Introduction to the Psalms — Psalms 1-150

0:01 Good morning. Happy New Year. Yes. I... It's an exciting time to see what God is gonna do this year and looking forward to it.

0:11 God is always at work, always doing great things. Wouldn't you agree? Amen. Yes. What what I appreciate about New Year's, especially this time, is that when we were growing up, my parents were saved when they were a little older in life.

0:27 And I I I still remember every New Year's, we would go to to the to local church, and we would have a New Year's service. And when that was over, we would go to my grandmother's house. And you're talking about two different extremes. At church, we were thinking about God and worshiping him and and talking about how blessed we were to be a believer. We will go to my grandmother's house and all of my uncles and everybody from the neighborhood, they were all there.

0:55 And it was just a big drunken party. And it was just horrible to to see that all the time, the big contrast. And soon as we would arrive, they would start saying, here comes the Jesus freaks, and they would say all these things to us, which was fine with us. We didn't mind. We were constantly with god's help and also my dad was a strong witness.

1:14 We would always tell him about Jesus and so, at this time of year, I'm always very very grateful that the lord saved me from sin and just makes me reflect on that and think about how great it is to be a believer, to be a believer, and to know Jesus Christ as savior. Well, as you know, we're going to start a a series on the Psalms and before we even get started, I would like to recommend this book. Well, what this is by John Phillips and he actually has five volume set. As you know, there's five books in the Psalms, right? You read the Psalms, you're going to see in the book one, and then you read book two, book three.

1:55 He has five volumes. This is to me the the the best commentator on the Psalms you can get. He'll give you the historical background. He'll give you a nice outline, explain the verses really clear to where when you're done, you understand the chapter, what it's about, what it means, how to apply it to your life. So I strongly recommend it.

2:15 There's five of them. You can't go to the bookstore and get them. Have to go on Amazon or something because these are some of the great writers of of yesteryear. Right? But strongly recommend this man.

2:28 If you want to look at it, I'll have it with me. You can look at it later. Very good. The Psalms. I love the Psalms.

2:37 When you read Proverbs, Proverbs is more on a horizontal level. It talks about how to deal with man, how to be wise, how to be careful, watch his speech, watch how you handle your money, and all those kind of things. But when you get to the Psalm, you see prayers. You see how people communicate with God. You see reality.

2:59 That's what I like about the Psalms. I personally have read through them many times, and I've been every time I read them, I'm blessed. And so knowing that I was going to do the intro, I read through them slowly and carefully. And wow, once again, the lord has just filled me with joy as I've read them. Well, I haven't read all of them yet.

3:20 I'm I'm plowing through them. I was going to try to get through off one fifty but as you know, when you start reading scripture, suddenly you you you look at some chapters and you can't just read through them. You have to like think about, wow, this is this is awesome and you want to read through it and take your time and meditate it and then you start studying it. So because of that, in this particular week, I wasn't able to get all the way to 150. But I was thoroughly blessed getting all the way through the 70s.

3:47 Yes, indeed. Okay, the Psalms. Let's talk about them. If we can go to the next slide. Alright?

3:54 The the songs are are are really songs. The Psalms are songs. That's what they really were. They were well, I'll get into that more in a minute but they were they were songs and and their prayers and their experiences in life. So as you read through them, you're going to see so many so many times men praying and crying out to God.

4:15 For example, Psalm 13. How long, oh God? How long? Why haven't you answered me? And four times he asked the question, how long?

4:22 Then you get to Psalm 22 and and the same thing. God, where are you? I've been praying and you don't answer me. Tremendous prayer and and as you go to the Psalms, you'll see a lot of prayers. So, you see songs, you see prayers, and you see prophecies about Christ.

4:39 That's what messianic means. Messianic prophecies. Prophecies talk about Christ. And you're gonna see Christ in so many of the Psalms. I'm gonna give you just a little taste of them in this in this intro, but such beautiful prophecies about Jesus.

4:55 And it's kind of exciting when you get to them to see how the Lord speaks through them. Okay. A couple of other details will be there for a minute, so don't don't touch it yet. There's several different writers of the Psalms. David wrote 70 something of the Psalms.

5:12 Solomon wrote one Asaph. Now Asaph, for your information, one of the choir directors. And Ethan, the Ezra height was also a choir director. Cora, they were singers. Moses wrote one and Heman was also a choir director.

