At the centre of our Bible is the book of Psalms. This is appropriate. Everything that the Bible tells us about God, our world, ourselves, and how God has saved us is found in the psalms.

The book of Psalms is a book of poetry. These are songs. They’re full of imagery, similes, metaphors, and hyperbole. Many are very carefully structured to aid memory and singing. There are songs of praise: they call on God’s people to praise Him and then give reasons why He is deserving of praise (Psalm 147). There are songs of sorrow or lament: the psalmist pours out his heart to God and begs the Lord to deliver him (142). There are psalms of thanksgiving: we’re all invited to “give thanks to the Lord, for he is good” (107:1). And there are wisdom psalms, which commend a wise and righteous way of life. Psalm 119, the longest psalm, is one of these. It extols the power, beauty, and importance of God’s Law, and the life of joy that comes from obeying it.

The book of Psalms is a book of theology. “Theology” is simply “words about God”. The psalms teach us about the character of God. He is the creator of all things—therefore all creation should worship Him (148). He is the King who reigns from His heavenly throne—all His creation should bow down in submission (102). God is the Saviour of His people—He rescued them in the past, and can be trusted to rescue us now and in the future (136).

The book of Psalms is a book about life. Every experience that a servant of God goes through finds expression in the psalms. There are days of joy and days of sorrow (142). There are times when we are confident in our faith and times when we’re plagued by doubts (120). There are days when we walk in obedience and days when we fail and need to confess and repent (130). The psalms give us a song for every occasion.

The book of Psalms is a book of prophecy. Jesus taught His disciples that the words of the psalms find their fulfilment in Him (Luke 24:44). Through the lens of these songs, we’ll see Jesus, our King, Saviour, comforter, and friend.

Key Verse
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. —Psalm 150:6