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Praise

The Book of Psalms

Praise the Lord! Section 1

March 20, 2017

Theme: Hymns of Praise
 
In this week’s lessons we look at some reasons why David praises the Lord, and see that even his prayer requests are offered with the end result of praise in mind. 
 
Scripture: Psalm 9:1-20
 
If you were to ask any normal churchgoing person to define a psalm, I suppose that what he or she would most naturally compare it to is a hymn. A prayer perhaps, but chiefly a hymn in which David or one of the other authors of the psalms praises God.

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The Book of Psalms

Praise the Lord! Section 2

March 21, 2017

Theme: A Technical Problem
 
In this week’s lessons we look at some reasons why David praises the Lord, and see that even his prayer requests are offered with the end result of praise in mind. 
 
Scripture: Psalm 9:1-20 
 
Before we begin a careful study of this first praise hymn, there is a technical problem that we need to look at, involving this psalm and Psalm 10, which follows it.

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The Book of Psalms

Praise the Lord! Section 3

March 22, 2017

Theme: Praise for Past Deliverance: Victory
 
In this week’s lessons we look at some reasons why David praises the Lord, and see that even his prayer requests are offered with the end result of praise in mind. 
 
Scripture: Psalm 9:1-20
 
The tone of Psalm 9 is set by the first two verses, which declare David’s intention of praising God verbally, with words and in song, and with his whole heart.

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The Book of Psalms

Praise the Lord! Section 4

March 23, 2017

Theme: Praise for Past Deliverance: Justice and Refuge
 
In this week’s lessons we look at some reasons why David praises the Lord, and see that even his prayer requests are offered with the end result of praise in mind. 
 
Scripture: Psalm 9:1-20
 
Yesterday we looked at the first thing for which David praises the Lord in this psalm.  Today we consider the other two.
 
2. The working out of justice and right judgment on earth (vv.

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The Book of Psalms

Praise the Lord! Section 5

March 24, 2017

Theme: Prayer for Future Deliverance
 
In this week’s lessons we look at some reasons why David praises the Lord, and see that even his prayer requests are offered with the end result of praise in mind. 
 
Scripture: Psalm 9:1-20
 
The second part of Psalm 9 is a prayer for future deliverance based on the praise of God for past deliverances recounted in part one (vv. 13-20). This section begins and ends with prayer, just as the first part began and ended with praise.

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: A Praise Psalm of Thanksgiving

July 11, 2018

Theme: Singing and Praise
From this week’s lessons we see that Psalm 66 tells us to praise the Lord and gives us an example of one who is doing just that.
Scripture: Psalm 66:1-20
Pursuing an entirely different line of thought at this point, it is also worth reflecting on what the opening verses of this psalm say about singing, praise and thanksgiving, and about their relationships.

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The Book of Psalms

Friday: A Praise Psalm of Thanksgiving

July 13, 2018

Theme: The Individual before God
From this week’s lessons we see that Psalm 66 tells us to praise the Lord and gives us an example of one who is doing just that.
Scripture: Psalm 66:1-20
In the final two stanzas of the psalm (vv. 13-15 and 16-20) the joyful tumultuous praise of the nations, including the praise of Israel, fades away and the individual psalmist himself remains standing on the stage. Then he speaks two times, first to God, then a second time to anyone who may be listening.

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The Book of Psalms

Monday: An Exuberant Praise Psalm

April 1, 2019

Theme: The Expansion of Worship
In this week’s lessons, we see that all creation is called upon to praise the Lord.
Scripture: Psalm 98:1-9
There is a well-known and frequently quoted passage in Ecclesiastes that declares, “There is a time for everything,…a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance” (Eccles. 3:1, 4).

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The Book of Psalms

Tuesday: An Exuberant Praise Psalm

April 2, 2019

Theme: Our Need for Deliverance
In this week’s lessons, we see that all creation is called upon to praise the Lord.
Scripture: Psalm 98:1-9
Each of the three stanzas of this psalm calls on one part of creation to praise God, and in the first stanza this is Israel (vv. 1-3). This is because, “He [God] has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel” (v. 3).

