Johnston The Psalms (Vol. 1)

Rejoice, the Lord Is King
1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4335-3358-7
Verlag: Crossway
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 480 Seiten

Reihe: Preaching the Word

The Psalms is one of the most widely loved books of the Bible. A source of instruction for our prayers, inspiration for our songs, and consolation for our tears, these biblical poems resound with the whole spectrum of human emotion and teach us to hope in God each and every day. In the first volume of a three-part commentary on the Psalms, pastor James Johnston walks readers through chapters 1-44, offering exegetical and pastoral insights along the way. In an age that prizes authenticity, this resource will help anyone interested in studying, teaching, or preaching the Bible to truly engage with God in a life-changing and heart-shaping way. Part of the Preaching the Word series.

James Johnston (PhD, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is senior pastor of Camelback Bible Church in Paradise Valley, Arizona. He has led workshops on expository preaching for over fifteen years and is an instructor for the Charles Simeon Trust. He and his wife, Lisa, have four children.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Johnston, James

Leseproben

Introduction

The Lord Reigns!

OPENING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

The Psalms are one of the most dearly loved books in the Bible. For generations, they have been one of our greatest treasures as God’s people.

Most of the psalms were written for Israel’s temple worship. We know this because fifty-five are dedicated to the Director of Music, several more were written for specific parts of the temple worship service, and twenty-four are connected with temple musicians like the Sons of Korah.1 The Psalms reflect the prayer and praise of ancient Israel.

In the New Testament, Jesus probably sang Psalm 118 with his disciples before they left the upper room for the Mount of Olives (Matthew 26:30).2 When Peter and John were arrested, the early church prayed with the words of Psalm 2 (Acts 4:25ff.). Paul leaned heavily on the Psalms as he wrote the book of Romans. Paul also commands us to “be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:18b, 19a, NKJV). The Psalms were at the heart of spiritual life for the early church.

The Psalms were prominent in the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s. Before Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door in Wittenberg, he had lectured on the Psalms for over two years.3 His Christ-centered interpretation of the Psalms helped forge the doctrine of the Reformation. The Psalms were also a key part of the development of Protestant worship. To move away from the Latin Mass, the Reformers introduced congregational singing based in large part on metrical psalms.4 The Psalms were so important to Protestant worship that the first book printed in North America was the Bay Psalm Book in 1644. So we owe much of our worship and theology as Protestants to the Psalms.

We treasure the Psalms in our own day too. Many of our favorite songs and hymns are portions of a psalm or a paraphrase. We go to the Psalms when we’re laughing and when we’re crying. Amazingly, they often say what we feel but couldn’t find the words to describe. We quote Psalm 104 at Thanksgiving. After the September 11 attacks, the service held in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. included portions from Psalm 46, Psalm 27, and Psalm 23.

So it is exciting to open the Psalms for ourselves. Charles Spurgeon called his commentary of the Psalms The Treasury of David—a good title because God’s Word is “more to be desired . . . than gold, even much fine gold” (19:10). We are opening the door to a treasure chamber. If our hearts are open to God’s Spirit, this focused time in the Psalms will change us. We will learn to pray as we pray with the psalmist. We will learn to praise as we worship God with David. The Psalms are as deep as the ocean; they are wide as human experience; they will carry us to spiritual heights.

We can set the table for our study of the Psalms by making three main observations about the Psalms in general. The Psalms are truth, the Psalms are poems, and the Psalms are a book.

The Psalms Are Truth

First, the Psalms are truth. They are Scripture that God inspired by his Holy Spirit to teach and instruct us. The Psalms are a rich source of doctrine. They speak to our minds.

The Psalms Are Torah

We see this emphasis on thinking in the opening verses of the Psalms. Psalm 1 introduces the whole book with these words.

[B]ut his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night. (1:2)

The word law is the Hebrew word torah, which means instruction that comes from God.5 The Psalms are divine revelation. We are to read and receive the Psalms as God’s Word and think hard about what they say.6 The call to meditate is a call to reflect and go deep.

This becomes even clearer when we notice that the Psalms are the whole Old Testament in miniature. In a real sense, this one book encapsulates Genesis to Malachi.

