Catching Fire
Just a few more days until we begin! Are you ready?
I am praying that the Lord will show himself faithful to you as he shapes you and matures you through his word. There are some lovely truths we should know about the book of Psalms. My friend Stacey loaned me her Psalms commentary and I found a few nuggets in the introduction that I want to share with you. (Stacey, I should get this back to you before you leave for your summer travels.)
James Johnston in his "Preaching the Word" commentary, describes the study of Psalms like this, "We are opening the door to a treasure chamber. If our hearts are open to God's Spirit, this focused time in the Psalms will change us. We will learn to pray as we pray with the psalmist. We will learn to praise as we worship God with David. The Psalms are as deep as the ocean; they are as wide as human experience; they will carry us to spiritual heights."
1. The Psalms are a part of the Torah which is translated as "law." Psalm 1:2 instructs us to meditate on the law of God day and night. Meditating calls us to "reflect and go deep."
2. Did you know that the Psalms are the most quoted scripture in the New Testament? "Jesus and the apostles consistently turned to the Psalms to preach the kingdom of God and establish key doctrines."
3. The Psalms are Hebrew poetry. "Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter like most western poetry. Instead the main technique is parallelism. So the key movements within a psalm are often from one line to another as the psalmist takes a thought and gives it a slight turn... But the genius of Hebrew poetry is that since it is based on parallelism, it 'remains poetry in any language.'" Only God!
4. The book of Psalms is fundamentally about Christ. The Psalms were considered prophecy of the coming Messiah that had to be fulfilled. "Psalms 1 and 2 are an introduction for the whole book of Psalms. Psalm 1 introduces us to the ideal man who loves God's Word and lives by it. Psalm 2 identifies this ideal man as the King God set on the throne."
5. What happens when we meditate on the Psalms? "The goal of meditating on God's Word is to look long enough so that we see its beauty and our hearts catch fire. Pondering the Psalms will wake up our hearts to find joy in Christ. Our goal is not to master the Psalms but to be mastered by them."
May all of our hearts catch fire this summer! Wouldn't that be lovely?
In Christ,
kim
All quotes above were taken from The Psalms: Rejoice the Lord is King, by James Johnston. https://www.crossway.org/books/the-psalms-hcj/
I am praying that the Lord will show himself faithful to you as he shapes you and matures you through his word. There are some lovely truths we should know about the book of Psalms. My friend Stacey loaned me her Psalms commentary and I found a few nuggets in the introduction that I want to share with you. (Stacey, I should get this back to you before you leave for your summer travels.)
James Johnston in his "Preaching the Word" commentary, describes the study of Psalms like this, "We are opening the door to a treasure chamber. If our hearts are open to God's Spirit, this focused time in the Psalms will change us. We will learn to pray as we pray with the psalmist. We will learn to praise as we worship God with David. The Psalms are as deep as the ocean; they are as wide as human experience; they will carry us to spiritual heights."
1. The Psalms are a part of the Torah which is translated as "law." Psalm 1:2 instructs us to meditate on the law of God day and night. Meditating calls us to "reflect and go deep."
2. Did you know that the Psalms are the most quoted scripture in the New Testament? "Jesus and the apostles consistently turned to the Psalms to preach the kingdom of God and establish key doctrines."
3. The Psalms are Hebrew poetry. "Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter like most western poetry. Instead the main technique is parallelism. So the key movements within a psalm are often from one line to another as the psalmist takes a thought and gives it a slight turn... But the genius of Hebrew poetry is that since it is based on parallelism, it 'remains poetry in any language.'" Only God!
4. The book of Psalms is fundamentally about Christ. The Psalms were considered prophecy of the coming Messiah that had to be fulfilled. "Psalms 1 and 2 are an introduction for the whole book of Psalms. Psalm 1 introduces us to the ideal man who loves God's Word and lives by it. Psalm 2 identifies this ideal man as the King God set on the throne."
5. What happens when we meditate on the Psalms? "The goal of meditating on God's Word is to look long enough so that we see its beauty and our hearts catch fire. Pondering the Psalms will wake up our hearts to find joy in Christ. Our goal is not to master the Psalms but to be mastered by them."
May all of our hearts catch fire this summer! Wouldn't that be lovely?
In Christ,
kim
All quotes above were taken from The Psalms: Rejoice the Lord is King, by James Johnston. https://www.crossway.org/books/the-psalms-hcj/
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