All right, amen. All right, let's take our Bibles and turn to Psalm 1. Psalm 1. And we are continuing in this series that we have entitled From 30,000 Feet. And so we have made it to the book of Psalms. And so we're gonna go verse by verse through every one of the 150 Psalms. It probably occurred to you that we're not going to be able to do quite that much in a service such as this. But we will try to hit some high points. Kind of give you a big picture overview. This is such a rich book. And I know it's one that has brought encouragement to the people of God down through the ages But I want to consider some things that maybe in the book of Psalms that you've not considered before. I know that many of the Psalms are familiar to us and sometimes they can become old hat. But we want to try to consider some things perhaps that we've not given much thought to before. And I trust that this will be an encouragement and a help to us in advancing our knowledge of the scriptures. I want to start with the very first psalm and we'll dip into a number of different psalms as we move through the message tonight. Psalm 1, blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord. and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish." Heavenly Father, we would say with the psalmist how we love your law, O Lord. It is precious to us. Father, from Genesis to Revelation, this book is your inspired, infallible, inerrant word. Lord, we do come back to the Psalms time and time again. There's so much rich truth here and expressed with such indescribable beauty. Father, forgive us because we come to you as a people whose hearts, whose thoughts are shaped by the ungodly world around us. And we cry out to you, Lord, to give us minds that are shaped by the Word. Lord, you would put the imprint of your Word deep in our hearts and our souls. Lord, that we might conceive of life in a biblical manner, that we might look at life with the mind of Christ. Father, thank you for the blessedness that comes from trusting in Jehovah God. May that be true of each one of us, Lord. May we find in you a refuge. Open our eyes to the beauty of a life that finds its strength, its comfort, its sword and shield in you, oh Lord. And it's in Christ's name that we ask this. Amen. There's little question that believers down through the centuries have drawn more comfort, more encouragement, more consolation from Psalms than from any other book of Scripture. When I was growing up, my pastor did a Wednesday evening series entitled, Psalms, a salve for the soul. And indeed, the words of the Psalms are a salve to the soul. We think, for example, of the timeless words in Psalm 23, The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. There is also that continual refrain that we come back to over and over again in the Psalms, O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. That mercy there, that's that chesed, that loving kindness we've talked about in previous messages, that loyal love from God that remains true to His covenant promises. We read the words of Psalm 103 last Sunday morning which told us that God has removed our transgressions from us as far as the east is from the west. And yet when you look at the big picture of the book of Psalms you realize that there are passages in this book that are quite jarring and perhaps even disturbing on a certain level. You all know what the 11th commandment is? Thou shalt be nice. That's the commandment that our culture lives by and they ignore the other 10 of course. And in a culture that abides by the 10th commandment, or the 11th commandment rather, they definitely don't abide by the 10th. Listen to these words from Psalm 137 in verse 9. Happy shall he be that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones. That's referring to the little children in Babylon. Now, you probably haven't heard that verse read on a Sunday morning recently. That's a bit shocking, isn't it? And yet, the psalmist wrote those words under divine inspiration. They're breathed out by God. We can't simply ignore those truths, can we? This book that contains such comfort contains numerous prayers that we call imprecations. These are prayers of judgment against the wicked. And I fear that sometimes, as New Testament Christians, we can be inclined to just gloss over those because we think, well, Jesus has called us to love our enemies, so we just kind of let our brain go on autopilot when we read through those passages. And yet, these are things that are vital for our spiritual development. They're given to us by God. One thing that is remarkable about this book, as much comfort as it gives us, it doesn't provide for us an idealized picture of life. The Psalms do not take place in Mayberry. If anything, they might be set in Seattle or in San Francisco. It's a world of riots, wars, rebellion, trouble. Many of the psalms are called laments because David and the other psalmists routinely pour out their soul to the Lord complaining about how the wicked prosper. Some of the prayers in the psalms are quite shocking in their candor. And yet, even in the midst of conflict and war and wickedness and rebellion, God's goodness toward his people endures. All throughout the Psalms, there is an eschatological expectation. When we say that, we're referring to the fact that there is an expectation of what God will do in the end times through the person of the Messiah, who will set up his throne in Jerusalem. and establish a kingdom of righteousness. That all comes in fulfillment of the Davidic covenant, those promises that God gave to David that he would enjoy an everlasting kingdom and that Israel would be redeemed from all of its enemies. Now, before we get into the Psalms in particular, I wanna mention a few introductory matters that I think will be helpful because I don't wanna just, you know, that analogy about fish, right? I'm not just giving you fish, I wanna teach you how to fish. And as you get into the Psalms on your own, I think you'll find these things to be helpful. Now, we have to understand that the Psalms are an example of Hebrew poetry. When we think of poetry in English, we tend to think of features such as rhyme and meter. For example, roses are red, violets are blue, forget this stupid