“…while most hymns written by Watts and his contemporaries are well-written, moving, and scripturally sound, few of them delve into the depths of pain and questioning that characterize some of the Psalms. Anne Steele’s hymns were among these few, as were the hymns and poems by William Cowper” - Cloud of Witnesses
“…if the Psalter is indeed a hymnal for God’s people, then shouldn’t we also make sure that our own singing covers both the full breadth of Christian doctrine and the full range of human emotion? Our singing should consist of more than pithy praise choruses. We need to sing songs that boldly proclaim all the truths contained in God’s Word.” - 9 Marks
John Calvin’s treatment of Psalm 145 offers some great ruminations about the attributes of God. The psalm can be broken down into three parts:
Verses 1-3 are David on his own speaking of the greatness of God celebrating God’s praise.
Verses 4-9 speak of David bringing in the people of whom he is king and bringing them to praise and prompting them to consider God’s greatness and goodness.
“Mike chats with Mark Vroegop, lead pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis, about a variety of issues including pastoral ministry, worship, and lament.” - GARBC
Read the series.
The Christology of the Psalms continued …
Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension in Psalms 16:10 (resurrection), and 68:18 (ascension).
Psalm 16:10: “For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.”
Read Part 2.
Finally, although it is not named as such, the New covenant is represented in such psalms as Psalm 96:11-13; 98:3 130:7-8, and 147:12-14, although it is central to the realization of eschatological hope in the Book since the themes of Kingdom and Messiah are allied with it. In Psalm 96:11-13 many of the themes we see in Isaiah 11:4-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, and Ezekiel 34:24-31 are present, such as universal justice and peace, and blessing upon the productivity of the earth. As Yates put it,
Vows made to You are binding upon me; O God… (Psalm 56:12)
I will go into your house with burnt offerings; I will pay you my vows, which my lips have uttered… (Psalms 66:13-14)
The heaven, even the heaven of heavens; are the Lord’s; but the earth has He given to the children of men (Psalms 115:16)
In addressing the contribution of the Book of Psalms to the Creation Project and the biblical covenants it is vital to notice those places where the psalmist is grounding his remarks upon the covenants or looking forward to the New covenant kingdom (e.g. Psa. 2, 22, 24, 31, 45, 50, 72, 89, 110, 132).
“These Psalms of lament would not be in the Scripture if they were teaching us to do something sinful… so we learn, there is a way we can lament our circumstances before God. What’s the difference?” - Challies
