1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.
13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
17 But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, 18 to those who keep His covenant and remember to do His commandments.
19 The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all.
20 Bless the Lord, O you His angels, you mighty ones who do His word, obeying the voice of His word!
21 Bless the Lord, all His hosts, His ministers, who do His will!
22 Bless the Lord, all His works, in all places of His dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul!
There is no doubt that the book of Psalms is the greatest collection of songs, prayers, and poetry. In the 150 Psalms, the deepest human emotions are expressed. As you read through the psalms you can almost hear the psalmist’s desperate cry in times of deep despair, as well as the true joy of knowing the God who cares and provides for us. Some of the psalms express true confession of sin, while others are almost bubbling over with joy. The Psalms lead us through the valleys and peaks of human experience, and ultimately they lead us to a place of praise to the God who created us. The Psalms are about Christ.
In his commentary on the Bible, J Vernon McGee wrote, “The book of Psalms is a hymn book and a HIM book - it is all about Him.”
The psalms had a major influence on the authors of the New Testament. As we read through the New Testament, we soon notice that the Old Testament is quoted often, but none more so than the psalms.
As the New Testament proclaims the Gospel message, it relies heavily on the psalms, and how they point to the promised Messiah.
In Acts 4, when Peter and John were ordered by the Sanhedrin not to preach Jesus Christ, they ignored these instructions. Just before going back onto the streets to proclaim the Gospel, they prayed for boldness, and as part of their prayer, they quoted the opening 2 verses of Psalm 2. “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed.” (Acts 4:25-26)
Psalm 2 speaks about the nations conspiring and the people plotting against God, and the apostles made a clear connection between their struggles in the early days of the Christian Church, and the words of Psalm 2.
Their prayer in Acts 4 continues, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:27-31)
Those who witnessed the life, death and resurrection of Jesus saw that Psalm 2 applied to Jesus as the anointed, the Messiah. The name Christ is a title which means “anointed.” Jesus was the Christ, the Anointed One.
Psalm 2:7 says, “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you.’” Both Acts 13:33 and Hebrews 5:5 quote this verse when they refer to Jesus as the Son of God.
Several psalms predicted events in Jesus’ life, and these are known as the Messianic psalms. I briefly mentioned Psalm 22 last week. Psalm 22 is a typical Messianic psalm. Both Matthew and Mark record Jesus’ agonising cry on the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Here Jesus quoted Psalm 22:1. David was the writer of this particular psalm, but the authors of the New Testament, inspired by the Holy Spirit, understood that David’s cry about his own situation applied even more to the suffering of Jesus on the cross.
Not only are there direct quotations of Psalm 22 in the Gospel accounts, but there are also clear references to this psalm, specifically at Calvary. Verses 7 and 8 say, “All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads; ‘He trusts in the Lord; let Him deliver him; let Him rescue him, for He delights in him!’” This is exactly the mocking taunts aimed at Jesus while He hung on the cross.
Another example of how David’s words applied to Jesus in Psalm 22 is verse 18. “They divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.” John 19:23-24 says, “When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took His garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also His tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, so they said to one another, ‘Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.’” Verse 24 continues, “This was to fulfill the Scripture which says, ‘They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.’”
Psalm 69 is another Messianic psalm. When Jesus said in John 15:25, “They hated me without a cause,” He was referring to the words of Psalm 69:4. “More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause; mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies.”
Other Messianic psalms include Psalms 110 and 118. They, like many other Old Testament verses have clear prophecies of the first coming of Jesus, and they were frequently used by the New Testament Church as they preached the Gospel.
Last Sunday we looked at the conversation Jesus had with two disciples on the Emmaus road. After they recognised Him, He disappeared before their very eyes. You’ll remember that they decided to go back to Jerusalem where they confirmed to the other disciples that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.
The account in Luke 24 continues by saying that Jesus again appeared to them. In verse 44 He said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”
The apostles, because of their Jewish upbringing, were familiar with the book of Psalms and they quoted from it frequently. Of the 263 times the Old Testament is quoted by the New Testament writers, 116 quotations are from the Psalms.
