Summer in the Psalms

   Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) was an English Particular Baptist preacher. For many years, he pastored the church at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London. During that time, he preached over 400 sermons from the book of Psalms. He invested twenty years of his time in authoring a seven-volume commentary on the Psalms called The Treasury of David.

   In his preface to the first volume, Spurgeon exclaimed, “The delightful study of the Psalms has yielded me boundless profit and ever-growing pleasure,” and he wanted to pass along the benefits that he enjoyed to others. Why were the Psalms so beneficial to Spurgeon? Why can they be just as important for us today? Spurgeon explains, “The Psalms articulate our emotions before God.”

Consistent Study

   Ever since about mid-way through my years in grad school, I have tried to take a little time each year to study through some of the Psalms. Usually, the time seems to occur in the fall. So often the Psalms nudge my spirit toward praise and thanksgiving, an attitude I like to develop close to Thanksgiving and Christmas.

   Occasionally, the time set aside to study the Psalms has been in the spring. The Psalms are filled with shadows of the Messiah and promises from God that He will redeem His people. Studying these themes helps prepare hearts for the Easter season.

   There are more Psalms referenced in the New Testament than any other book. Many of the Psalms point to Jesus. Jesus himself said, “all the things written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44). The Psalms tell us how He would suffer and die, that he would redeem His people through the sacrifice, and how He would establish an unprecedented kingdom.   

   There have been moments when the Psalms have led me to deepen the way I worship God. Sincere worship helps keep my heart aligned with God’s. St. Augustine, who lived from 354 to 430, wrote how the Psalms brought him to “a state of humility and love for God.” To set the Jews’ hearts for proper worship, David composed many psalms focused on the praise and adoration of God.

Psalms & Scripture

   One year my studies took me through Psalm 119 – the longest chapter in the Bible – as I prepared my heart for God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai. Throughout this lengthy Psalm, David speaks the truth that Scripture is God’s authoritative word to us. He uses synonyms like Law, testimonies, ways, statutes, commandments, and precepts to describe the word that God has given us. Old Testament scholar Derek Kidner emphasizes that the Psalms “points to the straight authority of what is said.”

   It is important on occasion to pause and remember that we can trust God’s words. We live in a world that undermines not only the authority of Scripture but the importance of its moral compass for individuals and society. The answers to so many of the problems we face can be found in the need for moral truth. Money and government agencies cannot change the human heart.

Potent Prayers

   When my prayer life seems to be lagging, the Psalms challenge me to speak to God on a deeper, less superficial level. I can tell when my prayers are suffering because I tend to use the same old phrases and talk about the same old things. “Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the food. Amen.” Theologian John Calvin (1509-1564) noticed that the Psalms show us how to confess our needs to God. “Here the prophets themselves,” he writes, “seeing they are exhibited to us as speaking to God and laying open all their inmost thoughts and affections,” draw each of us to prayer.

   Truthfully, no other book helps me grow in the journey of my walk with God than the Psalms. As I contemplate its truths, I am challenged to become a better husband, better father, and a better employee and citizen. David uses a psalm to tell me that God’s Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psalm 119:105). Meditating on the Psalms produces stability and wisdom in my thinking patterns. It provides me with a proper perspective as I allow God to “search me and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there is any hurtful way in me” (Psalm 143:10).

O God, you have taught me from my youth,

And I proclaim your wonders still.

Even till I am old and gray-headed,

Do not forsake me,

O God.Let me tell of your mighty arm

To every coming generation;

Your strength and your justice,

O God, Reach to the highest heavens.

It is you who have worked such wonders.

O God, who is like you?

You have made me witness many troubles and evils,

But you will give me back my life.

You will raise me from the depths of the earth;

You will exalt me and console me again.

So I will give you thanks of the lyre

For your faithfulness, O my God.

To you will I sing with the harp,

To you, the Holy One of Israel. 

Psalm 71:17-22

Spurgeon’s Treasure

   Spurgeon spent much of the latter years of his life in incredible physical pain. Combined with the overwhelming pressures of a pastoral ministry to one of England’s largest congregations, Spurgeon felt both physical and emotional trauma. At the conclusion of his work on the Psalms, he wrote, “The Book of Psalms has been a royal banquet for me, and in feasting upon its contents I have seemed to eat angels’ food. The writing of this book has been a means of grace for my own heart.” The Psalms soothed the turmoil of his own life.

   Like Spurgeon, perhaps the most important reason I study the Psalms is they help me deal with the emotions of life. From the splendor of shouts for joy to the despair of agonizing grief, the Psalms teach us that our emotions are natural and that looking to God helps keep them in perspective. The ride of my life tends to flow much more smoothly when I am studying the Psalms.

   Are you ready for this adventure? Let’s spend this summer in the Psalms.