"Only a Philistine could fail to love the Psalms."

Ronald B. Allen's quip brings a smile to all who treasure the Bible’s book of poetry. I am grateful for Rocky Stubbs launching us into the Summer Psalms series yesterday with Psalm 118. As we prepare for Psalm 35 this coming Lord’s Day, appreciate Jim Hamilton’s introduction to these inspired songs of our faith:

No other body of poetry lyricizes the epic deeds of the living God, celebrating the past, signifying the future, interpreting the present, making God known. No other body of poetry both claims to be the word of God and has the Holy Spirt bear witness to that claim, a claim recognized by the people of God across space and through time. No other body of poetry has as its principle author God’s chosen king, whose line of descent traces back through Judah to Abraham, and further still to Shem, Noah, and Adam. Nor can any other poetic or literary tradition lay claim to the fact that King David, in writing of his own experience with God in the world, simultaneously wrote as a type of the one to come, Jesus, the world’s best and only hope. We love the Psalms because in them we encounter God, and as Scott Hafemann affirms, “knowing God is not a means to something else.[1]

Let’s pray for the church as we hear the Psalms preached each week, read the week’s psalm several times to prepare, and intercede for the preacher to love the word, study diligently, and rightly divide it before the congregation as we worship the Lord of the Psalms.

For His Glory,

Pastor Thomas

[1] James M. Hamilton, Psalms: Volume 1: Psalms 1-72. Evangelical Biblical Theology Commentary (Bellingham: Lexham, 2012), 1.

This coming Sunday, July 7, we renew the Summer Psalms preaching series. Over the next six weeks, we will benefit from the exposition of Psalms 118, 35, 113, 36, 37, and 38 by Rocky Stubbs, Daniel Sanderson, and me. I have a long-term goal of steadily preaching each of the 150 Psalms. I plan to resume the Luke series on September 7, our fall kickoff day.

In preparation for this new series, I want to highlight the book of Psalms and prepare us for the upcoming sermons. In his introduction to Psalms, James Johnson supplies an array of facts that orient us to appreciate these songs of Israel (1):

Psalms is one of the most dearly loved books of the Bible, and generations of God's people have treasured it. The Psalms express the Spirit-inspired prayer and praise of ancient Israel. It has been used as the prayer and song book of believers across the centuries.
Psalms is the most quoted book in the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles continually referenced Psalms to establish key doctrines.
Psalms are poems. They speak to both our minds and hearts, engaging our intellect and emotions. As Hebrew poetry, they do not feature rhyme and meter, like Western poems. Instead, they use line-to-line parallelism, movement, and development to describe the author’s topic.
Psalms is a book. More precisely, it is five books. Individual Psalms are carefully and purposefully arranged within these books. Psalms is also a book about Christ. Jesus told his disciples, "Everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled" (Lk 24:44). Therefore, expect Psalms to point to Jesus prophetically.

Pray for the preaching and hearing of the word in the coming weeks as we grow in the Summer Psalms.

For His Glory,

Pastor Thomas

(1) James Johnson, Psalms, Volume 1 – Psalms 1-41: Preach the Word (Wheaton: Crossway, 2015), 13-22.

Poetry Like No Other (By Thomas Hill)

Summer Psalms (By Thomas Hill)