But references to the psalms in the New Testament are much more than merely historical. Because they so clearly are connected to the person of Jesus Christ, the psalms had a huge influence on how Christian worship was shaped in the early days of the Church. In fact, this continues to our day.
It’s been said that the Psalms were written in the language of response. In other words, each psalm records in powerful, poetic language one individual’s response to God. Whether it be a desperate cry or an ecstatic shout of joy, each psalmist responds to God in the middle of a particular situation in their lives. Over the years, the Psalms became part of the community’s life of worship, firstly in the Old Testament temple, and even to today in the Christian Church, but they remain a vehicle if you like, for our individual expressions and emotions. This is what makes the psalms so special. It is easy for us to identify with the emotions of David (who wrote about half of the Psalms) and the other psalmists. Even today, the Psalms are used both in public worship and in the personal devotions of individual Christians. The book of Psalms, ancient as it is, remains so relevant to us today. The psalms provide a mirror of our own lives, but of course, they all point us to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and the hope we have in Him.
So much of the psalms concerns Jesus, the long-expected “Anointed One,” and the New Testament writers consistently refer to this connection. Peter, in his powerful sermon he preached at Pentecost in Acts 2, quoted from Psalms 16 and 110, and in verse 36 he proclaims, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
The apostles, aware that their Jewish listeners were steeped in the Old Testament and the Psalms in particular, drew heavily from the Psalms when they presented Jesus as the Christ, the promised Messiah of the ancient Scriptures.
For example, the book of Hebrews in the New Testament, quotes from the psalms 15 times, and the main theme of the book of Hebrews is the absolute supremacy of Jesus Christ. It teaches that Jesus is the “son of man” of Psalm 8 who was made “for a little while lower than the angels” through the incarnation but now has been crowned “with glory and honour” through His resurrection and ascension.
Wherever you are on your faith journey, and however wonderful or how difficult your life may be right now, in the Psalms you will find hymns, songs and cries of lament that perfectly reflect the joys and struggles of your life, and it is no coincidence that Jesus often quoted from the psalms. The psalms encapsulate perfectly the full range of emotions we experience, and in His humanity, Jesus identifies with our emotions, but at the same time, as we saw last week, He makes it very clear that the Psalms all point to Him.
The reformer John Calvin wrote of the psalms, “I may truly call this book an anatomy of all parts of the soul, for no one can feel a movement of the spirit which is not reflected in this mirror. All the sorrows, troubles, fears, doubts, hopes, pains, perplexities and stormy outbreaks by which the hearts of men are tossed have been depicted here.”
This is a rhetorical question I know, but do you ever struggle with your prayer life, or your faith in general? Spend time in the Psalms. Read and study them. Pray through them. The book of Psalms is literally a treasure trove, because they not only help shape our response to God in the trials and joys of life, but when we understand who the psalms are really all about, they reveal the heart of Christ to us.
In the upper room, when Jesus said His betrayer “is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the dish with me,” it is highly likely that Jesus had Psalm 41 on His mind. Verse 9 of Psalm 41 paints a much deeper picture of the anguish Jesus was experiencing in the final hours before His death. “Even my close friend in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.”
The psalms don’t only point us to the anguish and suffering of Jesus on the cross. They also give us an insight into the glory of Jesus Christ, an exaltation that begins with the resurrection, and is followed by His ascension. The psalms proclaim Him as King of kings, and the only Saviour who reigns over all the nations.
Going back to Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, he quoted 4 verses from Psalm 16, teaching that David, who wrote the psalm, was speaking as a prophet, having foreseen the resurrection of Christ. Peter said in Acts 2:25-31, “David says concerning Him, ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that He would set one of His descendants on His throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.”
Don’t miss the significance of Peter’s words here. He makes it clear that David was not writing about himself in Psalm 16. Rather, inspired by the Spirit of God, David gives us a clear prophecy of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.