poem, I never loved you, right? You can see rhyme in that, right? Not very good rhyme, but. Rhyme and meter are present to some degree in the original Hebrew, but of course you really can't translate those things very well into English. But I would argue that the dominant feature of Hebrew poetry is not really rhyme or meter or things that we would commonly think of. More than rhyming lines, Hebrew poetry consists of rhyming thoughts. Scholars refer to those rhyming thoughts as parallelism. And there's a few different types of parallelism. First, there is what we call synonymous parallelism. And this involves two lines of poetry that communicate the same basic meaning using different language, different words. Psalm 19 in verse 1. I'm going to be reading a number of passages here, by the way. You don't necessarily need to turn to them. Psalm 19 and verse one, the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. You can see how those two lines communicate the same basic idea, firmament, heavens. There's a bit of a difference in the nuance with glory of God versus handiwork, but they're basically communicating the same overall idea. There's also antithetical parallelism. This is where two lines give a contrast. Psalm 20 in verse 7, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. You see a contrast there between the chariots and horses on the one hand and the name of the Lord our God on the other. There's also climactic parallelism. And we see this in the Psalm that we just read. Look at Psalm 1 in verse 1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." When we talk about climactic parallelism, we're talking about a progression of thought, a building of intensity. And you see this here with this man that is depicted here. It is said first of all that he walks not, and then he stands not, and then he sits not. So you go from walking to standing to sitting. Also you notice in these lines that the descriptions that are given of those who are wicked, those also increase in intensity. We go from ungodly to sinners, to scornful. And you can see how the intensity builds that not just someone who is wicked in their lifestyle, but someone who is actively scorning and mocking the righteous. And so that's another common type of parallelism that we find in the Psalms. Another type that we encounter, another type of parallelism is a comparison Psalm 103 in verse 13, like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. In English, we would refer to that as a simile, because you have a comparison that uses like or as, if you dust off the cobwebs from your English class. Finally, there is incomplete parallelism. And this is where you have a second or a third line, perhaps, that is missing key details that are given in the first line. Psalm 24 in verse 1, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. You notice that line, the world and they that dwell therein, it's missing the information that we have in the first line. It's not, it doesn't mention that those things are the Lord's, but obviously that's understood in the second line. In addition to parallelism, you find that the Psalms use a variety of imagery. This is a picturesque language that conveys truth. Now, you think about just practically. If I were describing someone's height, I could say, well, that gentleman is 6'11". Well, that's a very boring, sterile description of factual information. But if I said, Bill stood as tall as an imposing Goliath in a room filled with little Davids, now that would give you a much more picturesque image, would it not? And this is how Psalms often convey truth to us. It's not just by clinically describing facts. There are beautiful pictures, beautiful images that are given to convey truth. So one example of imagery is what we call personification. This is where the psalmist takes something that is non-human and ascribes personal qualities to it. Psalm 98 in verse 8 says, let the floods clap their hands. Have you ever seen floods clap their hands? I'd be curious if you've seen such a thing. But obviously, the psalmist is not saying that the floods have literal hands. He's using an image to convey something. There's also the idea of apostrophe, where the psalmist addresses something or someone who is absent, as though that person were present. We saw an example of this in Psalm 2 in verse 10, which says, Be wise now therefore, O ye kings. The kings are not really present as the psalmist is saying this, but he's acting as though they are. Now there's several other types of imagery that if you survey some of the relevant commentaries and other literature, you can come across those. But in addition to poetic elements, I want to draw your attention to some features that actually are quite evident in your English Bible that maybe you've not taken the time to notice. The first thing I want you to notice is if you go over in the Book of Psalms to Psalm 3, Because you don't see this particular feature in Psalms 1 and 2, but you do see it in Psalm 3. Now, it's possible you might be looking at a copy of an English Bible that doesn't have this, but I would imagine that most of your Bible should have this, if not all of your Bibles. Psalm 3, you'll find Psalm 3 in verse 1, Lord, how increased are they that trouble me. But notice above verse 1, you should find text that is a little bit smaller than the text of the verse. It should say, a Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Does everybody see that? You see that in your Bibles? Okay, this is what we call a Psalm title. It's actually very confusing to those that are starting to study Hebrew. When you look at a Hebrew Bible and you look at the Psalms, the Psalm title actually looks like it's the first verse of the Psalm. some debate that scholars have about the titles and the role that they play, but it is my personal contention that the psalm titles are inspired, that these are given to us by the Spirit of God just as the text of the psalm is. And the psalm titles provide for us some notable information. Oftentimes, of course, they indicate the author. This one tells us that it's a psalm of David. This particular title also gives us the circumstances under which the psalm was composed. You notice it says, when he fled from Absalom