by Rev Daniel Yaw

 

Introduction

As we enter into November, I was thinking about preaching from the Psalms.  What caused that decision is that Psalms are songs packed with emotions and exaltations.  Why read the Psalms, why preach from Psalms?

A Freedom to express
I believe one of the many elements we read in the psalms, is the freedom of expression.  I realized that the psalmists make no reservations when it comes to the expression of one’s emotions.  In the Psalms, we feel with the writer, emotions of sorrow, expressions of joy, exhibition of anger sometimes, and even enquiring of things that are confusing and mind-boggling when it comes to life.
It tells me something about the Psalms – that God gives us full permission to express how we feel towards life and people and direct those feelings to God.  There is no embarrassment nor apologies when it comes to expression.
They are very much like songs today that we hear and sing.  Songs express our joy and disappointments in life.  The beauty of it all is that it is expressed so poetically.

A Faith exhibited
Yet through all the emotions and expressions of one’s emotions, we see that the Psalms are finally directed to God who is great and good.  All life’s circumstances, perplexing as they may be, finally end in praise to God.  This is because God is ultimately in control and he brings understanding.
How often, do the psalmists fret over life and then end up giving praise to God as in Psalm 37?  While it begins with disappointment, hurts, and even sins, it ends up in faith through quietly trusting God, confessing our sins, and giving Him all the praises due to Him.
The movement of the psalms is from fear to faith, from disappointment to devotion, from confession to consolation.  We must begin reading the psalm to see this movement and end our questionings to faith.

A Life integrated
Another element of the Psalms is that it is an integration of mind, body, soul, and spirit.  Our journey of faith is about being ministered to the whole being.  Our challenges and struggles have to do with our minds, our bodies, our soul, and our spirit.  We come to life’s bumps in all these areas and the psalms integrate all of these.  It addresses the confused mind, the weak body, the troubled soul, and the lethargy of our spirits.   The Psalms with all the freedom expressed, points to these elements at different times which we can all identify.
Jesus in the gospel says that the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, our soul, our mind, and our strength.  Loving God in that manner is to bring our whole being before God and acknowledge that He owns them all.  The psalms teach us how to worship God with our whole being.

Conclusion
Not meditating on the psalms is to miss a great part of our life of worship to God.  May I encourage you all FCCians to read, meditate, teach, pray, sing the Psalms, and make them the psalms of your lives too.  Stay blessed always.