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Engaging the Psalms: Why Psalms? An Introduction Part One

Apologies to Nahum

All sixty-six books of the Bible are the inspired word of God but not all the books are weighted equally in significance.  For example, if you compare the three-chapter book of Nahum with the sixteen-chapter book of Romans, it's easy to see which offers more substance and theology for the believer.  Let's not take anything away from Nahum the Elkoshite, but understanding God's judgment of Nineveh, the capital city of Assyria, doesn't quite match up to the Apostle Paul's systematic theological presentation of the righteous of God that comes to everyone who comes to Christ by faith. But even with that, I don't want to give you an impression you can skip Nahum, there's gold in that hill too.  Just look at Nahum 1:6-7 for example. 

Nahum 1:6-7  Who can stand before his fierce anger? Who can survive his burning fury? His rage blazes forth like fire, and the mountains crumble to dust in his presence.  (7)  The LORD is good, a strong refuge when trouble comes. He is close to those who trust in him.

Nahum 1:7 reads like a verse in the Psalms, and that is the direction I want to go to next.  

Can I Have a Pocket New Testament with Psalms?

If you were stranded on a deserted island for one year and could only have one book of the Bible to read, what book out of all sixty-six would you pick?  That question further highlights that not all books are weighted equally.  Now that question is both difficult and easy for me. The easy part is I can quickly narrow my pick down to two books: Psalms and the Gospel of John. The hard part for me is narrowing it down to one or the other.  I'd be content to flip a coin and let a head or a tail decide, followed by a bitter-sweet response.  But if that's not an option, I would have to choose the Psalms and grieve my loss of John.  That's how important I believe Psalms is to the Bible, for the believer it may very well be the most important book of the whole Bible.  

The Need for a Series on Psalms

The purpose of this sermon series, "Engaging the Psalms", is two-fold:  First, I want to impress upon you the immense value and purpose of the Psalms so you will engage, read, meditate, wrestle, and pray it to receive comfort in difficult times.  And second, I want to enhance your relationship with God by helping you to understand His nature and character revealed in the Psalms and show you how to engage God, following in the footsteps and examples of the Psalmists.  

There are many ways to approach and engage the Psalms, (some of the hardest work for me was deciding how to approach it, what to include and what to leave out) but for this sermon series, we will explore and engage twelve major themes woven throughout the Book of Psalms.  Those themes will include:

12 Major Themes in Psalms
  1. The Righteous and the Wicked
  2. Wisdom and Instruction
  3. Trust and Dependence on God
  4. Praise and Worship
  5. God's Nature and Attributes
  6. Human Emotion and Expression
  7. Protection and Help
  8. Repentance and Forgiveness
  9. Hope and Assurance
  10. God's Creation and Sovereignty
  11. Salvation and Redemption
  12. Messianic Prophecies
As we journey through these various themes woven in and through the fabric of Psalms I pray it will give you a deeper appreciation and wonder of arguably one of the greatest books of the Bible. For the next "Engaging the Psalms" article I will share important background information and explain the major themes and structure of the five books of Psalms.



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