his son. And so this is very important in setting the psalm in its historical context. There's another feature of the book of Psalms that I think is noteworthy, and that's the fact that you may have noticed that the Psalms are divided into books. Now, your copy of the scriptures may or may not have this. Again, I would imagine most of your copies that you have should have this, that if you go back to Psalm 1, somewhere above Psalm 1, you will probably see a text that says Book 1. Do you all see that? Maybe some of you don't have that in your copy of the Bible. But I imagine most of you should. Now, there are actually five different books that make up the Psalms. And the Jews believe that the five books that make up Psalms correspond to the five books of the Torah, the five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. Just as Moses has five books, so David has five books in essence. Now this brings me to a very important issue that is currently being discussed and debated by biblical scholars, and that is this, the structure of the book of Psalms. Now we recognize from the Psalm titles that the Psalms were written over a period of hundreds of years. The earliest Psalm, insofar as we can tell, is Psalm 90, which says that it is a prayer of Moses. So that would put us somewhere in the 1400s BC, roughly. But it's apparent, of course, when you come to these titles, that a number of the Psalms are given by David. And when you look at the content of the Psalms, it's apparent that some of them were written either when Israel, Judah in particular, was in captivity in Babylon, or sometimes even afterward. So that would give us a span of about 1,000 years over which the Psalms were written. Now it appears, in fact, it's pretty much certain that at some point there was someone or perhaps a group of men who compiled all the Psalms and organized them into the Book of Psalms. Some of the Jews believe that it may have been Ezra. And scholars now are beginning to recognize, and it has been suspected for some time really, that the arrangement of the book of Psalms is not random. That there seems to be a deliberate order to the Psalms. Now that's indicated first of all by the fact that of course the Psalms are divided into books, as we mentioned. But it is also notable that each book ends with a doxology. Now what's a doxology? Well, a doxology is just an expression of glory or praise to God. If you go over to Psalm 41, you see the first of these doxologies. Psalm 41 and verse 13. Psalm 41 and verse 13. This is a psalm of David here and this psalm ends by saying, And if you go to the end or near the end of each of the five books, the last book, it actually comes a little bit earlier than the very end. But when you go through each of the five books, you will find a doxology like this in every one of the books. Very similar wording to what you find here in Psalm 41, 13. And this tells us that probably This person or those persons who compiled the Psalms put this doxology at the end of each of the books for a reason. Because there's a specific structure. The New Testament gives us an interesting reference to the book of Psalms. This is in Acts 13 in verse 33. This is one of Paul's sermons. He says this, God hath fulfilled the same unto us, their children, in that he raised up Jesus again, as it is also written in the second Psalm, thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. It's interesting that Paul mentions not just that this is in the book of Psalms but he says the second Psalm which suggests to us that Paul saw significance to the specific order in which the Psalms appear. Now we suspect and I think it's a pretty clear conclusion. that the Psalms demonstrate some kind of structure, some kind of order. But scholars have not come to an agreement as to exactly why the Psalms appear in the order that they are. We know, of course, that the Psalms do not appear in chronological order. Because Psalm 3, as we saw a moment ago, refers specifically to David's experience with Absalom, his son. And we know that that took place very late in David's life by comparison to some of the other things that are familiar to us from his life, right? Plus, we have Psalms of David that appear intermingled throughout the book of Psalms. There are Psalms of David that appear after Psalm 90, which was written by Moses. So, we know that they don't appear in chronological order. But how we explain the order is subject to some level of debate. And I don't know that I have any final word on why the psalms appear in the order that they do. Only that it's important that we recognize that there is an order. So if you come across something in a psalm that's perplexing to you, there could be some value in looking at the psalm before or the psalm after to get some more fuller perspective. There are, however, a couple of things that scholars have noticed about the Psalms that I think are significant. First, many scholars are agreed that Psalms 1 and 2 serve essentially as gateway Psalms. These are Psalms that introduce us to the major themes that come up over and over again in the Book of Psalms. Something else that scholars have noticed is that the last five psalms really stand apart from all the others in terms of their expressions of praise to Jehovah. These psalms really are the climax of the whole book and the psalmist in those psalms really explodes in praise to Jehovah. Again, some of the specifics on this can be debated, but scholars have noticed a general trend in the Psalms that goes from lament, that's kind of the more negative types of Psalms where the psalmist is lamenting his enemies, complaining about the fact that the wicked seem to prosper and so forth. We move from lament to praise. Now you can find praise even in the early parts of the Psalms and you can find laments in the later Psalms, but generally that's the movement that takes place. And really the lament kind of reaches a fever pitch when you get to book three, which scholars have generally equated with the Babylonian captivity that Israel faced. Really a low point in the history of God's people. But you move from there to a much more positive tone. And by the time you get to Psalm 150, it's all positive in praise to Jehovah. So, that's a