Think about how much of the Old Testament is in the Psalms. The Psalms deal with creation, the call of Abraham, the exodus, the Law of Moses, the monarchy, Israel’s disobedience, the exile, the return, and the hope of a greater kingdom. The psalmists were reading their Bible, and often they reflected on what God had already said through Moses and the prophets as the Holy Spirit led them. On top of that, the Psalms make up the only book of the Old Testament that was written over the course of one thousand years of Israel’s history.7

This means that to study the Psalms is to study the whole Old Testament. Opening the Psalms is a call to think and reflect on Genesis through Malachi and beyond.

Most Quoted Book in the New Testament

Then add to this the fact that the Psalms are the Old Testament book most quoted in the New Testament. Jesus and the apostles consistently turned to the Psalms to preach the kingdom of God and establish key doctrines.

During the last week of Jesus’ life, he used Psalms 8, 118, and 110 to silence the chief priests and scribes in the temple (Matthew 21:16, 42; 22:44). When the early church was wondering whether to replace Judas, they turned to Psalm 69 (Acts 1:20). When Peter preached at Pentecost, he used Psalms 16 and 110 to teach Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2:25–36). Paul taught salvation by faith from Psalm 32 (Romans 4:6–8). Peter teaches believers to return good for evil based on Psalm 34 (1 Peter 3:9–12).

So the first observation I want to make as we start this study of the Psalms is that the Psalms are truth from God that is meant to teach and instruct us. The Psalms engage our minds with doctrine.

The Psalms Are Poems

The second observation is that the Psalms are poems. Not only do they speak to our minds, as poetry they speak to our hearts. Reading the Psalms engages both the right brain and the left brain, the intellect and the emotions, thinking and feeling.

We can see these two dimensions—the heart and the head—at the very beginning of the Psalms. Look again at Psalm 1:2.

But his delight is in the law of the LORD,

and on his law he meditates day and night.

God blesses the man who both delights (heart) in his Law and meditates (head) on it. In fact, he mentions the heart first, suggesting that the reason a man thinks carefully about God’s Word is because he has already come to love it. We treasure the Word before we ponder it and dwell on what it means.

As poetry, the Psalms are designed to engage our hearts so that our whole being will engage with God’s Word.

Hebrew Poetry

Hebrew poetry is not based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter like most western poetry. Instead the main technique of Hebrew poetry is parallelism. So the key movements within a psalm are often from one line to another as the psalmist takes a thought and gives it a slight turn.

We should be very glad that, in God’s providence, Hebrew poetry is not like ours. Western poetry does not translate well into other languages because it is usually based on rhyme, rhythm, and meter. If you know another language, try translating “Roses are Red, Violets are Blue.” Chances are, it will fall flat.8 But the genius of Hebrew poetry is that since it is based on parallelism, it “remains poetry in any language you translate it into.”9

Poetry to Engage the Heart

As poetry, the Psalms engage our emotions in various ways. For one thing, they were meant to be sung. The name psalm comes from the Greek word psalmos, which is a translation of the Hebrew word mizmor. Both words mean a song accompanied by musical instruments, particularly a harp.10

The Psalms also engage our hearts with figures of speech. The writers are poets—artists with words. They paint pictures that linger like a good cup of coffee. The psalmist does not say, “The people are sad,” but he says, “You have fed them with the bread of tears” (80:5). He doesn’t say, “You made him happy,” but he says, “God . . . has anointed you with the oil of gladness” (45:7). He doesn’t just say, “Protect me,” but he says, “[H]ide me in the shadow of your wings” (17:8). When we read the Psalms, we need to use our imaginations; we are supposed to picture and feel what we are reading.11

Poems that Express Emotions

Beyond the poetry, the men who wrote the Psalms also pour out an amazing array of emotions. Here is a short list.12

1. Loneliness: “I am lonely and afflicted” (25:16).
2. Love: “I love you, O LORD, my strength” (18:1).
3. Sorrow: “my life is spent with sorrow” (31:10).
4. Discouragement: “Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me?” (42:5).
5. Shame: “shame has covered my face” (44:15).
6. Exultation: “In your salvation how greatly he exults” (21:1).
7. Fear: “Serve the LORD with fear” (2:11).
8. Peace: “in peace I will both lie down and sleep” (4:8).
9. Gratitude: “I will thank you in the great congregation” (35:18).
10. Confidence: “though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” (27:3).

The Psalms wake up our emotions to respond to God and to life like we should. No...