Finding Teaching - Psalms

This psalm is one of a group of fifteen which are called the ‘Songs of degrees’. The 19th Century preacher Mr. Spurgeon said that they could also be called ‘The Songs of the Goings Up’ as it is certain that they were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their journey up to the temple. In these fifteen psalms selected truths are highlighted. This highlights the issues that God thought were important for his people to attend to if they were to know his presence and his blessing on their…

This is a Psalm of extremes. We initially read the words of a person in deep distress, verses 1-11. Then there is a sudden change. We are confronted with the eternal, unchanging God and hope is stirred in the writer’s heart, verses 12-28. How can the same person be so different? It can only be the result of the Psalmist lifting his eyes from his problems and fixing them on God. God is greater than our problems and helps us put life into perspective. The Psalm is called a prayer of the…

Most people will be aware that the Americans talk about their prisons as ‘penitentiaries’. You may also be vaguely familiar with the concept of ‘penance’. In religious circles this normally means either a feeling of regret for misdeeds or some religious payment for sin. In Biblical terms the word ‘penitential’ means to ‘repent of sin and to seek forgiveness’. We are going to discover in these psalms a number of lessons about sin, the sinner and how God deals with sin. Let me summarise them…

This psalm is one of a group of fifteen which are called the ‘Songs of degrees’. The 19th Century preacher Mr. Spurgeon said that they could also be called ‘The Songs of the Goings Up’ as it is certain that they were sung by Jewish pilgrims as they made their journey up to the temple. In these fifteen psalms selected truths are highlighted. This highlights the issues that God thought were important for his people to attend to if they were to know his presence and his blessing on their…

The title of the psalm makes it clear that this psalm was written at the time when Nathan visited David ‘after he had gone in to Bathsheba’. David has sinned by sleeping with another man’s wife and murdering her husband by proxy. He is in desperate need of forgiveness and restoration. This is probably the most classic of all the penitential psalms. In it we are given a clear view of the route we need to go down, after sinning, if we are going to have our relationship with God restored. The…

King David, despite his periods of failure was a man who was really in touch with God. He is called ‘a man after God’s own heart’ ...

King David, despite his periods of failure was a man who was really in touch with God. He is called ‘a man after God’s own heart’ in 1 Samuel chapter 13 verse 14 and in Acts chapter 13 verse 22. It appears that he knew the way that God thought and was happy to talk honestly with him. The question is, am I, are you? In the first four verses of this psalm David asks the LORD not to rebuke him or to correct him. David knew that God was extremely angry about his sin. If David did not understand…

In the book of Psalms there are different categories of Psalms. Some Psalms are grouped according the author i.e. David, Moses etc. Some are called Messianic Psalms as they focus on the coming Messiah who Christians believe was Jesus. This Psalm is in the group of ‘maschil’ Psalms. Maschil means that the reader should learn something from the Psalm. It is a good principle to learn from your own mistakes but it is even wiser to learn from another person’s mistakes. In this Psalm, David is…

Have you ever felt heart broken in the presence of God as a result of sin? You might say that thankfully this has not been your experience very often since conversion. Great men of God, like David, had these experiences on a fairly regular basis. If you have never felt like that maybe you have become desensitised to sin in your life. Psalm 6 has three sections. Appealing to the LORD for mercy Verses 1-4 - David recognises that God is extremely angry with him. Intense grief Verses 5-7 - David…

Most people will be aware that the Americans talk about their prisons as ‘penitentiaries’. You may also be vaguely familiar with the concept of ‘penance’. In religious circles this normally means either a feeling of regret for misdeeds or some religious payment for sin. In Biblical terms the word ‘penitential’ means to ‘repent of sin and to seek forgiveness’. We are going to discover in these psalms a number of lessons about sin, the sinner and how God deals with sin. Let me summarise them…