mouthful. But with all of this in mind, I would suggest to you that the main message of the book of Psalms is this, that we ought to offer heartfelt praise to Jehovah. for His abundant love and goodness toward His people, even in the midst of a world filled with enemies and trouble." Let me repeat that. Again, that's another mouthful. But we ought to offer heartfelt praise to Jehovah for His abundant love and goodness toward His people, even in the midst of a world filled with enemies and trouble. Again, we cannot cover all 150 Psalms in this message. So I do want to just quickly recommend a few resources to you that have helped me in preparing for this message. First of all, there's a book called Learning to Love the Psalms. You can get it on Kindle and so forth by Robert Godfrey. Now Godfrey is a Presbyterian so we don't endorse everything that he believes but he does give some helpful thoughts in giving us a big picture of the book. There's also a more recent book by Scott Anuel that is entitled Musing on God's Music and this gives a helpful overview of the structure of the book that I think would be worth your time. And finally, if you want something free, we always like free, right? But there is a sermon series that was done by Mark Minnick, Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina. He's done a sermon series on Psalms. And he gives some messages where he explores the big picture of this book. And so that's something that I would recommend as well. But what I wanna do in this message is I wanna break up the book of Psalms into seven parts. We have five books, but we can regard Psalms one and two as kind of a class by themselves, Psalms 146 to 150 as a class by themselves, and that brings us to seven parts. So, and I've alliterated them. That's always fun, right? We all like alliteration. So, let's go to number one, the first part of the book. Number one, corridor to praise. corridor to praise. And of course this is Psalms 1 and 2. So let's go back to Psalms 1 and 2. We'll start of course with Psalm 1. And we're going to spend a little bit more time on these than some of the others just because these really lay the groundwork for us. But let's look at verse 1 again. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. The word blessed refers to a sort of sanctified happiness, if you like. Sometimes that word happiness, that can be a bit misconstrued, but a sense of joy in the Lord. It is a happiness that is not dependent upon circumstances that are going on around us. In fact, you're going to find that as you read through the book of Psalms that the righteous encounter all manner of troubles and conflicts. And yet, in the midst of it all, the believer has true joy in the Lord. The way the psalmist expressed it in Psalm 103, the believer has benefits. Now what becomes apparent in this first psalm is that there are two major divisions of humanity. You have this blessed man, this righteous man described in verse 1. Really verse five summarizes these two categories. Look at verse five. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. So you've got the sinners, ungodly, wicked, right? All kinds of terms used for this group over here. And then over here you have the righteous, those that are blessed, those who trust in the Lord. Two categories. You notice there's nobody riding the fence here. There's nobody kind of in this separate middle-of-the-road category. It's a pretty stark contrast between the two groups. You're on the Lord's side or you're on the world's side. So this blessed man, he's the one who avoids all manner of ungodly influences. Look at verse 2. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night." That word law, the word Torah, of course commonly used to refer to the books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. It can also be used more broadly for all of Scripture, that all of Scripture is the law of God. And I think both of those applications are legitimate, but one other application that I think sometimes we might not consider is, again, the fact that these Psalms are organized into five books, I think would suggest to us that the editor of this book has in mind that the righteous man will find his delight in the Psalms in particular. Notice this significant word that appears here in verse 2. In his law doth he meditate day and night. That same Hebrew word that is translated meditate appears also in Psalm 2, but it's translated a bit differently. Look in Psalm 2 in verse 1. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing. That word imagine is the same word that is translated meditate in Psalm 1-2. I wonder, what is your imagination like? Maybe that's a question you don't give much thought to. But when you bring an image to your mind about how the world is, what the world is like, what does that image look like? Is that an image that is shaped by Hollywood? Is that an image that is shaped by Taylor Swift? I hope not. Or other popular music? Is it an image that is shaped by Fox News? Or is it an image that is shaped by the law of God? Friend, our imagination is so vital. Those things that we muse over, those things we meditate on and chew on, those are things that define who we are. That's why it's vital that the Psalms and all of Scripture are feeding into our minds so that we might formulate a distinctly Christian imagination. And speaking of imagination, the psalmist gives us quite a picturesque image in verse 3. