Temple Trip to the Heartland...
To the
Garden this Fall!
The fullness of the Gentiles includes the
full number saved, walking in
fullness of godly character and power,
embracing the
fullness of God’s narrative,
resulting in the
fullness of God’s purpose!
The Way
The Father of Lies trades the
Truth
for a substitute Jesus
Psalm 95:2 says,
“Let us come to him with
thanksgiving.
Let us sing psalms of
praise to him”
A psalm is a song intended to be sung with musical instruments.
The book of Psalms
is a divinely inspired songbook that was used by the Israelites
in corporate worship.
The psalms were penned by various songwriters and musicians,
but most were
written by David.
Among other contributors to the book of Psalms were Asaph,
the sons of Korah, Moses, Solomon, and several unknown writers.
Psalms are poetic expressions of a variety of emotions, just as modern music is, and there are several types of psalms in the Bible: laments, thanksgiving songs, songs of ascent, etc. One common theme in the
book of Psalms is praise to God.
Many individual psalms were written with the
primary purpose of praising God.
These are properly called psalms of praise.
Psalm 150 is
a short psalm of praise. It begins and ends with the Hebrew word
hallelujah
and contains the word praise thirteen times in the English translation as it gives instructions about
musical instruments
and
dancing as ways to praise the Lord.
Even when the psalmists expressed fear, sorrow, doubt, or anger
in their songs, they often
ended the laments with words of praise.
Psalm 13 expresses dismay at the speaker’s suffering at the hands of an enemy, but it ends with these words:
“But I trust
in your unfailing love; my
heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he
has been good to me”
(verses 5–6)
The psalms of praise extol the virtue
and
power of the Lord.
The God of Israel is praised for
His handiwork in nature
(Psalm 19:1; 89:5; 148:3),
His deliverance of His people
(Psalm 18:10; 111:9),
and His wonderful attributes, such
as lovingkindness and patience
(Psalm 89:13–14; 130:7).
Psalm 147 is a good example of a psalm of praise. In this psalm, which also
begins and ends with the Hebrew word hallelujah,
the singer expresses
praise to God for the following reasons:
♪ The Lord preserves Israel (verse 2)
♪ He heals the brokenhearted (verse 3)
♪ He possesses great wisdom and power, as seen in creation
(verses 4–5)
♪ He metes out justice (verse 6)
♪ He sends rain to sustain His creatures (verses 8–9)
♪ He protects Jerusalem and grants His people peace (verses 13–14)
♪ He controls the weather and the seasons (verses 15–18)
♪ He has revealed His Word to Israel and blessed them
above all other nations
(verses 19–20).
Since the Israelites were a people
set apart
to praise the Lord (Jeremiah 13:11), it is only fitting that the
majority of their songs were
psalms of praise.
We, too, have been
saved
“for the
praise of his glory”
(Ephesians 1:12),
and our songs should reflect our
grateful praise.
“How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant
and fitting to praise him!”
(Psalm 147:1).
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