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: An Exuberant Praise Psalm

April 3, 2019

Theme: A Great Victory!
In this week’s lessons, we see that all creation is called upon to praise the Lord.
Scripture: Psalm 98:1-9
As we read yesterday, the New Testament reveals three kinds of deliverance. We have already looked at the first kind, deliverance from sin.

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: A Warrior’s Morning Song

September 11, 2019

Theme: Confidence in God’s Word
This week’s lessons show us that because God is faithful, we are to praise him and live in confident hope.
Scripture: Psalm 108:1-13
The second section of the psalm contains a prayer to God to save, help and deliver those who have been attacked, probably by the Edomites (v. 6), followed by God’s answer in the form of an oracle (vv. 7-9). The oracle follows so closely upon the appeal that we know that faith has already won a victory, just as in Psalm 60 from which these words are taken.

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The Book of Psalms

Friday: A Warrior’s Morning Song

September 13, 2019

Theme: Jesus, Mighty to Save
This week’s lessons show us that because God is faithful, we are to praise him and live in confident hope.
Scripture: Psalm 108:1-13
How can we take this psalm from its ancient setting and carry its value forward into our own time and beyond? We have already considered that this is a psalm that can provide strength for our conflicts. Today we look at another way.

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The Book of Psalms

Monday: The Shortest Psalm of All

November 18, 2019

Theme: Calling Everyone to Praise God
In this week’s lessons, we are reminded of the need to praise the Lord for his enduring love and faithfulness toward us.
Scripture: Psalm 117:1, 2
This is the shortest psalm in the Psalter, but, as Derek Kidner notes, its faith is “great” and “its reach is enormous.”1

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: The Shortest Psalm of All

November 20, 2019

Theme: God’s Enduring Love
In this week’s lessons, we are reminded of the need to praise the Lord for his enduring love and faithfulness toward us.
Scripture: Psalm 117:1, 2
In yesterday’s study we noted that the gospel was to be extended to the Gentiles. The second thing we need to notice about Psalm 117 is that the reason the Gentiles (along with Jews) are called upon to praise God is God’s love, for it is a love that “endures forever” (v. 2).

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The Book of Psalms

Tuesday: The Last of the Acrostic Psalms

October 27, 2020

Theme: Three Important Statements
In this week’s lessons, from this last psalm of David we see that we are given a guide for how to praise God.
Scripture: Psalm 145:1-21
The nearly parallel lines in verses 1 and 2 make three statements, as we see below.

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: The Last of the Acrostic Psalms

October 28, 2020

Theme: God’s Mercy
In this week’s lessons, from this last psalm of David we see that we are given a guide for how to praise God.
Scripture: Psalm 145:1-21
It was probably his reference to God’s “goodness” in verse 7 that led the psalmist to deal with God’s grace, compassion, patience and rich love (v. 8) in stanza three (vv. 8-13a), the theme introduced by verse 8.

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The Book of Psalms

Monday: Praise the LORD, O My Soul

November 2, 2020

Theme: Reminding Ourselves of God’s Blessings
This week’s lessons show us that it is essential to remember God’s blessings, and how we are to praise God for all that he is and for all he has done for us.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22

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The Book of Psalms

Tuesday: Praise the LORD, O My Soul

November 3, 2020

Theme: How Should a Person Praise God?
This week’s lessons show us that it is essential to remember God’s blessings, and how we are to praise God for all that he is and for all he has done for us.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: Praise the LORD, O My Soul

November 4, 2020

Theme: Why Should a Person Praise God?
This week’s lessons show us that it is essential to remember God’s blessings, and how we are to praise God for all that he is and for all he has done for us.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22
Why should a person praise God? It is because of “all his benefits.” David lists what he means by God’s benefits in verses 3-5.