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. The idea really is that this is a tree that is transplanted into this location so that it can receive the nourishment that it needs. Notice he goes on, that bringeth forth fruit in his season, his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Again, we have to bear in mind this image of prosperity. This is not the types of things the world often imagines. The shiny new car, the new house, the riverfront house, whatever. What is envisioned here is that true blessedness, that joy that springs up from the deepest parts of our being, that enjoys forgiveness of sins, that enjoys a vibrant walk with God. Verse four gives us the contrast to this. The ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. And many of you would probably know this better than I would. But the chaff is that unusable husk that is separated from the grain by use of a winnowing fork. And as the farmer would lift that grain into the air, the grain would fall to the ground and the chaff would be blown away by the wind. And ultimately the psalmist makes clear that this is an image of final judgment in verse 5. The ungodly shall not stand in the judgment. And that was something that we reflected on, was it not, when we had our conference hymn recently. Now this contrast between the righteous and the ungodly is highlighted further for us when we come to Psalm 2. This psalm begins in verse 1 with, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? And we're reminded again of the conference because that language heathen, that's the language of worldliness, is it not? Those Gentile nations, in their opposition to God, Verse two, the kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. That word anointed is very key here. It's the word Messiah. Now, any of the kings of Israel would have been anointed with oil. But of course, ultimately, we anticipate the ultimate Messiah of Israel as the Lord Jesus Christ. And certainly, as we go through this psalm, it becomes evident that that is the ultimate application of this psalm. But it is said here that the kings of the earth oppose the rule, the reign of God and that of his appointed Messiah. Notice what they say in verse three. Let us break their bands asunder and cast away our cords from us. It's this idea that God's rule, it's just so burdensome. I just want to be free to do my own thing. I don't want to be shackled by all these rules. The rule of God, the rule of the Messiah, it's too burdensome. I want to be released from those shackles. That's how the ungodly world responds. And we see that every day, don't we, as we interact in the world? We're told in verse 4 that God responds by laughing, which of course is an appropriate response when you think of puny man responding to Almighty God. Of course we learn that God responds in wrath ultimately. In verse 6 he says, I have set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. You have in verse 7 that father-son relationship that is expressed. In verse 8 the indication that the son will be given the heathen nations as his inheritance ultimately. Notice what is said in verse 9 again to this appointed Messiah that God will set up. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." And again, this is one of those shocking descriptions that we have in the book of Psalms. It's not very polite, is it? But you have this image here of a piece of pottery that you might take and might throw against the ground and see it shatter into thousands of pieces. That's the type of destruction that God is going to initiate at the return of Christ. when Christ claims those heathen nations as His own. Now the psalmist goes on to give the appropriate response that all the nations should have in light of God's ultimate program for this world. Verse 10, be wise now therefore O ye kings, be instructed ye judges of the earth, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the son, the idea there is really a kiss of reverence, of submission. Kiss the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed, there's that word again, blessed are all they that put their trust in him. And really you have an indication here that Psalms 1 and 2 are bookended with this reference to those who are blessed, those who are trusting in Jehovah. And so in these Psalms you have all these themes that are going to come up over and over again in the book. The reign of the Messiah, the reign of God, blessedness, joy, righteousness, the law of God, The wicked, all these things are things that come up over and over and over again in the book of Psalms. So that brings us to the second section in Psalms, and that is conflict in praise. Conflict in praise. Now, the opening Psalms have laid out this contrast between the righteous and the wicked, but this second section, which constitutes Psalms 3 through 41, shows us the conflict between these two groups. Look at verse 1 of Psalm 3. Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? Many are they that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my soul there is no help for him in God. Selah. Now we have to make a brief note there. That word Sela, it occurs over and over again in the Psalms. And there's been some dispute as to exactly what this means. Some think that it might just be a type of musical notation of some kind. I'm inclined to see this as an indication that we should pause and we should reflect on what has just been stated. And that's the way that a lot of scholars understand this. Now, all throughout This section of the Psalms, you find the psalmist, usually in these Psalms, David. More often than not, he's the author in this section. You find him surrounded by enemies who despise the one true God. You notice in verse two that these enemies say, there is no help for him in God. And it is likely these enemies, probably they were not actual atheists, which would have been very uncommon in the ancient world, but certainly they were practical atheists. These are people, these enemies, these wicked, these ungodly that we read about in these Psalms, these are those who live as if there is no God. That's a major theme in Psalm 14. Psalm 14 in verse one, the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. And isn't that the world we live in? The news headlines we read are predicated on the assumption that there is no God. Isn't it true? Try reading something from the AP. or Reuters or CNN, especially CNN. Even Fox News or the Daily Wire. Over and over again you will see these are news articles that are coming to us with the understanding that there is no God. Even sometimes when the authors of those articles believe that there's a God. Think about the various sources of media that we are soaking in on a day-to-day basis, the videos that we watch. music that we hear. So many of these sources are predicated upon the assumption that there is no God. Practical atheism. Life construed in such a way that we can explain everything by simply what we can see, not by the unseen reality of the divine hand of God in the affairs of man. And this