The Use of Psalms in Christian Worship

Paul writes in Colossians 3:16, Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

These words address participation in Christian assembly and tells us to use Psalms. We should read them, pray them, sing them and teach and preach them. Three recently used psalms demonstrate this. The psalms reviewed are, first of all,  Psalm 130, a prayer of lament and petition resulting in a self exhortation and a group exhortation. 

For the next service we turned to Psalm 105. However, Psalm 105 and 106 are actually one psalm of poetic historical narrative of God's dealings with his chosen people, the Hebrews, Israel. The psalm is an exhortation to praise God and a teaching device to encourage spiritual renewal in light of God's faithfulness. 

Lastly, we used Psalm 86, a prayer of David in the form of lament and petition to Yahweh, the Lord.  It is a heartfelt prayer of deep relationship with God confessing God's uniqueness- You alone are God. 

There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
    nor are there any works like yours.
9 All the nations you have made shall come

and worship before you, O Lord,
    and shall glorify your name.

10 For you are great and do wondrous things;
    you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Yahweh,
    that I may walk in your truth;
    unite my heart to fear your name.

12 I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart,

and I will glorify your name forever.

13 For great is your steadfast love toward me

Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad
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Psalms 119:105 Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.

Transcript

Welcome to Bible Insights with Wayne Conrad

God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light on our path. Today's topic is the use of Psalms in Christian worship. In our assembly over the last three Sundays, we have been teaching and preaching on three different Psalms. It's good to preach the Psalms occasionally, but it's always valuable to use them in the worship of God in various ways: by reading them, praying them, singing them, or singing songs composed based on them that paraphrase or convey their message in music that people sing today.

I want to review these three Psalms briefly, rooting our discussion in Colossians chapter 3, verse 16. The apostle writes, "Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you. In all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another through Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts." Notice the use of the plural "you" in this verse. It speaks to Christian worship, emphasizing that in our services, we need to let the word of Christ dwell richly among us. We do this by teaching and admonishing one another, using Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to complete this process. While this isn't the only thing we do, these are God-ordained vehicles through which we worship God together, functioning in specific ways in our worship.

Let me illustrate this with the three Psalms we've covered. We began with Psalm 130, a song of ascent, which the Israelites sang as they went up the mountain toward Jerusalem for God's annual feasts. It is a prayer addressed to God. In many Bibles, you'll see "LORD" in all caps, representing God's personal name, YHWH, pronounced Yahweh, and "Lord" in lower case, meaning Adonai, or master, sovereign, king.

Here is the prayer from Psalm 130 (ESV, with "Yahweh" for "LORD" in all caps): "Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Yahweh. O Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy. If you, O Yahweh, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared. I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits, and in his word, I hope. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in Yahweh, for with Yahweh there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption, and he will redeem Israel from all of its iniquities."

This psalm begins as a prayer addressed directly to God, with the psalmist in distress, seeking God's mercy. He grounds his request in God's gracious and forgiving nature, noting that God does not mark the iniquities of His people through faith in His name. The psalmist encourages himself, saying, "I wait for Yahweh. My soul waits, and in his word, I hope," then exhorts Israel to hope in Yahweh for His steadfast love and plentiful redemption. This is a great psalm for singing, praying, teaching, and preaching. Open your Bible to Psalm 130 and use it in worship, both privately and corporately. That Sunday's sermon, "Waiting for God's Redemption," was delivered by Pastor Jeff.

The next Sunday, we turned to Psalm 105, a rather long psalm. In fact, Psalms 105 and 106 form one composition in the Hebrew Bible, though divided into two in most Protestant and Catholic Bibles. Psalm 105 begins with an exhortation: "O give thanks to Yahweh. Call upon his name. Make known his deeds among the peoples. Sing to him, sing praises to him. Tell of all his wondrous works. Glory in his holy name. Let the heart of those who seek the Lord, Yahweh, rejoice. Seek Yahweh and his strength. Seek his presence continually." This psalm is primarily one of exhortation, followed by a poetic narrative of God's dealings with Israel. It concludes in Psalm 106:47 with a brief prayer: "Save us, O Yahweh, our God, and gather us from among the nations that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise," followed by a doxology in Psalm 106:48: "Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say amen, praise Yahweh." This is where we get the word "hallelujah," meaning "praise Yah" or "praise God."

Last Sunday, I preached on Psalm 86, a lament and petition. Let’s pray it with David, using the Christian Standard Bible: "Listen, Yahweh, and answer me, for I’m poor and needy. Protect my life, for I’m faithful. You are my God. Save your servant who trusts in you. Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant’s life, because I appeal to you, Lord. For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you. Yahweh, hear my prayer. Listen to my plea for mercy. I call on you in the day of my distress, for you will answer me. Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours. All the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor your name, for you are great and perform wonders. You alone are God. Teach me your way, Yahweh, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear your name. I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever. For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescued my life from the depths of Sheol. God, arrogant people have attacked me. A gang of ruthless men intends to kill me. They do not let you guide them, but you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth. Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give your strength to your servant. Save the son of your female servant. Show me a sign of your goodness. My enemies will see it and be put to shame because you, Yahweh, have helped and comforted me."

I urge you to open the book of Psalms and use it in your daily devotions and public worship on the Lord’s day. Read it, pray it, sing it, teach it—it’s authorized and commanded by scripture. We don’t need to use a specific translation or recite the exact words every time, but our worship, devotion, and prayers should be grounded in the Psalms. This was the songbook of ancient Israel and the early Christians, and it should remain ours as well. Combine it with other great hymns and spiritual songs we sing today, but open God’s word, read it, pray it, meditate on it, teach it, and extol God with the inspired words of the Psalms.

This has been Wayne Conrad with Bible Insights.