Sing to Him a new Song
If there is one book which is more frequently read from the Old Testament by the believers today, it will be the book of Psalms. It is perhaps the most read book of the entire bible. For hundreds, and thousands of years, the faithful have reached into the book of Psalm to find encouragement, comfort, and strength.
In Psalm 100:2, Scripture tells us, that we should approach the Lord with joyous singing, praising, and thanksgiving, and the Scripture points us in multiple places that we sing to the Lord through the book of Psalms. So, if there is a day where you struggle to pray, pick up the book of Psalms, get into your room, close the door, and start reading out from the Psalms on your knees. Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 are songs of ascent and are very helpful Psalms to start praising God when you do not know how to.
Sing to Him, sing psalms to Him; Talk of all His wondrous works! – 1 Chronicles 16:9
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms – James 5:13(b)
The structure of Psalm
Before we get into Psalm 1:1, let us understand the structure of the book. Not many may be aware that the book of Psalm is a collection of five books. The bible we carry should have the books clearly called out since that is the way the Lord gave the book, and that is the way the Hebrew scriptures are maintained. Each book carries a specific theme which is consistent across all the chapters within that book. So, if your bible does not split the Psalm into books, it may be helpful if you get one which does that.
Book 1 | Psalm 1 – Psalm 41.
Book 2 | Psalm 42 – Psalm 72.
Book 3 | Psalm 73 – Psalm 89.
Book 4 | Psalm 90 – Psalm 106.
Book 5 | Psalm 107 – Psalm 150.
The Author of Psalm
We typically associate David as the author for the book of Psalm, but Scripture lists more than one author.
David – 73 Psalms
Asaph – 12 Psalms
Korah – 10 Psalms
Solomon – 2 Psalms
Ethan the Ezrahite – 1 Psalm
Moses – 1 Psalm
Korah & Heman the Ezrahite – 1 Psalm
No author mentioned – 50 Psalms
Though there are several authors listed, we as believers should know, that the real author is the Holy Spirit Himself, that is how the disciples read the book of Psalm. In Acts 4, when they cry out to God asking for boldness, they quote the book of Psalm (Psalm 2) and say that it was spoken by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of David. That is how we should approach and read the book of Psalm. Though the Lord used various scribes to write, the word was spoken by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of the authors.
“who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘why did the nations rage, and the people plot vain things? – Acts 4:25
Not a random collection of Poems
At times we may assume, that this is a random collection of poems which were collected and added together. It is not so, as we saw earlier, there are five books, and within each book the Psalms are sequentially organized for a very specific reason. One of the main reasons is that we may know Christ. The book of Hebrews calls this out in Hebrews 10:7 quoting Psalm 40:7 that the entire book is about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come – in the volume of the book it is written of Me- to do Your will, O God.’ “Hebrews 10:7
The book of Psalms is also the only book in the Scripture, which the disciples quoted calling out a specific chapter number. In Acts 13, when Paul is preaching to the men in Antioch, he points to the book of Psalm to show that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, and the fulfillment of the Holy Scripture. He specifically calls out that this is the second Psalm.
“God has fulfilled this for us their children, in that He has raised up Jesus. As it is also written in the second Psalm: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.’ – Acts 13:33
Psalm 1 Verse 1 | The Basic Principle
With the understanding, that this book is given in a specific order, and that this book is given by the Holy Spirit, and it was written down by His chosen people. We also need to understand, that this entire book of psalm is not for unbelievers, but for believers. If an unbeliever reads this, it may sound eloquent, it may teach them morality, it may give them historical context, but the understanding will not be given to them.
And even for a believer, the understanding of this book is not given unless we satisfy some basic principles. And these basic principles are called out by the Lord, in the very first chapter of the book of Psalms. If we do not satisfy this basic principle, then the Lord will not give the understanding of this book.
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; – Psalm 1:1
The Holy Spirit calls out the condition of the man who will receive the understanding of His words. This man hates evil, he does not consider evil counsel, he does not enjoy hearing evil (perverse) words, he does not enjoy evil company, he does not break bread (fellowship) with evil. In short, Scripture tells us that the understanding will be given only to those who fear the Lord.
Psalm 1 Verse 1 | Only for Believers
For us to know what is evil, we need to be redeemed (born again), that is why this book is not for an unbeliever, for an unredeemed person will not understand what is evil, for he is yet to be washed by the blood of the Lamb. Only when the Holy Spirit comes into our heart, can we even start discerning what is evil and what is good.
Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all – Proverbs 28:5
Psalm 1 Verse 1 | Do you hate evil?
Hating sin, walking away from sin, can be done only through the Holy Spirit, and this does not come immediately when we are saved, but we need to be trained in this by the Holy Spirit. we need to be His student constantly learning through the Word of God and through prayer (this is a process of sanctification). The more we seek the Lord through His Word and Prayer, the more the Lord Himself will teach us, and change our heart to hate sin. If we are not yearning for this fear of God, then we will not learn the fear of God, and we will be indifferent to the things of the world, and the things of the Lord. If our heart condition is like this, then the Lord will not open His Word to us.
Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Who is the man who desires life, and loves many days, that he may see good? Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. – Psalm 34:11-14
Psalm 1 Verse 1 | Test yourself
We do not need anyone to judge us or test us if we have the fear of God – we can test ourselves. Do we spend more time seeking the things of this world or the things of the Lord? What do we watch, what is our passion, what is our hobby, what do we listen, who are our friends, where does our time go, do we use perverse language?, when we are stressed how do we react?, when things are down where do we first turn towards? Scripture tells us, that if we have pride, if we have a perverse mouth, if we are comfortable with sin (around us not just within us), if we are comfortable with the ways of the world and the desires of the flesh, then we do not have the fear of the Lord.
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. – Proverbs 8:13
Psalm 1 Verse 1 | All you have to do is ask
The good news is, we can ask God to teach us the fear of God. That is what Psalm 34:11 teaches us, that we can ask Him, and He will teach us. Jesus said, when we ask of Him believing that He will answer our prayers, we will receive the answer to our prayer. Fear of the Lord is the most important basic principle, not just to understand the book of Psalm – but the entire Word of God. How many of us have asked God to give us this Fear of God? Scripture teaches us, we do not receive because we do not ask, so ask today that your joy may be full. Once we start seeking God for the right reason, the Lord will open up the understanding of His Word to us.
You do not have because you do not ask – James 4:2(b)
“So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. – Luke 11:9-10
Psalm 1:1 sets the basic principle, the fear of God. Once we start seeking God, asking for this fear, the Lord Himself will open up His understanding of the Word. And as we move further, we will realize, that everything else is done by the Lord Himself through the Holy Spirit. The only ask God has on us, the redeemed, is to seek Him for the right reason.
Amen.
Noel Kingsley.