is how the wicked are construed all throughout the book of Psalms. They are construed as those who live as practical atheists. Now how do we respond to a world such as this? Well, it becomes evident as we read over and over again in the Psalms that we respond to this by trusting in the Lord, by making God our refuge. Notice how the psalmist expresses it in verse three of Psalm three. But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter up of my head. When we have our trust in the Lord, We can experience the reality that is expressed at the end of Psalm 4. Notice verse 8 in Psalm 4. That's where you can put your head on your pillow each night. You don't have to be stirred about. You don't have to be anxious or worried or fearful because your confidence is not in the things of this earth. It is not in the rulers of this world. It's not in the ungodly around you who live as if there's no God. Your confidence is in the Lord. And that gives you the ability to rest. In safety. And so these are ideas that come up over and over in this section of the Psalms. And we mentioned conflict. And the conflict in the Psalms is not just a conflict from without. Because many times we read that the psalmist experiences conflict from within because of his own sin. Go over to Psalm 6 if you would. Notice verse 1. This is another Psalm of David. O Lord, rebuke me not in thine anger, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure. Have mercy upon me, O Lord, for I am weak. O Lord, heal me, for my bones are vexed. So yes, there are enemies without. There's the ungodly world without us, but we still are battling the sin within us. And David is pleading to the Lord, Lord, be merciful to me. You could righteously pour out your anger upon me, but be merciful. Of course, Psalm 32 gives us one of those great explanations of the blessings of having sins forgiven. Listen to this, Psalm 32 in verse one. Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. You notice that blessed language again, don't you? And it comes not from being sinlessly perfect, but from having sins that are forgiven. Book one of the Psalms, interestingly enough, the Jews have often connected this with the book of Genesis. And you do find numerous references to creation in these Psalms. Psalm 8 is a classic treatment. We kind of alluded to that when we were singing this morning, How Majestic is Thy Name. Ron Hamilton drew a lot of that language from Psalm 8. There's also Psalm 19, which focuses heavily on creation. We mentioned that passage a moment ago in Psalm 19 in verse 1. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. I'm skipping over so much. I mean, there's just, there's so much that we could get into, but this section of Psalms, this conflict in praise from Psalms three through 41, there is a trilogy of three well-known Psalms that explores the work of Christ. Psalm 22 gives us the cross. Psalm 23 gives us the crook. And Psalm 24 gives us the crown. I got those from a professor of mine some years back, Opening words of Psalm 22 are pretty familiar to us. Psalm 22 in verse 1. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And as you go through this psalm, you find a number of instances where there is allusion to what took place on Calvary. But it finally climaxes on a note of triumph, anticipating a time when all the ends of the world are going to turn to the Lord. So there's an anticipation of the future kingdom program that the Messiah will carry out. Of course, Psalm 23 Familiar words to us. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And this is the language that Jesus really alludes to in John chapter 10 when he speaks of being the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Then we have Psalm 24. You have this language in verse three, who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Now certainly those are all things that we should strive for, but there's one who ultimately fulfills this, and he is explained in verse seven. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Ultimately, it is the Lord Himself who fulfills this, and we understand, of course, that that's none other than the person of the Messiah, the God-man. So much more we could say about this particular section, but we need to move on to the third section in Psalms, and this is Psalms 42 through 72, which give us commitment in praise. Commitment in praise. Notice how this section begins in Psalm 42 in verse one. As the heart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. Similarly, Psalm 63 says this, O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee. My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, in a dry and thirsty land where no water is. And friends, this gives us really insight into why God has ordained this conflict that we read about in the previous section, this conflict between the righteous and the wicked. All of this is designed to draw us closer to God. to see Him as our only hope. Psalm 46, the psalmist really highlights this. This psalm is important because this is the basis for Luther's famous hymn, A Mighty Fortress is Our God. It's based on Psalm 46. Notice how the psalm begins here in verse 1. God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof? Selah. We have to remember the conflict is not simply without. Again, as in the previous section, the conflict is also within. And this comes to the forefront when we look at a psalm like Psalm 51. And that title may be familiar to you because the psalm title there reminds us that these are the words that David gave after being confronted by the prophet Nathan regarding his sin with Bathsheba. So you have these conflicts within, these conflicts without, but the answer is always the same. We have to find our refuge in the Lord. And even when we're in trouble, even when we're in that dry and thirsty land, who is it we long for? We long for the Lord. We move to the fourth section, and this is really the lowest point in Psalms. We'll try to move through these others relatively quickly. But the fourth section, crisis in praise. crisis in praise look at psalm 73 Psalm 73 to 89 make up this section. Notice Psalm 73 in verse three. For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain. Violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. That's