Templates for Addressing the Holy

I. Introduction
A. Today’s sermon is not so much a study of Psalm 34 but an introduction to the book of Psalms.
B. When I was a young man, the Psalms were not as interesting to me as many other books, because they were not filled with much new information, they did not help me very much in figuring out a doctrine or the kinds of ethical questions that I was interested in.
1. But now I realize that my lack of interest in the Psalms was a result of my shallowness.
2. I had to grow to realize that I needed the Psalms before I began to love the Psalms.
3. And I can’t tell you how much the Psalms have come to mean to me, and how many times the Lord has embraced this weak and needy sinner in the Psalms.
II. The Book of Psalms
A. Longest book in the Bible
B. Contains the Bible’s longest chapter and shortest chapter (Ps.119 — 176 verses, Ps.117 — 2 verses)
C. There were a number of different authors, though David wrote about half.
D. Structure/order
1. The psalms are divided into five books: perhaps corresponding to the 5 books of Moses? like the fingers of 2 clasped hands. God speaking 5 words to His people, and then giving 5 words for them to speak back to Him.
E. The Psalms as music
1. The word psalm means song.
2. The book of Psalms was the Old Testament hymnal.
3. The value of music in expressing feelings (words are just not enough): singing at church: sometimes it could never happen without the words, the music, the group. Like feeding a baby or a sick person.
F. Life settings of the Psalms
1. Like most songs, many Psalms were born out of some particular circumstance, occasion, situation: in the midst of, or after deliverance from some great crisis, or else after some remarkable blessing has been sent.
2. Some are non-situational, i.e. the setting is beside the point, like Ps.19 or Psalm 119.
3. Some have the historical context stated in the intro, like Ps.34 (“Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.”)
4. For some we have only hints and clues.
5. Some think we shouldn’t get involved in trying to figure out the historical context.
6. I, for one, find it so much more helpful to know the occasion when the psalm was written.
a. One of my favorite CD’s of all time is Songs From Bright Avenue, by Bob Bennett. But it didn’t mean as much to me until I figured out the circumstances behind the CD.
b. And so it is with many of the psalms.
7. So, the first thing I do when I read a psalm is ask: Is there an historical situation this fits into?
8. In fact, in 2014, when we go back to month-long sermon series, I am planning to preach two of those series on psalms written during two historical situations:
a. Psalms written at the time of the Sennacherib story,
b. Psalms written at the time of the story of David and Bathsheba.
G. In spite of the historical context of the psalms, it is also a book where we often meet Jesus.
1. In fact, it is the OT book most quoted or alluded to in the NT (over 500).
2. Some of the psalms are traditionally considered messianic psalms. Indeed, many times we learn that the Psalmist is a type of Jesus. In one sense, all the psalms are messianic psalms.
H. The Book of Psalms has played an important role in the history of the church, especially in the Reformation, and esp. among Presbyterians.
1. It was the first Christian hymnbook.
2. Many a tear, many a sorrow, many a weak soul, many a dying soul, many a desperate man or woman have been lifted by its words. More than you and I could ever imagine.
I. And the story of this historical significance is still being written, for these psalms are for you and me.
1. Those who walk with Christ today look at the Book of Psalms with great affection & appreciation, deriving much strength and comfort and courage and encouragement from its pages.
III. Psalm 34:1-7 as a summary of the Psalms
A. V.1 (“I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”) a book of prayer and praise
1. It is a book that remembers and reminds us of God's wonderful attributes.
2. It is a book caught up in the magnificence and glory of God — not just in an analytical or detached way, but as seen in the way God acts on behalf of His people.
3. Today the great Christian is the activist, the great Christian leader is the spell-binding orator or the effective manager.
a. But the image of a humble, prayerful, worshiping Christian does not generate much attention.
b. But the Psalms lead the believer to the place of his true exaltation: on his knees before God.
c. Dealing with God is the central issue of every human life.
4. And the psalms are among the best places to go when we need to learn how to deal with God, when we need to learn how to pray.
a. Athanasius: "Most of Scripture speaks to us, while the Psalms speak for us."
b. Which of us, even in our moments of joy and gladness could come up with the kinds of things we find in the book of Psalms?
c. But God's love for His people is seen in this: that He has not only spoken to man but He has given us the resources that we might learn to speak to Him as well.
d. And as we saturate our minds with the Psalms, we begin to think and speak more and more in the vocabulary and in the thought-patterns that God Himself has inspired for us.
e. We become deeper in our prayers, and more genuine, and more bold.
f. Not only do we grow deeper in our relationship and communication with God, but we also grow more Biblical, because our relationship with Him is being nourished & guided by the Bible instead of by our own thoughts & imaginations, or by the way the people around us think & speak.
g. And of course, when we learn to relate to God according to the Bible, we learn to relate to Him according to who He really is, instead of what we humanly perceive Him to be.
B. V.2,4,6 (“2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad... 4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears... 6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him and saved him out of all his troubles.”) a book of comfort for those who are hurting
1. We said that the book of Psalms is concerned to show us the wonderful attributes of God.
a. But it doesn't just list His attributes, or define them as a theological textbook would.
b. It shows us God's attributes as they are displayed in response to the struggles of real people of God.
