Psalm 41: The Song of Blessed Sickness
The Psalms interpret everything in life as spiritual — because everything is spiritual. From the sunshine of a new day to terrible illness, from friendships to enemies, everything is an opportunity to worship the God who is all in all.
Psalm 40: The Song of Thankful Deliverance
The Psalms teach us to praise and to weep, to laugh about the goodness of God and to cry out in pain and confusion. The more time we spend in the Psalms, the more we learn how – in every and any circumstance – to hold contradictory emotions together as we wait for the LORD.
Psalm 39: The Song of Breath
The Psalms are not the songs of immortal angels but mortal human beings, frail and feeble, aging and dying. When we sing these songs and pray these prayers, we are using our finite breath to confess to the eternal God that we rely on him for everything in life and death.
Psalm 38: The Song of Sin-Sickness
The Psalms are not afraid to attribute our pain to God. God’s goodness is not negated by his discipline, because his character is not dependent on our circumstances but on his steadfast love. Trials and suffering are sometimes a necessary sign of God’s severe mercy.
Psalm 37: The Song of Alphabetical Humility
The Psalms sometimes speak to us as fellow travelers on the journey of faith. They’ll wrap their arm around our shoulders and say, “Listen, here’s what I’ve learned about a life with God.” They are teachers, companions, and friends as we walk in the way of the Lord.
Psalm 36: The Song of the Servant’s Light
The Psalms are unashamed to be songs of love to God, even amidst troubling circumstances. If God’s love is truly steadfast, then it remains the one constant in our lives no matter what else we encounter. His love is our refuge, our constant, our home.
Psalm 35: The Song of Vindication
The Psalms contend with evil. They give us words when we experience true injustice, despicable prejudice, malicious schemes, and even traumatic violence. The Psalms are not simply beautiful words; they are fighting words for peacemakers in a dark world.
Psalm 34: The Song of Alphabetical Thanksgiving
The Psalms invite us into both weakness and strength. They welcome the one who is overly confident in their position to rely on the mercy of the Lord and humble themselves, but they also welcome the one who can barely pray by encouraging them to look again to the faithful, strong God.
Psalm 33: The Song of the New Song
The Psalms are at times less about our human experiences and more about our Creator. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that the Psalms are often concerned with our experience of God as creatures made in his image called to rule over this good world. These songs move us beyond our day-to-day and into […]
Psalm 32: The Song of the Forgiven
The Psalms assume that your relationship with God is fractured. They were written in the context of the biblical story in which we were made by a holy God, we have rebelled against him in selfish sin, and we need forgiveness. The Psalms prepare us to meet our God on holy ground as we kneel […]