READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

Life is full of ups & downs. We feel a lot. Knowing that we are made that way, our heavenly Father included in the Bible the Book of Psalms to help us get through the highs & lows of our days. Some of us, our favourite phrase is, ‘Hmph, that’s not fair!’ Or, when faced with hurts & pain, we get emo... you’d start feeling depressed, abandoned & lonely. Another favourite past-time when faced with difficult circumstances or people is to grumble & complain.

Psalms is a book full of prayers by various people. King David leads the pack with authorship for 73 of the 150 psalms. Asaph wrote 12 psalms, the sons of Korah, musicians in the temple wrote 11 psalms, King Solomon wrote 2 psalms, Ethan & Moses wrote 1 psalm each. 50 of the psalms remain anonymous.

What you’d find about reading all these writings is how real these men are! They do not hide their struggles with the superficial, ‘i’m okay’ as we would sometimes do, to appear strong. They walk their struggles with God and grow closer with Him. Isn’t it so true, those that we share more to, in a heart-felt manner, when we sense their acceptance & hear them share back with us their concern & support, these are the ones we draw strength from & become closer to? Our heavenly Father longs for a real & close relationship – He bends His ear to relate with us as a Friend & Father. The men of old, knows full well His status. He is a holy God. Men are struck down if they are irreverent or sinning. Yet, He bothers with us, mere humans. In response to a personal & powerful God, all these men have learnt how to truly appreciate and worship God with their meditations and life.

As a church, we will all be reading a Psalm a day as we enter the Year of Sabbath. After all, Sabbath is about ‘Remembrance & Reliance upon God’. The book of Psalms is divided into 5 books (dates of the daily devotions):

Book 1: Psalm 1 – Psalm 41 (1 Jan – 10 Feb)
Book 2: Psalm 42 – Psalm 72 (11 Feb – 12 Mar)
Book 3: Psalm 73 – Psalm 89 (13 Mar – 29 Mar)
Book 4: Psalm 90 – Psalm 106 (30 Mar – 15 Apr)
Book 5: Psalm 107 – Psalm 150 (16 Apr – 29 May)

We look forward to know God MORE intimately this year. Seek Him, yearn for Him and treasure Him. He loves you deeply! As David, a man after God’s heart says, “My cup overflows.” May His Presence fill your soul as you meditate & read a Psalm a day.

Ps Debra

References for the short write-ups for all 5 books of Psalms:
1. Psalms, classic Libray Edition by Marilyn Hickey
2. ‘Be Worshipful’ / ‘Be Exalted’ by Warren W. Wiersbe