The Book of Psalms begins (1:1) with “Blessed is the man” and ends with five hymns of praise focused on God, equivalent to “Blessed be the LORD.”
There is a step-by-step progression in this praise:
Tag: New Testament
1. Preparation
Learning to pray a psalm in Christ involves study, meditation, and praying in the Spirit. Studying a psalm includes reading it repeatedly from several different translations, focusing attention on its actual words and images, and doing the research necessary to comprehend what the psalmist is saying. Comprehension usually requires using tools like a study Bible, Bible dictionary, and/or commentary.
Adapted from Out of the Depths: The Psalms Speak for Us Today by Bernhard W. Anderson, pp.225-225.
“Echoes of Old Testament psalms are heard in more New Testament passages than those included in this list, which is confined for the most part to direct quotations or specific allusions.”
Midweek supplement to Psalms Group, April 22, 2020
1. God’s Word to His People:
The Book of Psalms is first and foremost God’s Word to his people. We hear the voice of God in each psalm, through the many moods of the Psalms, and the through the varied themes of the Psalms. The purpose of the Psalms is the same as that of any part of Scripture: the Psalms are “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17)
Commenting on Psalms that celebrate the installment and victory of God’s chosen king, NT. Wright calls Psalm 110 “short and startling.” (Wright, The Case for the Psalms, p, 44.) He further comments:
A Psalms Group email preparing for Sunday, April 19, 2020
In addition to reading chapter 3, “History,” of Open and Unafraid, please prepare for our time together tomorrow by reading Psalm 110 from several translations, including a study Bible. Psalm 110 is the most frequently quoted psalm by New Testament writers. It is also the psalm Jesus talks to his critics about in the last days of his earthly life.