The Psalms

The book of Psalms is really a hymn book that records the experiences and the cries of the human heart. If we listen to the Psalms very carefully, I think that we could all join in and accompany the Psalmists in their song. The late Dr. J. Vernon McGee says, “The Psalms record deep devotion, intense feeling, exalted emotion, and dark dejection. They play upon the keyboard of the human soul with all the stops pulled out.”

The book of Psalms is also a HIM book of praises because on its pages we can find Jesus if we look hard enough. In Luke 22:44, Jesus told His disciples, “…Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." Jesus was of course, speaking of His death, burial, and resurrection. However, there’s more than Jesus’ crucifixion on its pages. In the Psalms, Jesus is also the object of the Psalmists praise and worship because this is where the dark nights of the human soul encounter the Light of Heaven.

Every morning I get up and try to have a devotional time with the LORD. Many times I get up feeling “lost.” Many mornings I feel disconnected with myself and with the LORD. There are many mornings that I struggle to find the words to pray and when I do manage to get the words out of my mouth, the words seem shallow and hollow. In times like these, I feel like the words are immediately sucked into a black hole as soon as the words leave my mouth. During these times, one of the things that I do is grab a song book, find an appropriate song that I know, and sing it as my prayer. Singing my prayer helps me to align my thoughts and my emotions and focus them on the LORD. Quite often, the song I choose has its roots in the Psalms.

Some of the Psalms that I sing and pray are, “Unto Thee, O Lord” (Psalms 25), “How Majestic is Your Name” (Psalms 8), “I Will Call Upon the Lord” (Psalms 18), and “Thy Loving Kindness” (Psalms 63). One of the Psalms that I seem to sing and pray on a more regular basis is, “As the Deer.” The first line of this song comes from Psalms 42 and the rest of the song expresses the longings and passions of many other Psalmists.

I’ve come to realize that when I sing the Psalms, I am “confessing” my disconnectedness, anxieties, fears, longings, and passions with a huge cloud of witness and I am so grateful for the modern day composers who have set today’s music to yesteryear’s prayers which enables me to sing and have melody in my heart for Him.