- The process of a journey through Psalms reveals a divine order of God as we are given the Word, the trials and testing’s of the wilderness, and ultimately victory in praise as we stay close to the statutes and presence of God. We are given the words of life and the law to keep relationship with God and communion with His Holiness in a covenant love. In time we stray from the statutes and perfect law of God and in our separation we are chastened in love and are taken through a wilderness to reveal that there is no life outside of God’s love. In lament we cry out for the presence and reunion with God’s love and in our time of weakness we find Him and His strength. With God’s love and strength we then overcome our enemies and turn our worship and praise to our loving and faithful God as our redeemer and foundation. In the structure we history laid out as we in the beginning were given the law of the garden and in a time of rebellion we fall and break communion with our Loving God, but are left with a great covenant of redemption. In our fallen state we then endure the wilderness and through many iterations are given grace from God and sustained by God up until the ultimate act of Grace, being the gift of His Son. Now in our time of being fully redeemed to God we praise and glorify God through the established church and holy body of Christ. Each life in Christ experiences every stage of the psalms, but we always end in praise as we live redeemed and loved by God and are the sole objects of His great love and grace.
- Psalms 23 illustrates the great love of our God as he walks with us through all of our life starting in the green pastures of being built up and resting in him. Then going through the trials and struggles of the valley we find the loving chastening is received to promote us even further into relationship with Him. Near the end of the valley I envision a dwelling where we are greeted by God and a blessing beyond our imagining is received as our cup runs over with oil. It is in this dwelling that are seated at the table with Christ receiving His word, His love, and His mercy from our enemies that by the law should be overcoming us in our sin. Being seated at the table is an amazing parallel to our time learning and receiving wisdom from God in Bible college and with each piece of the word received we are assured of verse 6 that goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives and we will be with the Lord forever. What we receive in Bible college will not be taken from us and even our enemies will be seated in peace with us at the Lord’s table. Although we still experience valleys through and after bible college, I find that many of us had to go through a great valley to get here and it seemed everything in the world was out to stop our walk towards the Lord’s house.
- Psalms 19 lays out creation and the establishment of God’s word as truly divine as each book proclaims His glory. With verses 1-6 we see the perfection of creation. Verse 1 proclaiming the heavenly host as a declaration of God’s glory and handy-work. The days speaking of God’s great knowledge, and establishing a great tabernacle for the sun (v.4). It then describes creation (particularly the sun) as a bridegroom coming out of His chamber and nothing being hid in its glorious light and heat. Then it opens into the beauty of God’s statutes using words like pure, right, clean, true, enduring forever, more desirous than gold and sweeter than honey. Both of these books show the power and the great wisdom of our God as he has given us both beauty and intellect to understand the depths of His great character. This psalm is a holistic expression of God’s glory.
- The class that spoke to me most was when we went over the wheel of psalms. The wheel had many spokes of topics spanning various trials, various victories, and different statutes and precepts. The center of the wheel was what really spoke to me as it was trust and faith in God. I find as we grow our spokes grow and we can cover more ground faster, but it doesn’t function at all without faith in our faithful and trustworthy God and His promises. I love how every psalm has a basic structure of crying out, praising, or lamenting first and typically ends with the writer resting in truth and trusting Christ. I find that in every season of life we are to trust Christ all the way through. My spokes in Bible college will expand and grow, leading to an amazing journey with Christ, but through everything my center needs to be a solid faith and trust in God. It is so simple to say and write, but it is one of the most difficult things to do in life as everything is thrown on us to bear and persist through. My strength is in the Lord and it is only by His grace that I am able to grow and go places with the amazing message of Grace and hope.
Transformed To His Way 