5:31 So, we know that just because of their titles that David or other men would write the songs and sometimes even the choir directors would and then they would put music to them and then the congregation would sing them. And as you know, we have sung many songs, right? You know a lot of songs. I know them in Spanish and English, a lot of Psalms and there I really appreciate them. Either way, they're very spiritual and they bless me and they could bless you too.

5:56 Learn Spanish and you see what I mean. Alright. Amen. Okay. So, as I said before, there's five books.

6:06 One through chapter one through 41 is the first book. 42 to 72 is the second book. 72 to 39 is the third. 90 to 106 is the fourth, 107 to 150 is the fifth. Now, when you look at the Psalms, for example, let's go to chapter two.

6:40 Now you're going see it says, a Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son. Now, that particular superscription and the ones throughout all the Psalms, they were not part of the original text. They were added on later, but notice that they are historically accurate. In other words, whatever is written on there is correct, it's accurate. You will not find in any way, shape, or form that they're wrong.

7:05 And so when you look at the superscription, it pretty much is right on in what it's saying. All right, so I just thought you'd make a little note of that. All right, but that to me they're very helpful. Because it tells you for example chapter three tells you that David wrote it and why do you wrote it? Why do you write it?

7:23 Because he was fleeing from Absalom and this is some of his thoughts that he wrote when he was fleeing from Absalom. So it helps you to to understand wow this is why it was written. This is what he said. So have you been fleeing from from a child that's trying to kill you, read Psalm three and that'll comfort you. Alright.

7:41 That's it. Well, maybe he's rebellious and not trying to kill you, maybe in his mind he is, you don't even know about it. But, so anyway, there you go. All right. So let's get into it.

7:54 Let's go to the next slide, please. Alright, there's songs of worship, thanksgiving, and praise. Ephesians five nineteen, speaking to one another in Psalms of the Bible even says that as we're growing in the lord, as we're rejoicing as a Christian body, part of our language should be to to sing together, to speak to one another with a Psalm and a hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the lord and so that's part of the exhortation. Get those Psalms and speak to one another with them. Sing to one another with these Psalms and so beautiful.

8:31 Now, I want to look at the superscription of a lot of these Psalms just kind of to help us understand again why they were written. Let's look at Psalm four. Psalm four. For the choir director on stringed instruments. And so you see the Psalm is written and then the choir director gets it and they're going to put they're going to have string instruments with this particular song.

8:57 And so I grew up hearing that there was some particular churches that didn't like piano, they liked pianos but not guitar, guitar were worldly and all those things. All you had to do really is just go to Psalm four and says, but it says on string instruments. String instruments, if I'm not mistaken, is a guitar type of instrument and so, there you have it and then look at Psalm five for the choir director for flute a compliment and so, there you go. There's a flute also. Would have the flute, and they would accompany this particular psalm.

9:29 And let's follow a few more. Psalm number six, for the choir director, with string instruments upon the eight string lyre, whatever that thing was, they would also accompany them in their singing, some of their instruments of those days. And Psalm seven, how do we pronounce that word of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning Cush, Benjamin, that gives you a little bit of history behind why that was written. So this guy was was an enemy of David and when he was defeated, he he he wrote that particular Psalm. Look at look at Psalm eight also.

10:07 For the choir director on Giddith, a a Psalm of David for the choir director was going to sing that song. You can see the same thing in Psalm nine. Let's look at verse number 12. For the choir director upon the A string lyre, there it is again. And look at Psalm 18, we'll just stop there.

10:28 There's a lot of other examples, but I'm just giving you a little a little flavor, a little taste. For the choir director, a Psalm of David, the servant of the lord, who spoke to the lord the words of this song in the day that the lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and this is what he said. So, when when Saul died and the news came to him that Saul his his enemy finally died after thirteen to fifteen years of being threatened by him and and running for for his life from this man. This Psalm was written then after that reality and so, if you've been in tremendous trouble, maybe threatened by cancer or other sicknesses or maybe somebody did try to kill you. I know my brother went to an experience like that when somebody threatened his life.

11:17 Tremendous. You can go and read this Psalm right here and and it'll comfort you. And so the the Psalms weren't just randomly written. There's purpose behind them. So that's why I say you get a book like this and it'll help you to understand why it was written and how to apply it to your life.