pretty strong language, is it not? This is where you get to the idea that the Psalms do not give us an idealized version of life. Don't you sometimes feel like the psalmist? You look around at the wicked. You look around at the biggest opponents of the gospel in our culture, and they don't seem to be struggling. Seems like they've got it made, right? They're the ones bringing in millions of dollars. They're the ones with the beachfront house. They're the ones with the BMW. And it's tempting to look at that and to think, well, it doesn't really matter if I serve the Lord. I mean, I'm serving the Lord and I'm out here in Paxton or I'm out here in Rantoul or Sibley or Cisna. I'm in a place where nobody knows who I am. I'm living in a simple house, eking out a simple existence, and here are the wicked, they're prospering. Are you ever tempted to think like that? I think we all are from time to time. And the psalmist, even as he's, the various authors of this book, as they're praising God, oftentimes their praise to God is very messy. It's not just this very calm, constant trust in God that never has any questions. Oftentimes they wrestle with all kinds of questions. And they struggle with the fact that they're seeing the wicked prosper. And it seems to conflict with what we saw in Psalm 1. It's supposed to be the righteous that are like the tree, right? They're supposed to be the ones that are bringing forth the fruit in its season. They're supposed to be the ones that are prospering. Why do I look around and see the wicked prospering? And this is a section of Psalms that is really quite dark in presenting this to us. You find high notes of praise, but there's overall this subtle, very strong tone of negativity. The end of this particular section is Psalm 89 which gives us an extensive reminder of God's covenant with David. But as it does so it brings the people of Israel face to face with the fact that they are under judgment. And of course we know that they were under judgment in Babylon in the captivity. There seems to be little hope when you get to the end of this section. And that brings us to the fifth section of the book, crowning in praise, crowning, C-R-O-W-N. I give that term crowning because there are a number of Psalms in this section that bring us face to face with the reign of God. And you think Israel, as they've been in captivity and even as they return from Babylon, there's no king seated on the throne. It could be a time of discouragement. And what they needed to be reminded of is the fact that the Lord reigns. If you go over to Psalm 93, you have these psalms, they're called enthronement psalms. Psalms 93 through 99. 93 in verse 1, the Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also established that it cannot be moved. All throughout this section you have the exploration of the fact that God reigns and really an anticipation of what's eventually going to happen when the Messiah sets up His kingdom. That brings us to the sixth section of the book. Celebration in praise. Celebration in praise. This is Psalms 107 to 145. And you find that as we make it to Psalm 107, the tone overall is becoming more positive. Now we use that word celebration. This particular section contains Psalms that are called the Hallel Psalms which are Psalms 113 through 118. These were praise Psalms that the Israelites would use in special festivals. Psalm 113, if you go over there, notice how it begins. It begins with the words, Praise ye the Lord. That, friends, is the Hebrew construction that you're probably familiar with. Hallelujah! Now this section also contains the longest chapter in the Bible, which is, of course, Psalm 119. If you go over there for just a moment, and I, boy, this could be a sermon in and of itself, But Psalm 119, you may notice in your copy of the scriptures, Psalm 119, above verse one, you probably note a word that might look weird to you, a word that might seem like it's in another language or something, and that's because it is another language. It's the word aleph, which is the first letter in the Hebrew alphabet. If you go down to verse 9, and right above verse 9, you might see something that looks in English like Beth. Well, that's not talking about a woman's name. That's actually the Hebrew letter Beth. And all of these notations represent letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Really they are given in order and what this is indicating for us is that each section of eight verses begins with this particular letter of the Hebrew alphabet. This is what we call an acrostic psalm. And of course that common letter, it aids in memorization. And really, You probably are aware of the fact that nearly every verse in Psalm 119 deals with the Word of God. All kinds of different words used to describe God's Word, God's law, God's testimonies, God's judgments, God's statutes. And I would suggest again that probably the man or the men who compiled this book are not just thinking of the law of Moses, but they are probably thinking of all of scripture and particularly the book of Psalms itself. that this book is something that we can take great delight in. You notice how Psalm 119 begins in verse one, blessed are the undefiled in the way who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that keep his testimonies and that seek him with the whole heart. There again, you see that language of blessedness, don't you? And it's all connected with our response to the law of the Lord. Psalms 120-134 are called songs of degrees in the King James. That word degrees refers to ascents. The idea being that these are songs that the children of Israel would sing as they were ascending up to Jerusalem in order to worship. So that's celebration and praise, Psalms 107 to 145. And that brings me to the last section of songs, which is 146 to 150, commencement of praise. Now I chose that word very cleverly because I was going to say conclusion of praise. But you understand how we have the graduation ceremony, right? And when we have a graduation, what do we call it? We call it a commencement. Because really, a graduation is not an end for the student, it's really a beginning, is it not? Because he's being sent out to his future vocation. And