Our Love of Psalms

Good Evening to All!

Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.

For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.

Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that yo are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge.

Psalm 51:1-4

Surely you desire truth in the inner parts;
you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

Let me hear joy and gladness;...
Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51:10

I must note that this bold verse above is one of my favorites. I pray this every morning, although I pray the KJV. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. To me the words steadfast and right do not mean the same thing. To me, steadfast means steady, or faithful, whereas right means (righteous or "in the will of God". Of course there are probably as many opinions as there are doctrines, but that is just the opinion of PJ. What I am asking God for when I pray this verse is to keep my heart clean or "pure" against all things that would take me out of God's will, such as, R rated movies, anything illegal, or immoral, greediness, selfishness, anyway, you get the picture, then to renew a right spirit within me, which is really self-explanatory such as being humble, helpful, generous with time, effort or money, meekness, (which I definitely need to work on some of these) and so on. Really to have the same attitude as Christ.

Another one of my favorites is Psalm 100. I remember having to memorize it when I was a child. It's the one about Make a joyful noise unto the Lord all ye lands.....

Psalm 103, Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me.....

I also like ever-faithful 23rd Psalm, although it is a beautiful poem, it is not one of my preferences. I guess because I have heard it at so many funerals that is what I associate it with.
The Psalms also have a rich history of worship and congregational use. King David organized choirs and orchestras, and appointed skilled conductors and composers to lead the worship
(1 Chronicles 25). He also invented musical instruments (1 Chronicles 23:5).

The first Christian church was comprised mainly of Jewish people, so it was natural that they incorporated the singing of psalms hymns and spiritual songs into their worship (Col.3:16) and this has evolved through the centuries into congregational singing. In modern times, the worship the Christian churches have adopted incorporates not only the lyrics and musical instruments of the psalms but involves clapping ( 47:1), lifting up hands (141:2), bowing (95:6) , standing (134:1), shouting (47:1), and dancing (149:3).

Psalms is one of the most intimate and relational books of the Bible and for each emotional need expressed by the worshiper, Psalms points us to an attribute of the Lord. He is an anchor when we are buffeted, a comfort when we feel abandoned, and an encouragement when support is desperately required.
I never realized how many types of Psalms there were. I knew that David only wrote 73 out of the 150 although he seems to be given most of the credit for them. He did however

I must say I am really enjoying this post. I am learning soooo much! I am getting my information from the Hayford Bible Handbook. It is truly an awesome book for referencing the Bible. For those of you who are really interested in studying the Bible and like to do referencing, this book is a "must". I really haven't run across anything as far as referencing that it couldn't answer as far as technical book learning. The rest I rely upon prayer and the Holy Ghost to lead me into all truth. This book has summaries of each book of the Bible, Keys for applying the principles of the Spirit-Filled Life, to each book, Kingdom Life Insights, Unique Spirit-Filled Life, Encyclopedic Dictionary, Informative Surveys for every book in the Bible, Visual Surveys of the Bible, Time Lines, and a lot more. I think next to the Actual Bible, this is my favorite book. I hope you have enjoyed this post, if so, I will start using my Hayford Book more often and do this type of post more often.

For those of you who stopped by and wished me a happy birthday, once again I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Good night to All, and May God Bless!

Love & Prayers,