11:34 And then you get a lot more out of it when you read the Psalm. So anyway, I've been blessed by it. Maybe it doesn't bless you, but it did me. We can go to the next slide, please. All right, right here.

11:45 Psalm 32. Let's look at a couple of Psalms real quick. Psalm 33. And now I'm gonna talk to you about how how the Lord loves for us to to sing to him, to to praise him, to worship him. Psalm 33 verse one, sing for joy in the Lord, all you righteous ones.

12:07 Praise is becoming to the upright. And so, wow, the the Psalm exhorts us to to sing to the Lord, and it's becoming, it's correct. Give thanks to the lord with the lyre. Sing praises to him with harp of 10 strings and so there you go. Even the harp would be something that could be used to to worship him to praise the lord.

12:28 So, it's becoming to the saints to worship him. Let's go to Psalm one forty six. Psalm one forty six. And again, let's look at just the first couple of verses. Praise the lord.

12:44 Praise the lord, oh my soul. I will praise the lord while I live. I will sing praises to my god while I have been And so again, we see the scriptures exhorting believers. Praise him. Worship him while you're alive.

13:00 While you're alive, do it now. Sing to him. Worship your God. Look at Psalm one forty seven. Praise the Lord, for it is good to sing praises to our God, for it is pleasant and praises becoming.

13:14 Look at that. And again, the exhortation to worship him, to praise him. Psalm 149, praise the Lord, Sing to the lord a new song and and his praise in the congregation of his godly ones and of course and then Psalm 150, praise the lord. Praise god in his sanctuary. Here we are, right?

13:34 And we were praising him a while ago, weren't we? And but we're still are in our hearts. We're still singing a melody in our hearts. Amen? That's right.

13:42 We're singing to god. Praise him in his mighty expanse. Praise him for his mighty deeds. Praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with trumpet, with harp, with lyre.

13:52 Praise him with, what is that, timbrel and dancing. Praise him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise him with a loud cymbals. Praise him with a resounding symbols. Let everything that has breath.

14:05 Praise the lord. Praise the lord. Wow. Doesn't it make you want to just start praising? Wow.

14:10 And and you can almost picture a whole orchestra. Names all kinds of instruments and and so the lord delights when his people, when we sing for joy. Sing for joy and maybe we we're not always together so that we can sing as a body but you know, in your heart, even when you're going to bed, you can sing to the lord, right? And when you're meditating, when you're going to work, you know, they look at you. That guy's crazy.

14:34 That's alright. You just praise the lord. You worship him and and don't worry about it. Okay. The next slide.

15:09 So, let we don't really do that today because we're not Jewish in nature and all that but what they would do is walk into the temple to celebrate these feast. They would be singing these Psalms, singing them out. The the next one, okay? In Psalm twenty six thirty, when they were doing the the the lord's supper, the lord with his disciples after they finished the Lord's Supper and the Lord spoke to them and encouraged them, he says, they sang a hymn. Did you notice that?

15:38 Have you ever noticed that? It's right there. Alright. Now, what they sang was it was the sing that the the song that they sang was what we call the traditional songs of Haleel. And these were Psalms 113 to 118, and it was recited on the Passover.

15:54 And so all of the commentators pretty much agree that what they sang after they did the the Lord's Supper for the first time, and the Jesus who is our Passover, that they probably sang Psalm 113 to 118, the Halil at that time. So that's what they sang. I I found that very interesting, very intriguing, good information. Okay. Let's go to the next slide.

16:20 Yes. Okay. What what I what I really appreciate about the Psalms is that they they're they're about everyday experiences. And all you have to do is read through them, read the superscriptions, and the descriptions follow the background over and you're like, wow, I can I can this can apply to me? I I understand it.

16:41 I it helps me. And so, just a few of them just to kind of to give you some some some help. Psalm three as we said it was Absalom's rebellion. Just in case you have a rebellious son or daughter or or or whatever friend, this is a good Psalm to look at. If you're have been sinning and then the spirit of god convicts you of that sin and you repent or or or maybe just want to read this Psalm.

17:09 It'll it'll cause you to say, wow, I need to get it right. And and it talks about it's a repentance prayer and it talks about the consequences of not repenting. Then you go to Psalm 51. They usually link together. Psalm 51 is a repentance and restoration prayers, you know, and the superscription will tell you is after Nathan reproved David, David then repented and this is what he wrote to try to get right with God.