what these last five Psalms, 146 to 150, it's not the end of praise, it's really the beginning. Because the encouragement then is given for all creation to launch into praise of Almighty God. And so as you come to these last five Psalms, it's a triumphant note. And you can just envision, I mean, every instrument blaring, every voice raised in fervent affection to the God of the Bible. And you notice how the book of Psalms ends in Psalm 150. In Psalm 150, notice the last words in verse six. Praise ye the Lord. There it is again, hallelujah. That's the expected response to this book. So let me give you quickly the takeaways from the book of Psalms. I want to give you just three quick applications. First of all, what we learn from this book, immerse yourself in the word. Immerse yourself in the word. Delight, meditate, imagine. You remember we used that word. The word of God is really what enables us to obey that command that we're given in Philippians 4.8. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, do what? Think on these things. And I'm afraid that many of us, myself included, in many ways we have constructed a view of the world that is based on practical atheism rather than on the scriptures. Were you one of those that was stocking up food at Y2K? Don't answer that question. But isn't it interesting how believers, we can get caught up in the kind of hoopla that the world gets caught up in, right? Oh, what's gonna happen here, you know? And yeah, there's lots of legitimate questions we can ask. And it's tempting to become fearful, but friends, we're not atheists. We have a God in heaven who's reigning. And that's how our thoughts and affections need to be shaped. We shouldn't look at this world like our worldly counterparts do. We've got hope, friends. But we've got to stay in the Word so that the Word is informing our minds and not what we're seeing on social media, not what we're seeing on YouTube, not what we're seeing on Fox News. It's got to be the Word that is shaping our hearts. So immerse yourself in the Word, first of all. Second of all, cry on the Lord. We see it all throughout Psalms, don't we? You see something that you don't understand. You see injustice in the world. You see the wicked prospering. What should you do? Cry on the Lord. You know, I've had people come to me when we do some of these different events where we have prayers, and people have said that they don't want to pray publicly, and that's totally fine. I would not pressure anybody to pray publicly. But I do wonder, sometimes people have these ideas that prayer should just be as smooth and as polished as possible. What we find in the Book of Psalms is that often prayer is very messy, isn't it? And we shouldn't be afraid to have messy prayers in the sight of God, because what God sees is not us, he's not impressed with us putting on a front. He wants us to pour out our hearts. So the important thing, dear friends, is that we cry out to the Lord. Now, let me give you a third thought. And of course, this gets us to this key message that ends the book of Psalms, and that's praise the Lord. The praise of Jehovah God, dear friends, is worthy of every fiber of your being. Everything you have. And when you get to the end of the book of Psalms, you realize that this is not something that we can opt out of. Do I feel bad if an unbeliever comes in and feels pressure to sing hymns to God? No, I don't. because all creation is called to praise God. Now, of course, I would have questions with some of the songs we sing, whether an unbeliever could really pray those things sincerely. But friend, all creation is called to this, and this is why, I know I probably mentioned this in a previous message somewhere along the way, but it's a huge pet peeve of mine, and I've seen this multiple times, when you will get a pastor who will sit up here on the platform while everybody's singing hymns, fold his arms, and just watch while everybody's singing. Who do you think you are? What makes you think you are exempt from singing praises to Jehovah? I don't care if you've been in the ministry for 50 years. You are not exempt from singing praises to God. We all are to join in. Because friends, God is worthy. Christ is worthy. The Spirit is worthy. The triune God, worthy of all praise. from the innermost parts of our being flowing out with great fervency. God is worthy. Well, I just don't feel like singing, Brother Nick. Well, do it anyway. Do it anyway. Because God is worthy of that. I want to close just by reading that last psalm. I think it really encapsulates what our heart should be Psalm 150 and verse 1, praise ye the Lord, praise God in His sanctuary, praise Him in the firmament of His power, praise Him for His mighty acts, praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet. Praise Him with the psaltery and harp. Praise Him with the timbrel and dance. Praise Him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise Him upon the loud cymbals. Praise Him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord. Let's praise him. Heavenly Father, we praise you. As this psalm says, Lord, you are the God who does mighty acts, and we read of those acts all throughout the pages of scripture. From creation, to the exodus out of Egypt, to the conquest of the promised land, all the miracles done under Elijah and Elisha, All the miracles done under the ministry of Christ and the apostles. Lord, you are the God who does mighty deeds. And yet, Lord, we know that our commitment to you is so fickle and frail. We do not find in you the refuge that we should find, Lord. We often are driven about to look to the things of this world to find our refuge and security. Oh Lord, it is my prayer that all of us would commit to being earnest about the Word of God, to allowing the Word to shape our meditations, our imaginations. Lord, that we would be fervent in prayer and that we would not be concerned just with having the most polished language possible. Lord, that we would really pour out our hearts to you. And Father, give us the determination to praise you, not to be embarrassed. Lord, we're not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Oh Lord, give us boldness, give us confidence. And it's in Christ's name we ask, amen.