The Psalms – Week 7

SERMONS

Aug 18

Psalms are prayers that have been prayed by the people of God for millennia, and as such, we ought to continue in that tradition. One of the most unique aspects of being human is our ability to use tools. And “prayers are tools.” But there’s one important clarification: “Prayers are not tools for doing or getting [as we’re used to in our Western culture], but for being and becoming… At the center of the whole enterprise of being human, prayers are the primary technology. Prayers are tools that that God uses to work his will in our bodies and souls. Prayers are tools that we use to collaborate in his work with us.” (Eugene Peterson — ‘Answering God’).

“Four times (verses 1, 2, 6, and 8) God is called the LORD, the God who enters into a covenant with us by grace. This unfamiliar word means his love is “locked on to us” in unending commitment. Thus he is always for us (verses 1–2). But the psalmist could not see what we see. God is ever on our side, because in Christ our sins can’t bring us into condemnation (Romans 8:1, 34–35). So not “trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword . . . will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:35, 39). Since the maker of heaven and earth is (through Christ) our help, we will not fear (verse 8). What could be against us (Romans 8:31)?” (Keller, Timothy. The Songs of Jesus) Check out the sermon below.