All Articles For Psalm

Previous article in this series: November 15, 2012, p. 81.   “I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations.” Psalm 57:9 “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.” Psalm 104:33 In our previous article, we considered that the Psalms were given to us in the Scriptures especially so that we would sing them. We also noticed that the Lord’s command to us in His Word is that we sing the Psalms. Our Psalter, the 100th anniversary of...

“O come let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms.” Psalm 95:1-2 The year 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of our Psalter, which was first published in the year 1912. The Psalter has been the song­book in the Protestant Reformed churches for their entire history—88 of the 100 years of the Psalter’s existence. And it has served them well. It has also been a blessing to the other denominations that have used it during these...

Previous article in this series: August 2012, p. 448.   Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heav­en and earth. Psalm 124:8 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 1:7 Introduction We have studied three great biblical principles of worship so far. The first is that public worship is a covenantal assembly gathered to meet with the living God. From that principle we drew other principles: public worship must be simple, centered on the Word,...

Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion: and unto thee shall the vow be performed.” Psalm 65:1   Psalm 65 gives us multiple reasons for which to give thanks, all of which point to God’s goodness. The psalm begins on a note of thanksgiving and carries that thought throughout the psalm: “Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion” (Ps. 65:1). Praise has to do with being sincerely and deeply thankful for God’s wonderful works and His superior qualities. The reason praise is said to “wait” is that there is always something for which to praise God in Zion....

 “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it.” Psalm 39:9 There will be a day when the whole world shall be dumb before the Face of the great Judge. Paul speaks of this in Romans 3:19. All their lives they had spoken volubly against the Lord and against His anointed Son. But at the end of days and history there will be one great silence. They see Him whom they pierced. They see the open books: and are silent.

One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.Psalm 27:4 One desire. One desire singled out of many.

Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble. Psalm 41:1 Every believer ought to expect affliction in this world. But, with the affliction, God will also make a way out. Psalm 41 is about affliction as well as God’s deliverance. David begins the Psalm with a reference to him who considers the poor. The poor is someone in a lowly state because of affliction. That affliction might be physical; but it could also be emotional or spiritual. Although the wicked commit the most horrible treacheries against God’s people, we can still count our­selves...

“There be many that say: Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us. Thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their corn and their wine increased. I will both lay me down in peace and sleep: for Thou, Lord, only maketh me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:6-8

“To him that ordereth his conversation aright will I shew the salvation of God”. Psalm 50:23

—Psalm 17 Many, many years ago, it happened that a piercing, thrice repeated cry ascended to the heavens. It was David, and, as was very often the case, David in trouble. Thrice repeated in his crying to God. We refer to the opening of the seventeenth psalm. Hear! Attend! Give ear! Involuntarily we will repeat our cries of anguish. And in the same measure that we are in trouble, we will also repeat our cries for help.