17:37 Psalm 55, a prayer about the rebellion of Absalom again and the return of Ahithophel, his intimate friend. So have you ever been let down by a close friend? Or your son again is rebellious against you? Well, wow, what a what a Psalm to encourage you to lift you up. Psalm 56, when you were afraid.

18:00 Have you ever been afraid? Have you ever cried all night, because you're scared? Maybe you heard the news of cancer or something, or you're missing a child or something happens? What a song. David says he's he's crying.

18:17 He was afraid. He was scared. And then then we get to Psalm 57 when he fled from Saul in a cave. And and it's a terrible thing to have your life threatened. And you're fleeing and you feel scared.

18:31 And that's a Psalm about that. Psalm 59, when men were spying on him to trap him. Have you ever been to where you think that that someone is trying to to catch you in something, to accuse you? And and you always feel like everywhere you look someone is is spying on you. That's a tremendous Psalm to help you with that.

18:51 Psalm 60, when in war, when fighting a battle. You know, David went to a lot of wars and his life was threatened. He had to kill. Men who have gone into battles have been comforted by by by this Psalm. And even people who who now are are suffering in jail because of the testimony of Christ.

19:15 This talks about that. Psalm 63, when he was in the wilderness of Judah, again, fleeing from David in a cave. So you ever feel abandoned? You ever feel lonely? This is a good Psalm to look at.

19:32 That it'll encourage you to lift you up. Psalm 53, when when frustrated when life is unfair. How many of us have have never said, that's not fair. Alright? How many of us have said it over a 100 times?

19:45 I, everybody, right? We always say, that's not fair. Well, there you go. Read Psalm 73. Asaph said, he was so frustrated with god because he was looking at how the wicked would prosper and saying that life was unfair that he almost denied the faith.

20:03 Tremendous and this helps you get through that because we struggle with those issues. And Psalm 137 went in prison in Babylon. Again, the martyrs right now, I'm sure are comforted and the the the ones who were murdered for Christ, the ones who are in jail right now because of their testimony. What would go to these Psalms and be comforted by them. In Psalm one forty two, a prayer when feeling abandoned and lonely from a cave.

20:29 And so sometimes we feel that nobody understands us. We feel lonely. We feel like there's no one I can talk to. That's a that's a great Psalm. Psalm 34, you remember when David went into the camp of the Philistines?

20:45 What was he thinking, right? So, next thing you know, he's encircled by the enemy that we think this is David. This guy was so scared. He started, you know, slobbering on himself to make himself act like he was crazy. Do you think he was scared?

20:59 He was scared out of his pants. Right? And so he faint like he was crazy to save his life. And so that psalm was written for for the, that's what he was wrote after his experience with that. And again, Psalm 35 was being hunted by Saul and Psalm 38 also Psalm 102, when you're sick.

21:21 Have you ever read those Psalm when you're sick, when your bones hurt, when you have fever? You can go in there and read. He says, my bones are burning like fire. He's talking about a fever. I ache and people stay away from me.

21:32 Watch out, he's sick. And so that's a good song to read when you're feeling sick, when you're feeling sick. Alright? So now we're going get to the next section. The the Psalm, the Messianic Psalm, prophetic Messianic.

22:02 Who? Somebody said they were doing it. So I don't want to take away their thunder. But as you read Psalm two, nobody fits fits that description. Nobody, no human person.

22:15 You're like, wait a minute, who in the world is it talking about? And as you read it, it's absolutely 100% talking about Jesus Christ and no one else, right? So, that's what we call a messianic Psalm. You you can't mistake it for anyone else. Period.

22:29 The whole Psalm from beginning to end and this Psalm is quoted in the New Testament several times and that New Testament quoted by Peter says it was talking about Jesus. So he clarifies it in case you're confused. Right? That this was actually speaking about Jesus. So Psalm two is talking about his sonship and the ultimate king of the world, alright?

22:50 So, the next Psalm will be Psalm 22. Now, this is another and and this Psalm is remarkable because it describes the whole cross and we can look at a few of the verses in in that Psalm just to give you a little taste. Again, I don't know who's going to expound this particular text but as you read it, you're like, wait a minute, there's no way this could be true of David. Some of it is true of him but not all of it. So, when when you're reading some of the Psalms, you gotta think, well, that that verse sounds familiar.