Psalm 1:6 says, “The Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” In just this one verse, we see the Gospel message. Because of our sin, as verse 6 says, “the way of the wicked will perish,” but the key word in that same verse is “righteous.” The big question of course is, how do we receive this righteousness we need in order to be saved?
Only the righteous will survive the judgment in the end. But who is righteous?
Psalm 14:3, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.” Psalm 130:3, “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”
Those are just 2 examples of the problem we have, and there are many more, but because of Christ, we are counted as righteous when we turn to God in faith and repentance. Psalm 32:2 says, “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity.”
What all of this means is that the righteous referred to in Psalm 1 are the sinners who can somehow be counted as righteous when they are not righteous in themselves. How can this happen? How can a holy and righteous God “not count iniquity”? How can a holy and righteous God not count sin? How can He not require perfect righteousness from us? The answer is Jesus Christ, and His righteousness which is counted to us by faith.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that God just forgets about our sin and lets bygones be bygones. God does count iniquity, He does count sin, and He does require perfect righteousness. And that is the real message of the Psalms, and the whole Bible in fact.
They lead us to Christ who “was wounded for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities,” as we read in Isaiah 53. God did count our sin, but He punished it in Christ. He did require righteousness, and He performed it in Jesus Christ.
Psalm 42:2 says, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” That question, “When shall I come and appear before God,” is answered in John 14:9 when Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”
It is also answered by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4, when he said that as we come to saving faith in Jesus we see “the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
When we see the face of Christ, we see the face of God. And we see the glory of His face when we hear the story of the Gospel of His death and resurrection.
This is a major reason why the New Testament uses the book of Psalms to fix our hearts and minds on Jesus, the One who saves us by His grace and through His death on Calvary.
Finally, I want to return briefly to David’s final cry of praise in Psalm 103 that we read earlier. “Bless the Lord, O my soul!”
What does it mean to bless the Lord? We know that He blesses us, but how do we bless Him? What do we have that could possibly bless God? We bless Him when we speak well of His greatness and His goodness. Living a life that praises God, regardless of how good or bad our circumstances may be is such an important part of the life of a Christian. While we may not be happy all of the time, we can be filled with the joy of knowing Christ and His salvation, and that gives us a reason to praise Him.
Psalms 34:1 says, “I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
Blessing the Lord means speaking or singing about the goodness and greatness of the Lord. This is about bearing witness to the greatness and goodness of God, as we point people to the hope we have in Christ.
It’s interesting that whenever Christians are asked to share their testimony, they almost always tell their own conversion story. Now of course, we should be willing to share with others how God has changed our own lives. As 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” There are times when, “This is what God has done in my life,” is the right message to share. Paul shared his Damascus Road experience with a crowd of people in Jerusalem in Acts 22 and again in Acts 26 with King Agrippa in the city of Caesarea. These are the two recorded accounts in Scripture, but there must have been other times that Paul shared his conversion story.
Have a look at John’s words in 1 John 5 though. “If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that He has borne concerning His Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.” (1 John 5:9-11)
The greatest testimony you have is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how your soul blesses the Lord.
Homegroup Study Notes
(In preparation for your time together, read through some of the Psalms)
Read Psalm 103
It has been said of this particular Psalm that it contains the entire message of the Bible as it speaks of both the nature of God, the nature of man, sin and salvation.
Discuss these four points we see in Psalm 103.
Which other Psalms bring a similar message?
It has been estimated that 25 (1 in 6) of the Psalms contain at least one prophecy of Jesus Christ. These are known as the Messianic Psalms, while 11 of the 27 New Testament books contain quotes from these Psalms.
If you have time beforehand, go to www.gotquestions.org/Psalms-Jesus-Christ.html
There is an excellent article on this webpage which shows the prophecies of Jesus in the Psalms, and how they are fulfilled in the New Testament.
How do we see Christ in the Psalms?
What about the Psalms which do not have a clear refence to Jesus – are they about Him or not?
How are we able to use the Psalms to enrich our own prayer life?