23 Jan 2011

This series is a selection of Psalms of Hope. Whilst many Psalms end on a note of hope, these ones have been chosen as a representative sample.

The Psalms have been aptly described as "both God's words to us and our words to God." The Psalms speak to the total person and demand a total response. Martin Luther said, "In the Psalms we looked into the heart of all the saints, and we seem  to gaze into fair pleasure gardens – into heaven itself, indeed – where blooms in sweet, refreshing, gladdening flowers of holy and happy thoughts about God and all his benefits." Not quite the way I would put it, but you get the gist of it. John Calvin has said, "What various and resplendent riches are contained in this treasury, it were difficult to find words to describe ... I have been wont to call this book not inappropriately, an anatomy of all parts of the soul; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror."  

The Psalms themselves have different genres, Tremper Longman III has identified them as being: hymns, laments, psalms of remembrance (redemptive-historical), psalms of confidence, wisdom psalms and kingship psalms (royal). Psalms "of hope" is not a genre as such but a thematic approach to a sermon series on some selected Psalms.

Generally, the Psalter has been divided into five books – and these psalms are all from the third book (Psalms 73 – 89, many of which are attributed to "Asaph"), thus Psalm 73 kicks off the third book and Psalm 89 brings it to a close.

Finally, reading the Psalms from a New Covenant perspective means that we can and should sing these words of God to God because of Jesus. That is, when the Psalms sing of praise to the LORD, we know that LORD is Jesus. Also, when the Psalms are messianic we know that Messiah as Jesus. The New Testament cites Psalms more often than any other Old Testament book, so it is right for us to look at them and use them and preach on them!

The final word I will leave with Tremper Longman III: "As we read the Psalm as Christians, two errors need to be avoided. The first is that we neglect a psalm's original setting... the second error, though, is to miss the anticipation, the expectation of the Psalms. The New Testament transforms our understanding of the Psalms as we read it in the light of the coming of Jesus Christ."