Psalms (Program #25) – The Pious Expressions of the Psalmists Uttered Out of Their Complex Sentiments While Enjoying God in His House

It’s always remarkable isn’t it, how an expert gemologist is able to exam what may to the untrained eyes appear to be just an ordinary stone or rock.  But to his trained eye, is the realization that he is holding something of great value.  The ability to distinguish the rare gem from the ordinary is primary a matter of training and experience.  Knowing what to look for is the key and having a master to point the way is indispensable.   In many ways, this our life study of the Psalms.  150 poems, psalms and praises many of which are full of gems.  Many others are full of ordinary and more common expressions.  But the question is, can you tell the difference?  How we thank the Lord for those experienced masters that have gone before and who have left us with so much help to learn how to spot the gems.

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Psalms (Program #24) – Three Categories of Persons Regarding the Enjoyment of God in Christ

To study the Psalms it’s helpful to know their arrangement, many of the Psalms are grouped for us in order to help our understanding.  Psalms 49, 50 and 51 form such a group and show us three categories of persons in their experience and enjoyment of God.  Those depicted in Psalms 49 actually do not have God as their enjoyment but rather are those who put their trust in riches, in their wealth.  Such one missed the real experience and enjoyment of God.  Psalms 50 show us ones who call on the Lord according to His covenant.  This is to call on the Lord Jesus Christ as our mediator between us and God and surely result in deep enjoyment.  Finally Psalms 51 shows us a person in the full realization of his sin.  Repenting, confessing even begging God’s cleansing, forgiveness and washing.  This Psalms give us a real pattern of genuine repentance and will lead us into a richer and deeper experience and enjoyment of God.

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Psalms (Program #23) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (4)

Psalms 48:1-2 says ” Great is Jehovah, And much to be praised In the city of our God, In His holy mountain. Beautiful in elevation, The joy of the whole earth, Is Mount Zion, the sides of the north, The city of the great King.”

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Psalms (Program #22) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (3)

The Bible contains many symbols and types.  We regard these symbols and types as pictures or photographs.  The reason for the photographs in the Bible is that Bible unveils many heavenly spiritual things and the photographs help us understand these invisible and mysterious things.  Today’s life study from Psalms 45 is a glorious picture that you will want to stay with us for.  It’s very special today.

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Psalms (Program #21) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (2)

Psalms 45 is a marvelous Psalms and it starts with verse 1 saying “My heart overflows with a good matter. I speak what I have composed concerning the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Today in our life study of Psalms we come to the highest and greatest of all the Psalms; Psalm 45. Stay with us for the next half hour as we turn our attention to the fairest among ten thousands.

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Psalms (Program #20) – The Psalmist’s Intensified Enjoyment of God in His House and City Through the Suffering, Exalted, and Reigning Christ (1)

The Old Testament book of Psalms includes 150 individual Psalm. Well, majority of these were written by David, others contributed to this wonderful portion of the Scripture.  Bible scholars throughout the centuries have realized that by virtue of how the Psalms are arranged, they are broken into five distinctive groups or books.  Book one of the Psalms for example include Psalms 1 through Psalms 41.   The second book begin with Psalms 42.  But what is critical to realize in this divine arrangement is that each successive book takes us to a higher spiritual plain than the previous one.  So that at the end of Psalms we are brought to the highest peak in the experience and enjoyment of God.

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Psalms (Program #19) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (6)

The Psalms are beloved by Bible readers universally. In part, maybe because for the mot part, the Psalms seems easy to understand and identify with. For example, when David or the other Psalmists were suffering, they would cry out to God for comfort, deliverance and help. We can readily identified with these. But actually some of the Psalms are mysterious to the uttermost. Consider Psalm 40, in this Psalm, on of the highest prophecy concerning the coming Christ, David appears to say to Jehovah “You do not delight in sacrifice in offering. You do not require burnt offering and sin offering.” Well, the question that must be asked is “how must the Old Testament scholars have understood such a verse?” or even more importantly how do we, as God’s New Testament believers understand such a verse?

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Psalms (Program #18) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (4 & 5)

The Bible is The Book.  It is one book yet it is made up of 66 books.  All of God’s people love this book and yet to one person it may be a book of laws, to another a book of ethics and morality, to others it is just a book of stories and metaphors.  Actually, the kind of book it is to us depends mainly on what kind of person we are as we read it.  May we be those who have come to the end of keeping the law, the end of human ethics and story-telling.  May we be those who had been brought to the end of ourselves and have discovered that we truly have been crucified with Christ and that it is no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me.

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Psalms (Program #17) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (3)

The Bible is a book of two’s.  In it we have two trees, two men, two creations and two purposes or plans, represented by two mountains.  All of which become two lines that run through entire Scripture resulting eventually in two outcomes or two consummations.  The book of Psalms clearly shows these two lines often giving us stark contrasts between the two, helping us to bring into sharp focus that God desires all His people to always be occupied with the central line, the line of Christ, the line of life.

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Psalms (Program #16) – The Mixed Expressions of the Psalmist’s Sentiment in His Enjoyment of God in God’s House (1 & 2)

One reason that the Psalms may be so beloved among Bible readers is that for the most part that the Psalms were written very simply and they are easy to understand. The Psalmists often had problems and distresses we can relate to and they came to seek the Lord out of these troubles. But if you contrast this to the way the New Testament is written, there is a big difference. Take the apostle Paul for example, he also had problems and was frequently in distress. But he didn’t speak of these troubles in the same way. His language was on a higher plan. “Great is the mystery of Godliness”, Paul writes, “Who was manifested in the flesh.” Well, surely this was referred to Christ and Paul’s focus was always, always, always on this Christ, who not only manifested God in His own flesh, but is waiting to manifest Himself in our flesh, even through the most difficult of circumstances.

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