23:29 You're go to and and usually your Bible have a an emerging a a New Testament quote where it was quoted. Then you go there and you're like, oh. So, it wasn't talking about David. It was talking about Jesus. Even though, for example, let me just read verse one.

23:47 Verse one and two. My god, my god, why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning. Oh my god, I cry by day and thou does not answer and by night but I have no rest, alright? So, David was actually experiencing this when year after year, Saul was chasing him around and he felt that god wasn't listening to his prayers.

24:10 That he was forsaken by god. Now, we know by looking at all the scriptures that god never forsakes his own. Amen? We're like, wait a minute, what David was feeling that but it wasn't true And yet you look at the at the margin, it'll say Mark, Matthew 27, right? And forty forty six.

24:32 And they also say Mark. So all of a sudden you go to the cross and from the cross Jesus said, my God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? And the the thing is that what what David thought was true, he thought that the father had forsaken him was really true of Jesus because when god laid the sin of man on Jesus, he actually forsook him. And we're like, oh, so that has this fulfillment in the person of Jesus and so we know then that it's a messianic Psalm. Let's look at a few more examples.

25:06 Verse 12, many bulls have surrounded me, bulls of Bashan, all the people who encircled them on the cross. They opened wide their mouth at me as a as a reveling and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all of my bones are out of joint? We believe that that means is when he was hanging on the crosses, you know when they whipped him, they tore his skin. And when he was hanging across, he looked down.

25:32 You could probably see some of his bones from the ripped skin. And so it's a picture of the cross. Let's keep looking. You see what I mean. My strength is dried up like a patcher, and my tongue cleaves to my jaw.

25:47 And again, that's the description of the cross. You get very thirsty and your tongue sticks to the top of your mouth. And thou does lay me in the dust of death. Notice verse 16, for dogs have surrounded me, a band of evildoers has encompassed me. They pierced my hand and my feet.

26:06 Folks, this was written nine hundred years before Christ was born. The cross, the crucifixion was not invented into the Romans around the year 100 or maybe in the sixties, a few years before Christ was born. They didn't even know about a piercing in a cross and yet there it is right there. I can cut all my bones. Verse 17, they look at me and they stare at me when he was in the cross.

26:33 And so as as you read this Psalm, you're wow, it's a it's a scene of the cross. It's a messianic Psalm. David wasn't pierced to to a tree, to a cross. So we know that it can be true of David, but it is totally true of Jesus. That's that's a messianic Psalm.

26:53 Psalm Psalm 45. Next, Psalm 45. Let's take a quick peek at that one. Psalm 45. And and I know you're going to go back and and study on your own.

27:04 I'm just kind of giving you a little taste. Getting you excited about it. Alright, we we know again that Psalm 45, the the background is a wedding. So, whoever likes to get married or or there's gonna be a wedding soon or whatever, you wanna read this Psalm? Though the the the the wife won't be too excited because it's based on the man.

27:27 As you know, back then, the Bible, the the man, the groom was was the focus of the wedding, not the bride like today. Right? So, I think we should go back to that kind of, you know. Amen. Amen.

27:43 Alright. Now, the reason we know, I don't want to go into detail on this one right now, but the reason we know that it's talking about crisis, we could look at verse six. Thy throne, oh god, is forever and ever. A scepter of righteousness is a scepter of thy kingdom. The psalmist guided by the holy spirit as he's observing this wedding says to this king in the wedding, right?

28:08 You're god. Now, last time I looked, no one describes the god man. No one is god and man at the same time outside of Jesus. So, we're looking at this Psalm. You're like, wait a minute, it can't be talking about an earthly king because he just called them god.

28:31 So, this Psalm is is absolutely totally messianic. Even though it was a historical wedding, which the writer went to the wedding, observed the wedding, said, wow, what a wedding. And he and all his focus is on the groom and how great he is, how beautiful he is. We're like, wow, he's talking about Jesus. It's a messianic Psalm.

28:53 And so the whole Psalm is about Jesus Christ. So don't don't miss that as you're looking at this Psalm. It's a beautiful Psalm. One of my favorites. Maybe next time if nobody touches that Psalm, if I'm, when it's my turn again, I'll I'll dig into this Psalm with you.

29:09 We'll be blessed by it. Psalm 69. Psalm 69. We looked at this one in the lord's supper this morning. That Psalm 69.

