The Psalms – Week 15

SERMONS

Oct 13

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’).

“David promised to bring the Ark of the Covenant (God’s “footstool,” verse 7; cf. 1 Chronicles 28:2) to Jerusalem and to build God a dwelling (verse 7; cf. 2 Samuel 7:1–17). This was not just a political move. In verse 5 David remembers the Lord as the God “of Jacob,” who wrestled with the patriarch but gave him the deep blessing he had looked for all his life (Genesis 32:29). David wants God near, at whatever cost, in order to know God’s blessing in his heart. And the text tells us it cost David much “suffering” to establish God’s house in Jerusalem (verse 1). We too should pay any price to get near God, remembering the one who took a vow like David’s and bore the infinite cost to come near to us (Hebrews 10:5–10).” — Tim Keller in ‘The Songs of Jesus’

Check out the sermon below.