2. These are real people going through real struggles. These things were written with tears and with blood and with sweat.
a. This is not detached writing far removed from us and our problems, that can't relate to us where we are.
b. We must realize that God has given us this rich treasury, to show us and to teach us
(1) how to struggle in this life with God and not apart from Him,
(2) how to relate to God in our everyday pain and our everyday joy and our fears and feelings,
(3) how to bring our emotions, our struggles, and our rejoicings to God,
(4) how to deal with Him instead of just going through life apart from Him.
c. Psalm 50 God is confronting His people for thinking that their sacrifices and burnt offerings satisfy their duty to God. He goes on to tell them that what He really wants from them is two simple things: to give Him thanks and to call on Him in the day of trouble (50:14-15).
(1) But God doesn’t just ask us to call on Him in the day of trouble, He shows us how and gives us tools to do so in the Book of Psalms. It shows us how to pray in the midst of the stuff of life.
(2) The psalms are like a Paint-by-number set: the Artist has set everything out for us to make a nice prayer. For many of us, this is the most beautiful thing we will ever paint.
3. The book of Psalms is a book of exposed hearts.
a. We all have struggles & inner thoughts, & we are hesitant to share them with others. But in the Psalms we have the hearts of the Psalmists exposed before us in all their intensity of feeling.
b. Luther: "In the Psalms one looks into the hearts of all the saints."
c. Calvin called the 150 Psalms "an anatomy of all the parts of the soul."
d. The Psalms cover the gamut of human emotions and experiences: joy, sorrow, sickness, health, fear, victory, deep depression, grief, shame, anxiety.
4. The attention of the Psalmist is almost always on life here on this earth.
a. It is a manual of relating to God here on this planet, during this age, in this life.
5. Part of God's plan for us is to learn to worship Him in the midst of deep struggle.
a. Paul and Silas singing in prison: how did they learn to do that, how did they even think about doing that? They grew up knowing the songs of those who were in danger and had been mistreated — in the psalms.
b. God wants us to sing to God in the midst of our prisons and out beatings.
6. The book of Psalms teaches how to do this, how to pour out our hearts to God, in the agonies and in the ecstasies of life.
a. God has called us to walk through a wilderness here on this earth, but He has not abandoned us to walk it alone.
7. It is a sign of God's great love and compassion just that we have the book of Psalms. And not just a few Psalms, but a big book of them, 150 of them.
8. If you want to learn how to deal with the struggles and feelings of life in a godly way, the book of Psalms ought to be your university.
C. v.3 (“Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!”) a book of corporate worship
1. The Christian life is not individualistic, it is corporate.
2. We’re supposed to be helping to shoulder one another’s burdens. (Gal.6:2)
3. In fact, struggles are designed to draw people together.
4. v.1 the individual, but it never just stays on that level
5. We must remember that even the Psalms that speak in the first person singular ("I"), were used primarily in the corporate worship of Israel. Even the "I" Psalms are "we" Psalms.
6. The use of the Psalms
a. in personal worship, yes
b. in personal prayer, yes
c. But there is no place more important for the Psalms to be used than in corporate worship
(1) Eph.5:19 "speaking to one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to God." (See also Col.3:16.)
(2) This is why we use the Psalms so much in our worship service.
(3) The Psalms are central in our worship and worship is central in our lives.
D. v.4,7 (“I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears... 7 The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.”) a book of divine involvement
1. The world today perceives of God as remote and inaccessible, He is "up there" or "out there," but not a part of the picture as the world looks down here.
2. But the Psalms present a very different view of God's involvement in the world.
3. The Psalms live in a world where God is supremely relevant, where God is active, listening, and intimately involved, where God is holding all things in His hand, and when He speaks the shatters the landscape, and the earth trembles.
4. When the Psalmist is in trouble, his first appeal is to His God, who is not only able, but ready to deliver.
5. He is the God who can break through our greatest problems with a mere breath.
6. Often the Psalmist is coming to God desperately for help, but this itself is a sign that he believes that God is there, that He is able to help, and that He is inclined to help.
7. And this keen awareness in the book of Psalms that God is the deliverer of His people is based on His great lovingkindness for His people.
8. Psalm 50:15 “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.”
E. My good wife prepares an emergency kit for each of our cars, complete with flashlight, medical supplies, and all sorts of things which you might find helpful in a pinch. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve discovered one of these kits, all dusty, in the corner of the trunk, and gone through it to find all sorts of things which I could have used in given situations, except that in those moments of need, I forgot about the emergency kit.
1. Well, God has given us emergency kits with all kinds of helpful tools and encouragements and guidebooks to help us on our way, and one of the greatest of all is the book of Psalms.
2. And yet we so often leave these helps to be neglected and get dusty in the trunk of our lives.
3. And we don’t realize that everyday we’re in an emergency. Everyday we urgently and desperately need the Lord’s help. And He’s given us help of many kinds. Let us not neglect it.