29:19 Absolutely messianic. It's talking about Jesus. Now, again, you might want to make a little note on this. This Psalm is talking about the emotion, the feeling of Jesus on the cross. It it focuses on how he felt and so you'll see over and over again, I was a stranger.

29:41 I I I felt lonely. I felt embarrassed. I felt shame. My heart was broken and and so he talks a lot about his feelings. I felt like I was stuck in mud and and so forth and it's again, the scene of the cross.

29:58 So, it's incredible how many times the Psalms give us a whole Psalm just about the cross, just about the cross. And so that's a beautiful Psalm to study. Psalm 110. Psalm 110. Go there next.

30:17 And I know what you're thinking. Oh, man, the introductions aren't fun because you only get a little taste and then you move on. Well, that's why it's an intro. So I myself would rather just stay in one text and expound it, but it's an intro. Alright.

30:32 Now, again, Psalm 110 is focusing on Christ as the priest. Christ as the priest, alright? And and so, the whole thing is about him as a priest. Verse four, the the lord has sworn and and will not change his mind. Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

30:52 And if you go to Hebrews, you're gonna see that it's quoted and it's telling you that's talking about Jesus Christ. So Psalm 110 again is another messianic Psalm speaking about Jesus' priesthood. Isn't that amazing how the Psalms talk so much about Jesus in all the aspects of his life? His priesthood, his kingship, his death his death on the cross, how he felt on the cross, the the details of the cross. It is just totally totally amazing.

31:41 And this would some of the commentaries call it partial messianic. That that that's pretty good, pretty good description. Okay. So some specific mentions, for example, Psalm sixteen eight to 10, you can read it later. It's talking about the resurrection.

31:57 And Acts chapter two would tell you, Psalm 16 was saying, Jesus was not going to remain dead in the grave but was going to resurrect. So, it gives you an interpretation of that particular text. The next one, Psalm thirty one five is a prayer from the cross. Next, Psalm thirty four twenty where it says that on the cross, he wasn't going to have any bones broken. And you can read that.

32:22 Again, those are fulfilled prophecies. A lot of em that became true of Christ because we know that. David had some bones broken. Pretty sure, right? But let's start talking about the cross.

32:34 Okay. Psalm 46 to eight is quoted in in Hebrews 10 and it's talking about the obedient servant coming in flesh to die for us and you know, Hebrews 10 where it says, sacrifice did not please you but so you gave me a body And I was obedient, I came to do your will, and wow, beautiful beautiful Psalm. How how exciting some of these Psalms are. You need to look at them. Okay.

33:03 Other other messianic Psalms is totally messianic. I forgot to put it on the slide. It's Psalm 72. You can make a note of that if you want. Psalm 72.

33:13 Go to the next slide. Let me see. Is that all I put? Let me see if I put anything else. I think that's it, right?

33:20 Yeah, that was it. I had a lot more but I didn't want to over over, you know, do it with that but you can look at Psalm 68. That that's another one where where Christ is quoted in Ephesians four. You can look at Psalm one hundred and eighteen and twenty two when he's quoted in in in Matthew. And so we see Christ all over the Psalms.

33:43 So when you read the Psalms, don't forget to look for Christ in the Psalms because remember, Christ is the sinner of scripture. He's a sinner of scripture and let me close out with Psalm 33. Now, let's I thought I'd pick a few verses and we just plant ourselves there for a minute. So you won't go home and say, man, Ray just gave us a bunch of information. So let's meditate on this Psalm.

34:14 Psalm 33. This, again, this is an untitled Psalm, so we're not sure who the author was. But we can say that it it encourages to sing, sing for joy in the Lord, oh you righteous ones. Praises be coming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre.

34:36 Sing praises to him with a harp of 10 strings. Sing to him a new song. Play skillfully and with a shout of joy. So when we do sing, we're supposed to sing with excitement, right? With, wow, we're singing to God.

34:51 The Lord help us not to be mundane or just okay, we're to sing a song. That our spirit should be excited that we're singing to the living God. Amen? Right? And so with a new song, with fresh lips, with joyful hearts, we should be singing to God.

35:08 And he gives you a couple of reasons for the word of the Lord is upright. The first thing he says is, here's one of the reasons, God's holy word. God's holy word. Praise God for the Bible. All right?

35:21 And it's upright. It's correct in what it says. This is one reason we should sing to God. And then he says, and all his work is done in faithfulness. Everything he does, he's faithful.

