All right, so our study this morning is the book of Psalms. You'll see that most of you should have a handout. It's two pages. That's really not gonna be the lesson for today. That's for your own good and your own edification later. I might allude to portions of that during the lesson, but this is just, with a book of 150 chapters, It's kind of hard to say everything that would be helpful in one 30-minute lesson, so this is for what I can't cover. Additional categories, an additional outline of the book. It ought to be the case that every Christian would know the Book of Psalms like the back of their hand. That is not the case, but it ought so to be because the Psalms are This is arguable, but I'm going to say the most functionally useful book to the church in all of the Bible. because the Psalms are designed in a way that is unique from all the Bible. The Psalms are obviously right for our singing and worship of God. They are fertile ground for the prayers of God's saints. Uh, they were written initially as prayers. Um, they're good for preaching. Uh, we've heard many good sermons from the Psalms. Even, uh, pastor Brennigan last week, preaching from a portion of Psalm one 18, and they're fruitful for our own meditation. John Calvin famously said, of the book of Psalms, he said, I have been accustomed to call this book, I think not inappropriately, an anatomy of all the parts of the soul. Or there is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror. Or rather, the Holy Spirit has drawn to the life of all the griefs, sorrows, fears, doubts, hopes, cares, perplexities, in short, all distracting emotions with which the minds of men are want to be agitated. In other words, There is not an experience that you will face in this life that at least one part of the Psalms can't say, I resonate with that. I have been through that. And so we find refuge in the Psalms because the truth is that while much has changed in the way that we live our lives from when the Psalms were originally composed, Hardly anything has changed about the human experience. We are still fallen people living in a fallen world. We are still also those who are being sanctified and conformed to the ways of the world to come. And so there's this tension that is very well represented in the book of Psalms. I trust that most of you know the book of Psalms is often thought of as the inspired hymn book of the Bible. And that's true. It may sound odd to those of you who've grown up in this church or a similar church, But many Christians don't sing the Psalms. Kevin DeYoung, and I'm paraphrasing here, said something to the effect of, there may be no more clearly stated command of Scripture that is so widely ignored as that to sing Psalms. There are at least two places in the New Testament that explicitly command the singing of Psalms. Can anybody tell me one of them? Some of you were made to memorize this in eighth grade. Uh, miss Duncan. I don't remember the verse, but it's like singing songs, hymns and spiritual songs. It's Colossians three 16. Uh, so let me go ahead and just read that real quickly for us. Colossians chapter three and verse 16. Paul writes, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Okay, how do you do that? By teaching and admonishing one another, all of us, in all wisdom. Okay, so that's what we're supposed to be doing. Now, how do we do that? Singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thanksgiving in your hearts toward God. The other passage, and this is a direct parallel, it says almost exactly the same thing, is Ephesians chapter 5 verse 19. So there's at least two places in the Bible wherein God's Church, the New Testament Church, is commanded to sing the Psalms. The singing of Psalms according to these passages is one way, there are others, but it's one way that we can store up God's Word in our heart. that we can memorize it. God gave us music and rhythms and things of that nature to help aid in memory of his word, and the Psalms are uniquely designed for that. These things were written explicitly for the purpose of memorization, and they were written in such a way that just the singing of them is an admonition and an encouragement to fellow believers. before my family came to Second Pres, I had never sang a psalm corporately with God's people in my whole life. Now that's not that impressive because I'd only been a part of one other church. My wife, who's been a part of several churches, had also, I asked her last night, honey, have you ever sang a psalm corporately before we got to Second? No. This is something that many, many in our, many Christians, faithful people don't practice. And when you, when you ask them, have you ever sung a song or when a, a broadly evangelical Christian visits a reformed church for the first time, that's generally something they'll remark on is what a joy it is to actually sing God's word. It's like the thought had never occurred to them, but then when they heard it or they did it, it was like, Duh, should have been doing this all along. There's something that resonates about them. And this takes us back to how the book of Psalms is, again, arguably the most uniquely functional book in the entire canon of scripture. And some of you will remember this who've been with me in middle school when we did Psalms for the summer. It is like all scripture, God's word to us. So it comes down from God to us. All scripture does that, the Psalms being part of scripture do that. But it is also given in such a way that it is also our words to God. These are prayers of real people offered to God. So it works both ways, but it works another way as we read in Well, actually, just an example of how the Psalms are used as prayers even in Scripture, not just like when David wrote, for example. Yes, he was writing down his prayers to God, but even Jesus would quote Psalm 22.1 in this very way when he's on the cross. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And he's lifting up Psalm 22 as a prayer to the Father. Jesus models that for us in Matthew 27. But also, not only does it work, is it designed to work both of these ways, but it's also our words to others. So the Psalms is, it has a vertical dimension coming down from God to us and back from us up to God, but also out from us to others. And it works all three of these ways. Now, in a sense, this could be said about any book of the Bible, right? It's always good to, uh, it's good to know that God's word, the scriptures is always from God down to us. It's also true, as I try to model for you guys, any passage of scripture can be turned into a prayer to God. So it can also, any passage of scripture can work that way. And it's also true, of course, that it's always good to exhort and encourage one another with any passage from scripture. But what I'm trying to say is, while any passage can be used that way, The Psalms were designed to be used that way. Does that make sense? It all can function that way, but the Psalms were given to us for that express purpose. And so with all that said, I'm going to go ahead and just set my one really simple goal before you all today. This is my one goal. I want you all to become faithful, lifelong students of the Psalter. And let me give you really quick four motives for why you ought to do that. So the goal is that we would become lifelong students of the Psalms. I'm gonna give you four reasons you should do that, and then I'll give you a rough rundown of types of Psalms and the organization of the Psalms to help you do that. Okay, and again, these are not in the handout. The handout's just for further reading later. So here's four reasons why you should study the Psalms deeply. First of all, the Book of Psalms is in some sense rightly called a summary of the whole of the Bible. The 150 Psalms in the Old Testament could rightly be called a summary of the whole Bible. Athanasius, who's a great church father that was involved in the Arian controversy and contending strongly for the deity of Christ, Athanasius Contramundum, against the world, he called the Psalms the epitome of the Bible. Now, if you haven't heard of Athanasius, shame on you, but Martin Luther, who I'm sure we have all heard of, called it a little Bible. wherein everything contained in the entire Bible is beautifully and briefly comprehended and compacted. So there are going to be Psalms that deal with the excellence and the beauty of creation, like Psalm 90 or Psalm 19. There are going to be Psalms that deal with the real life consequences of living in a fallen world, like Psalm 88, which I'll read in its entirety shortly. There are Psalms that discuss the other end of life in a fallen world that has the expectation and hope of the world to come, Psalm 73. There are Psalms that tell of the redemption that Christ purchased for us rather explicitly in Psalm 22, Psalm 32. There are Psalms that give us a foretaste and a picture of the eternal worship that we will enjoy in the new heavens and the new earth. particularly Psalm 150, but really the last five Psalms all together do that. So reason number one to become a diligent student of the Psalms is in it, you get a summary of all the doctrines of the Bible. They're all there and they're given in such a memorable and compact way. A second reason to study the Psalms deeply is because they provide insight into our own human condition. The Psalms are the word of God, but they're also, prayers of God's people. They express the sense of loneliness that we all feel it sometimes. For example, Psalm 102 and verse 7. The psalmist writes, and I won't do proof text for all these, but I'll read this one for you. Psalm 102 verse 7. The psalmist writes, I lie awake. I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. You don't have to tell me, but it's not uncommon for anyone to lay awake in the middle of the night, distressed by whatever may be plaguing you and feel like you're utterly alone. The Psalms speak of that very thing. You have a book of the Bible that resonates with that. The Psalms will also capture feelings of oppression. Psalm 129 verse one will talk of all of the enemies of God's people oppressing and afflicting them wrongly. The Psalms give a sense of abandonment. Psalm 68.5 speaks to this. The Psalms address topics of uncertainty and depression. They tell us the truth about ourselves and they give us a sanctified way in which to express the real deep dark feelings that we all experience from one time or another. The Psalms are also number three. So the first is it's a summary of the Bible. The second is it offers an insight into our condition. The third is it is a book of hope in life and in death. The Psalms are a book of hope. Yes, they give clear vent to our human condition, but they also give us hope. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Psalm 17, 15 pointing us to the hope. of when we experience the final resurrection and our bodies and our souls are made perfect, dwelling with God forever. And that theme is throughout all of the Psalms and is often what will redirect the affections of our heart even when we're giving honest expression to difficult situations. And the final, the fourth and final reason that we ought to be serious students of the Psalter is it gives us a way to approach God. It gives us a way to approach God. I've talked with several young men over the last couple of weeks, and one thing, and guys, as I set up meetings with you, just know I'm gonna ask about prayer, okay? And I'm gonna ask about devotional life and these kinds of things. I trust that everyone in this room knows and accepts the proposition, I ought to pray. Prayer is important. I also wonder if you're all like me and when you accept that, you then immediately go to try to do it and you have no idea what you're doing and no idea how to even begin to pray. The Psalms give you words to use, make use of them, read them, reflect on them, put it in your own words if you would like and turn that back to God. And not because I'm super great at this or anything like that, but I'll just put forth myself as an example. When I prayed after the offeratory at the 830 service, and I'll do this again at 11, the offering this week is a setting of Psalm 42, three? I believe it's 43. And I turned those verses back into a prayer to God asking that he would bless the offering. That's just an example of how you can do this. It doesn't have to be just in those kinds of settings, but you can do this anytime. The Psalms provide us a way to approach the Lord. Now, with those reasons before you, let's consider briefly just some ways to think through, all right, how do I study the Psalms? What am I looking for? And now, in your handout, you have a list of 10 different types of Psalms. They're all taken straight out of the Reformation Heritage Study Bible, edited by Joel Beeky. It is the greatest study Bible in print, and I will die on that hill. Those notes, though, are taken straight out of that. None of that's from me. It's helpful, but that's for later. What I'm gonna give you is three broader categories to consider. Those are 10 very specific, drilled-down ones, and they give examples of each kind. I'm gonna give you three kind of broader categories that those would be subcategories of. First of all, the first type of psalm to keep in mind is called a hymn. Now, we normally think of hymn, H-Y-M-N, We normally think of him as the everything after Psalm 150 in our Trinity Psalter hymnal. That's not exactly what's in mind. These are Psalms, but the Psalms that are designated as hymns are those that offer praise and blessing to the Lord. It's usually focusing on his character and his attributes, also his works of Creation and redemption feature very heavily in these psalms that would be designated as hymns one that comes to mind would be Psalm 121, I look to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who what? Who made heaven and earth. And so it's praising God for his being an ever-present help to his people and for his works of creation and that he never abandons us. By far though, the most common type of psalm is a lament. Laments are generally more negative and desperate in tone. But also, generally speaking, the movement in a lament is from a plea to God for his help, to praising him for ways that he has been there in the past, and confidence that he will be there again. I often tell you guys, one of the best ways to grow confidence in your faith is to look at how God has provided for you in the past, and then be assured that, as we'll sing at the end of the service at 11, trust your God to guide your future as he has the past. We want to be those who do that, and the psalmists model that for us. What do you make of the fact, and this is an open-ended question, and anyone's welcome to answer, what do you make of the fact that a book that's called praises, because that's what the Hebrew word means, the book that's called praises, the overwhelming majority of the content is negative and despairing? What do we make of that? The laments make up almost two to one of the other two categories combined. Anyone see any significance there? Ms. Berenger? Maybe like we praise God more when we realize how dark and sinful our condition is and so I guess it makes his light shine brighter and so we have more reason to praise him. Yeah. Yeah. Being confronted with the darkness of, of this world in this life, uh, gives a, a renewed appreciation for the glory of God. That's very true. And I would add to