THE L.I.F.E. PLAN PSALMS BLOCK 3. THEME 3 - THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS LESSON 2 (82 of 216)

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1 THE L.I.F.E. PLAN PSALMS BLOCK 3 THEME 3 - THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS LESSON 2 (82 of 216)

2 BLOCK 3 THEME 3: THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS LESSON 2 (82 OF 216): PSALMS LESSON AIM: Psalms is the second book in a series of five devotional books at the heart of the Old Testament. The Psalms are a fascinating study within the study of the word of God. One of the first things that draws us into the Psalms are the evident emotions which are expressed throughout the collection of writings. Nearly every emotion we can think of is addressed in some way in the Psalms, creating an immediate affinity between us and them. Within these writings we find the sorrows, griefs, fears, doubts, decisions, concerns, and cares of life that everyone knows in one degree or another. We not only see them fleshed out in the lives of the writers but we also see them taking all of this to the Lord, the only place where real resolve can be found during these troubling episodes of life. In addition to the expression of our emotional highs and lows, within the Psalms we also find the expression of true worship in the midst of these experiences. Over and over again we hear the writer s hearts cry out to God as they try to process their immediate circumstances, and we hear their refrain of repose when they turn to God to seek his presence and to wait for his help in their time of need. Their worship is expressed in various ways including praise, poetry, and prayers as they seek to find footing on the solid promises of God during the times of life when everything seeks to knock them off of their foundation in him. When we come to the authorship of the Psalms, we normally think of King David as being the author of all of the psalms. However, he is the author of only about half of them. The remaining psalms were written by others including Asaph, the sons of Korah, Heman, Ethan, and Moses. The authorship of fifty of the psalms is unknown. The Psalms are collected into five groups. It is important to note this grouping and how it relates to the first five books of the Bible which was so important to the people of Israel. The first five books of the Bible are known as The Law of Moses and is called the Pentateuch. It is interesting to see that the five books of the Psalms correspond to the first five books of the Bible. Notice the chart below and the details it provides about the Psalms. The Psalms were collected by various people at different times over a period of about 500 years. BOOK PSALMS AUTHORS COLLECTED BY RELATES TO THEME David Solomon Genesis Man David Korah. Levites Exodus Deliverance Asaph Hezekiah Leviticus Sanctuary Anonymous Ezra/Nehemiah Numbers Kingdom David/Anon Ezra/Nehemiah Deuteronomy Divine Faithfulness

3 Finally, we will note that the location of the Psalms within the five books at the heart of the Old Testament continues to teach us of the stages of the journey we must go through in our relationship with God. In Job, God is seeking to deliver us from the self-life, or the selfish life. He allows things to happen in our life that bring us to realize that we can put our faith, trust, and hope in nothing except God. The things that happen to us are allowed to expose the things we hold in higher esteem than God. When they are revealed, we must turn away from them and turn to God. This turning to God is displayed in the book of the Psalms. We began by mentioning our emotions. When are our emotions at their highest peak? We are emotional when things have come our way that threaten to disrupt our life and take away the things we are holding onto. Sometimes the things we hold onto are something other than God. It may be a job, or a relationship, or a selfish indulgence, or a pet sin, or a possession, or any number of things. It may just be the mindset to live a good life, keep to ourselves, and not get involved in the lives of the people God has put around us. Whatever thing we have attached ourselves to other than God can be confronted by God, and when it is, we tend to get emotional. The flesh wants to continue to hang onto those things while the Spirit bids us to let it go and give our whole heart to God. Thus, we experience the turmoil of soul that is often presented in the Psalms. When God identifies something that we need to turn from, the flesh will cause a lot of noise until it is overcome by the Spirit. When we recognize that we have given something in our life the place that God should have and we turn from it, we can then experience the rest of soul that comes when we remove the rivals and surrender to God, giving him his rightful place as first in our life. This is what the book of Psalms is all about: overcoming self, surrendering to God, giving him the praise and worship he deserves, and finding our rest of soul in him. When you consider your own life, have you had an experience like this as we have seen through the books of Job and Psalms? If you have not; do not worry, you will if you are a believer in Christ. If you have had this experience, you can see through these books what God is doing in your life. He is working to conform you to the image of Christ. This process will be repeated in your life as many times as is necessary in order to tear down all rivals to God that have been constructed in your heart. Thank God that he does not leave us to ourselves to live as we please. He continues to work to make us holy and to be in the best spiritual condition for our service to him. Those whose heart is not fully after the Lord will be easy targets for the enemy in the spiritual warfare. God is making us strong in him for the work we have to do, and for the enemy we have to face as we do our work. What emotions are you dealing with today? Are they an indication of God at work to remove something from your life that has taken his place? Will you surrender it to him? When you do, you will rest in your soul. Then, you can give praise to God and worship him from your heart. This is what he wants; those who can worship him in spirit and in truth.