35:33 He's faithful. That's another reason. And he loves righteousness and justice. Well, that's another reason. He's righteous.

35:42 He's just. And the earth is full of his loving kindness of the Lord. He's so full of grace and he's so righteous in everything he does. Well, that's a great reason to praise the Lord. Now I want to focus now on verse 13, because as I've been digging into the Psalms and really studying them, this is what I've come out learning above all.

36:31 So God is looking. He made us. He understands how we are. He understands what we do. And here's what he wants us to know.

36:40 The king is not saved by a mighty army. Wow. A warrior is not delivered by great strength. Now, doesn't make sense. You're like, wait a minute.

36:55 If there's an army of a 100,000 going against an army of 20,000, it's it's pretty obvious that the the one that has a 100,000 is going to win. But god says, that's not true. You remember Jehoshaphat when he was facing an army of a million men? And they are, lord, what are we going to do? And they started singing praises to god and god took care of the issue.

37:20 And this is so hard for us because we live by faith and not by sight to understand this truth. And I'm asking the Lord to help me to believe it every day. That Lord, it's not how great the problem is. It's not how great the enemy is. It's not how great the army is or how strong I may be.

37:41 Because I may have an army or an enemy or someone that's coming against me that's so great. It could be cancer. It could be somebody trying to get a lawsuit against you. It could be a financial crisis. It's something huge.

37:57 You don't win the victory outside of God's help. A warrior is not delivered by his great strength. A horse is a false hope for victory. And I was thinking, how could I apply that to my life today? I don't run around with a horse to win a victory, right?

38:17 And so I I was thinking about whatever whatever I'm trusting in to give me victory, it has to be the lord. It has to be the lord. Not not the horse, not not how how wise I am, not how great my car is, not how strong I am. It's not a horse nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. By its great strength.

38:42 And so, blesses the man. Notice verse 12, blesses the nation whose god is Lord, the people whom he has chosen for his own inheritance. So we we trust God for victory. Could we win the battle of the cross? No, it had to be Jesus.

38:59 He had to win that for us. Could we win the battle over sin? No. God had to do it. And so by the time we're we're done thinking about all the things that we were helpless, we're like, wow, god is the one that gives the victory.

39:16 He's the one that forgives sin. We can never do it. He's the one that gives us eternal life. How can I ever give myself eternal life? How can I give myself the victory?

39:25 And so Lord, teach me to understand this fundamental truth that you want to teach us, and you're going see it throughout the Psalms. Stop trusting in man whose breath is in his nostrils, but trust God. And then verse 18 kind of like compresses this thought, behold the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him. Now take a quick peek at Psalm 50 to continue the thought. I'm not jumping around on you again but just look at this one real quick.

40:25 That we call to God in the day of trouble? And and he rescued us. And now what do we do? We honor him. We worship him.

40:34 We praise him. We acknowledge him. Verse 23, he who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me and to him who orders his way right, I will show the salvation of God. Wow. So the the Psalms, I absolutely love them.

40:56 They have they they are such a comfort to me when when I've been depressed, when I've been discouraged, when I've been defeated, when I feel down, I go to the Psalm and and I can identify with David in his pain. I can identify with his prayers and and here's the interesting thing about it. David is so, god, I've been praying and you don't answer me and I've been praying and you don't answer me but I have trusted you. I have trusted you. Throughout the years, I have learned to trust you even when I have to wait.

41:28 And so the Psalms are gonna bless us, brother. I'm excited about this particular study that we're gonna go through. And just as said, like I said, just going through this, preparing this intro was enough to give me just rejoicing it, and it really helped my attitude so that I wouldn't be depressed or down. But to be encouraged that quit trusting in yourself. Quit trusting in man.

41:59 From salvation through your victory in your daily walk to the eternity with him forever. God did it all. Amen? Amen. Father, thank you.

42:10 Thank you for the Psalms. We're amazed at how they speak about Jesus. He's everywhere in the Psalms. And Lord help us to draw close to him as we study these Psalms. And and Lord we're amazed at these prayers.

42:27 They were so honest from the gut Lord these prayers. And we can identify with that. And Lord, thank you that through that you teach us not to trust in the strength of man. But anew. You are our victory.

42:44 We bless you Lord, we're excited, we do want to sing for joy, we do want to sing a new song, we do want to worship you. Help us, we pray. In Jesus name, amen.