that. Oh yeah. God also tests us through trials and stuff. And through trials, like Anya was saying, he shows his glory in providence. Yeah. Through our trials, God shows His provision and shows His glory in watching over that. I would also add to that, this teaches us that the Scriptures don't sugarcoat anything about life. They don't hide the reality of the fact that life is hard and that there are trials, and we should acknowledge them. A lot of people get the idea that whenever something distressing or depressing comes up, I need to put that away and not deal with it and instead focus on these other things. And we don't want to be overtaken by the trial. We don't want to be overtaken by the affliction, but we do have to deal with it. That would be akin to thinking, I got a diagnosis of cancer or some other really bad disease and I'm just not going to deal with that. Instead, focus on all these things. No, I get to focus on those things through dealing with that. Does that make sense? It's a way of dealing with it that leads to joy. And I'm just going to read for us just for example, how this works in the Psalms and how the Psalms let us give full vent and then redirect our thoughts. You have to work through things sometimes. Psalm 88, go ahead and turn there, and I'm gonna read it aloud. O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you, Let my prayer come before you, incline your ear to my cry, for my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit. I am a man who has no strength, like one set loose among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more. Feels like God doesn't remember him. He feels abandoned, for they are cut off from your hand. You have put me in the depths of the pit, in the regions dark and deep. Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves. You have caused my companions to shun me. You have made me a horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape. My eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call upon you, O Lord. I spread out my hands to you. Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Is your steadfast love declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Are your wonders known in the darkness or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? God, are you ever gonna do anything about this? Am I beyond your saving graces? But I, O Lord, cry to you. In the morning, my prayers come before you. O Lord, why do you cast my soul away? Why do you hide your face from me? afflicted and close to death from my youth up. I suffer your terrors. I am helpless. Your wrath has swept over me. Your dreadful assaults destroy me. They surround me like a flood all day long. They close in on me together. You have caused my beloved friends to shun me. My companions have become darkness." And that's where it ends. Now, there's a lot that could be and should be said about that psalm, but I just want to use it to show you one thing. The Bible doesn't lie to you and tell you that life isn't hard and tell you that you won't struggle with doubt. What's the answer? Well, in one sense, this psalm within itself provides the answer for you see continually, he cries out to the Lord. It's referenced three times, verse one, verse 13, verse nine, over and over again. And it's a trusting in him and calling to him even so. But then there's another answer that's provided actually in the very next Psalm, Psalm 89. will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord forever with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations for I said steadfast love will be built up forever in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness in other words the point is this even if I don't feel it I know these things are true and I'm going to declare it anyway because I Even though everything may be calamity in this earthly realm in my life, I know the promises of the Lord are true, and they will come to pass, and in that I find hope. I'm gonna skip over the Psalm of Thanksgiving. It's pretty straightforward, and I'm just gonna get to one last point for us today with the short time we have left. We tend to think of the Psalms as just this mcmash of different poems or songs put together You know, like our hymnal is organized by category. You'll recognize there's like a bunch of hymns about the deity of Christ, there's a bunch of hymns about the hope of the resurrection, there's a bunch of hymns, and they're all kind of grouped together. And the psalms don't really work that way. Some parts of it are like that, but across the board, a lot of things are just mixed and scattered around. You have in your outline, and I would commend to you later, the second page of the handout, rather, An excerpt from O. Palmer Robertson that really deals with each of the five books of the Psalm. And that again, I would commend to you for later. But I do want to say that there is a sense in which there is progression within the Psalms. There is actually an unfolding story. And you have to be a very careful and close student to see this. But once you see it, it's truly beautiful. It's kind of like, All of the Psalms can work on their own. They can be stand-alone things and useful in and of themselves. But they also work together to unfold something really powerful. Let's just look at this specifically. What the Psalms reveal to us is that there are two possible outcomes for the life of man, and these are found in Psalm 1 and 2, the gateway into the whole thing. There is the way of blessedness. Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the sinner's way or sit in the seat of scorners, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. And then there's the way of the wicked, which will perish. And in Psalm 2, we find what makes the difference. What makes the difference between the way of blessedness and the way of the wicked that perishes? The Lord says, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill, Psalm 2, 6. And the book of Psalms is a tracing, yes, of the history of Israel, yes, an explanation of the condition of the human life and all of these things, but it's also the unfolding story of this king that we're told about at the very outset. There is a category of psalms called kingship psalms, and they are placed very strategically throughout the Psalter to show us the unfolding story of this Davidic king that God has set on his holy hill. And so you see in Psalm two, verses six and seven, verse seven says, I will tell the decree, the Lord said to me, you are my son. Today I have begotten you. That's the coronation of the king. The inauguration of his royal reign. God establishes his king to rule the world. And then the rest of book one and book two will tell us lots about the king. These Psalms are largely, not all, but most are written by King David himself. And then Psalm 72 at the end of book two tells us this. It tells us what the righteous reign of the king is to be. And it's not a coincidence that this Psalm, Psalm 72, is of or about or for Solomon. It is to guide the son of David as he rules and reigns over God's people. And it shows what that righteous reign is to be like. It describes the righteous reign of the king. He has, Psalm 72, 13, pity on the weak and the needy and saves their lives. He cares for the poor and the afflicted and the oppressed. This is God's righteous king. That takes us into book three, and at the end of book three, we have Psalm 89 that rehearses all of the glorious promises of the Davidic covenant, and we talked about those, but listen to these words. Psalm 89, beginning in verse 38. But now you have cast off and reject it, you are full of wrath. This is the psalmist speaking to God. You are full of wrath against who? Against your anointed. Against your king. There is a cutting off of this righteous king. And he seems defeated. Book four redirects the people's attention to God and his faithfulness even so. even in that affliction. But as we get into book five, Psalm 104 speaks of an initial return, excuse me, Psalm 110 speaks of an initial return and victory of that king. Psalm 110, the Lord says to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The victory of the king begins to be enacted and the enemies are being defeated, even though God had previously afflicted him. And then there's the final victory of the king in Psalm 44 in verse 2. The Lord, he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, and he in whom I take refuge who subdues peoples under me. In other words, what we see in the life of this king that's unfolded through this altar is the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see Psalm 2, you are my son, today I have begotten you. That's quoted by God the Father at the baptism of Jesus, where he is anointed for his public ministry. And we see in John chapter six, when Jesus feeds the 5,000, they come to do what? To make him king. Why? Because he's taking care of the poor and the needy and the cast out, just as Psalm 72 said that he would. And Jesus rescinds, he flees from that proclamation of him as king, from being made king. Why? Because he hasn't undergone the wrath of God on behalf of his people yet in Psalm 89. And he dies. And it seems that all of God's promises that are yes and amen in Jesus Christ have fallen. the king has an initial victory in his resurrection and ascension. And now he rules and reigns at the right hand of the father and all of the powers of sin and death and hell are being brought under his feet. And there is the hope and the glorious expectation of the return when all will be settled and all sin and death and hell will be cast into the lake of fire forever. And you see the book of Psalms unfolds that for you. As you work through it, there's a progression even within these precious hymns and poems. Well, let me pray for us and then we'll get ready for worship. God in heaven, we give thanks to you for the glorious book of Psalms and just the so many ways that it speaks to us and helps us and directs us to you. But Lord, we thank you most of all for its testimony to the Lord Jesus himself. And we pray, Father, that as we prepare to worship, that we would worship him in spirit and in truth, and that we would grow in a deeper appreciation for the richness and the beauty of your word as it reveals him In Christ's name we pray, amen.