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The Book of Psalms

Thursday: Praise the LORD, O My Soul

November 5, 2020

Theme: What Is God Like?
This week’s lessons show us that it is essential to remember God’s blessings, and how we are to praise God for all that he is and for all he has done for us.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22
As we read yesterday, we should praise God because of “all his benefits.” David lists what he means by God’s benefits in verses 3-5. Yesterday we looked at God’s gifts of the forgiveness of sins and healing. Today we continue with two more of God’s benefits.

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Friday: Praise the LORD, O My Soul

November 6, 2020

Theme: Who Should Praise God?
This week’s lessons show us that it is essential to remember God’s blessings, and how we are to praise God for all that he is and for all he has done for us.
Scripture: Psalm 103:1-22

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The Book of Psalms

Wednesday: Praise the LORD for Everything

November 11, 2020

Theme: God’s Care for Everything
In this week’s lessons, we are shown an abundance of reasons for which to praise the LORD.
Scripture: Psalm 147:1-20
Reflections on how God brought the exiles back from distant Babylon and reestablished them in a rebuilt Jerusalem leads the psalmist to reflect on God’s power, seen in his numbering and naming of the stars. Truly, “[God’s] understanding has no limit,” he writes (v. 5).

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The Book of Psalms

Tuesday: Praise the LORD in Heaven and on Earth

November 17, 2020

Theme: Praise in the Heavens
In this week’s lessons, we see the comprehensive scope of worship—that all creation, both in heaven and on earth, is to praise the LORD.
Scripture: Psalm 148:1-14
Looking upward first, the psalmist sees two entities that he urges to praise God: the angels and the heavenly bodies. These are above man in the cosmic order, just as they are in Psalm 8 in which David looks upward to “the moon and stars” and “the heavenly beings [elohim]” (Ps. 8:3-5).

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The Book of Psalms

Monday: Praise the LORD with a New Song

November 23, 2020

Theme: Singing a New Song
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of song in worship.
Scripture: Psalm 149:1-9
We need to begin this study by thinking about singing, not performing before an audience, but the kind of singing that takes place because a person is happy and singing seems a natural way to express delight. This happens when a person sings alone, like singing in the shower. But it also happens when a person sings with other people, as Christians do in church.

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Wednesday: Praise the LORD with a New Song

November 25, 2020

Theme: Singing of God as King and Savior
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of song in worship.
Scripture: Psalm 149:1-9
The second truth about God that was a delight to the psalmist is that God is our King.

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The Book of Psalms

Thursday: Praise the LORD with a New Song

November 26, 2020

Theme: Victory in Spiritual Warfare
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of song in worship.
Scripture: Psalm 149:1-9
In yesterday’s study, I concluded with the point that while Christians can serve as soldiers, they are not to try to advance the work of God by killing its enemies.

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The Book of Psalms

Friday: Praise the LORD with a New Song

November 27, 2020

Theme: New Songs on Earth and a New Song in Heaven
In this week’s lessons, we see the importance of song in worship.
Scripture: Psalm 149:1-9
We love the old songs, of course, just as we love the old doctrines (Jer. 6:16). But each generation has fresh lessons of God’s grace, and new experiences of God’s grace call for new songs. Israel had experienced God’s goodness in bringing the people back to their homeland and (probably) giving them a military victory. So they composed this psalm.

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The Book of Psalms

Tuesday: Everybody, Praise the LORD

December 1, 2020

Theme: Where We Should Praise the LORD
In this week’s lessons, we learn how this last psalm teaches and exhorts everyone, everywhere to praise the LORD.
Scripture: Psalm 150:1-6
Where should this be done? Where should “everything that has breath” praise God? The first verse gives us a comprehensive answer. It is “in his sanctuary” and “in his mighty heavens.”

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The Book of Psalms

Thursday: Everybody, Praise the LORD

December 3, 2020

Theme: God-Centered and Mind-Engaging
In this week’s lessons, we learn how this last psalm teaches and exhorts everyone, everywhere to praise the LORD.
Scripture: Psalm 150:1-6
In yesterday’s study we looked at those churches that forbid the use of instruments in worship. But there is another side to this controversy as well. We look at that side in today’s study.

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