4 LESSON OUTLINE BLOCK 3 THEME 3: THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS LESSON 2 (82 OF 216): PSALMS I WHAT WE FIND IN THE PSALMS A. Emotions B. True worship II THE PSALMS A. Authors B. Groupings III LOCATION OF THE PSALMS AMONG THE OT POETRY BOOKS A. Second of five books B. Teaches total reliance and devotion to God SCRIPTURES TO BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING 1. Conforming to the image of Christ Romans 8:28-30 LINES OF THEOLOGICAL CONNECTION 1. ANTHROPOLOGY The soul of man Mind Will Emotions Spiritual rest 2. THE DOCTRINE OF GOD Conforming us to the image of Christ

5 LESSON GLOSSARY 1. Affinity Spontaneous natural liking or sympathy for someone/something 2. Pentateuch The first five (5) books of the Bible; The Law of Moses 3. Asaph One of the leaders of David s choir in Psalms 4. Emotions A natural instinctive state of mind derived from circumstances, mood, relationships with others 5. The flesh The human body and its physical needs and desires QUESTIONS ANSWER KEY 1. Many emotions are evidenced by the writers of the Psalms as we see them taking their burdens to the Lord, who is our only help during desperate times. Name some of the common emotions experienced by the writers of the Psalms that we also experience in our daily lives. Sorrow, fear, grief, doubt, decisions 2. Who is the author of about one half of the Psalms? (Hint: he was the man that God testified a man after my own heart ) King David 3. What is the book of Psalms mainly about? Overcoming self, surrendering to God, giving him the praise and worship he deserves while gaining rest for our souls 4. True or False: God allows things to happen in our lives that bring us to realize we can put our total faith, trust and hope in him. True 5. What are some things people hold on to and place more importance on than God? A job, relationships, selfish indulgences, pet sins or possessions; also being indifferent or disinterested toward people who God puts in our lives 6. What have we learned in this lesson is the main goal of God in our lives? What is the work that he wants for each of us? God is working to conform us into his image by making us strong in him for the work he has for us to accomplish

6 7. To what do the five books of psalms correspond? The first five books of the Bible 8. What can our emotions be telling us? That there is something in our lives in the place of God and God is working to remove it

7 BLOCK 3 THEME 3: THE DEVOTIONAL BOOKS LESSON 2 (82 OF 216): PSALMS QUESTIONS TO INSPIRE THOUGHT 1. Many emotions are evidenced by the writers of the Psalms as we see them taking their burdens to the Lord, who is our only help during desperate times. Name some of the common emotions experienced by the writers of the Psalms that we also experience in our daily lives. 2. Who is the author of about one half of the Psalms? (Hint: he was the man that God testified a man after my own heart ) 3. What is the book of Psalms mainly about? 4. True or False: God allows things to happen in our lives that bring us to realize we can put our total faith, trust and hope in him. 5. What are some things people hold on to and place more importance on than God? 6. What have we learned in this lesson is the main goal of God in our lives? What is the work that he wants for each of us? 7. To what do the five books of psalms correspond? 8. What can our emotions be telling us?