very glory of God! We have seen his character and know his good plan in Jesus!

FOOTNOTES

1—Bob Kaufflin, “Words of Wonder: What Happens When We Sing?,” Desiring God, 27 September 2008, https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/words-of-wonder-what-happens-when- we-sing.

2—Jason DeRouchie, Classroom Notes

Psalms

Andrew Knight