Peter, writing about God's Word and his own experience and testimony of it, says in chapter 1 of his second letter, we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain, that is, with Christ on what we call the Mount of Transfiguration. So we have the prophetic Word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention, as to a lamp shining in a dark place until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." And then in chapter 3, this is now, beloved, the second letter I'm writing to you in which I'm stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder that you should remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets. and the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles." So Peter says one of his purposes in writing this letter, and he says earlier that he realizes he's about to die. and that He will probably have no further communication with them, so He wants to stir them up by way of reminder to remember those things which the Lord and the apostles had spoken. He, again, wants to stir them up with respect to God's Word. And we want to turn our attention to God's Word again tonight, and I'm going to be reading just two brief passages. But before I do, let me ask you to stand so that we can pray for the Lord's blessing on His Word. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, how we thank you that we have the more sure prophetic word. And we know some would render that Greek passage in that way, that what Peter said is not that the prophetic word was made more certain by his own experience, but the other way around, that even more certain than his experience of witnessing Christ's majestic transfiguration was your prophetic word. We thank you that it is that word, which though pinned by men, ultimately comes to us from you. And we confess that like those believers to whom Peter wrote, even though we have your word much more readily available to us than they likely did, we are prone to forget it and need to be stirred up by way of reminder. We pray that Your Spirit might do that, and tonight that You would not only refresh our memories, but refresh our souls as well through Your Holy Word, as it points us to Christ our Lord. In His name we pray, amen. We're reading two passages tonight, the first from Psalm 95, and then the second from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Psalm 95, verses 1 and 2. O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord. Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving. Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms. And then in the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 18 and 19, where Paul says, "'Do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.'" Thus far, God's Word. Please be seated. Now, last Lord's Day, I suggested that we'd be beginning a series in the first book of Psalms. And I don't know if that sounds strange to you. The Psalms typically have been divided into five books. And the first book is Psalm 1 to Psalm 41. And so I began just a brief introduction. I am going to try to make it brief. It could be made long, and I'm going to try, in fact, to keep it just to last week and tonight. Last week, I suggested before we actually start studying the Psalms, some reasons why it's important to do so. And I suggested that we should study them because of their prominence in the Bible. This is the longest book in the Bible, the one most often quoted, the Old Testament book most quoted in the New. And for that reason, it's prominent. I suggest it also because of its distinguished authorship, not just the Holy Spirit, but the various men of God, David primarily, but many others, Moses, Solomon, Asaph, the sons of Korah, Ezra, who were used to write these psalms. Because of their influence and dominance in the worship of the church and its history, we ought to study the psalms. We ought to study them in order to sing them more fruitfully. The better we understand them, the more fruitfully we can sing them for our God's glory and our own edification. that I mentioned last week that I said I was going to say for tonight is that we should study the Psalms because of their power to enrich our spiritual lives. And I'd like tonight to think about that under three headings, two briefly and then a third a little more length, the Psalms power to enrich our spiritual lives. And there are three reasons briefly why I suggest that the Psalms have a great power to enrich our spiritual lives. The first is simply their divine inspiration. And I'm not going to say a great deal about that except to say this. One of the many traits of inspired scripture is its ability. God intended the scriptures to nurture and to to begin and then to nurture and bring to maturity our spiritual life. Second Timothy 3 16 and 17 I hope is familiar to all of us. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good word." And that describes a process of bringing to maturity, the process of teaching, correcting, training, that is, getting you in the habit of doing what's right and bringing us to the point of maturity and equipping us to do the various good works that God would have us to do. And so, it's specifically because it's divinely inspired that it has that ability. But other places in Scripture, the Lord talks about His Word and its power to nourish our souls. Psalm 19. I'll be alluding to it, but I'll read part of it here tonight. Psalm 19 and verse 7. The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." And it goes on to talk about God's Word being more desirable than gold, yet a much fine gold. Moreover, by them thy servant is warned. God's Word warns us in keeping them there is great reward. And so all these different ministries, the Word restores our soul. The Word can impart supernatural joy. To us it can give it can enlighten our eyes It can give us insight into things that we wouldn't know Otherwise all of these things speak of the ministry of the word in our spiritual lives and Jesus in Matthew chapter 4 remember quotes from Deuteronomy 8 and says we shall not live by bread alone But by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and he implies by that analogy that in the same way that bread nourishes our bodies God's Word has the power to nourish our souls. One more reference in 1 Peter 2 and verse 2, like newborn babes long for the sincere milk of the word that by it you may grow in respect to salvation. And so the word of God, all inspired scripture, has that ability to nourish our spiritual lives, to refresh and strengthen our souls, and that's certainly true of this wonderful book. And so very briefly, simply because it's divinely inspired, it has that ability to minister to our souls and enrich our spiritual lives. Now, again, we could talk about many ways it does that, but I'm not going to, I'm gonna go on to the next. The second reason why the Psalms have a special power to enrich our spiritual lives is because of their artistic form. And I'm gonna mention just two things, and again, very briefly, the Psalms come to us in the form of poetry. And not poetry as we typically think of it in our own English language, that often has to do with rhyme and meter. And as we study the Psalms, we'll talk more about Hebrew poetry and how it works differently. And in the providence of God, it's a good thing it does because Hebrew poetry lends itself much better to translation into all the world's languages because it doesn't depend on rhyme and meter. It depends on thought patterns and thought pictures. But generally speaking, poetry is the language of the heart. And this is what's typically called lyric poetry. That's poetry that expresses high feeling. And so many of the Psalms, as we'll see, express deep emotions. Sometimes it's the mountaintop of elation and sometimes it's the pit of despair and despondency and everything in between. But this language itself is a language meant to express and to arouse strong feelings. And so it has a certain power. just by its artistic form, its poetic form. Again, Hebrew poetry typically uses images. All poetry does that, but Hebrew particularly more so than just rhyme. But secondly, not just poetry, but music. Now, we don't use, and some scholars have claimed that they have deciphered from the Masoretic text the system of music that apparently was used in the temple by the ancient Hebrews as they sang. Some other scholars doubt whether that's true, but whether it's true or not, we're not going to use that musical system. But the fact that the Psalms, remember, were intended to be sung. The very term psalm means a song set to accompaniment. Originally it meant a plucked instrument and it came to be more broad, but it's intended to be sung, not just poetry, but music. And you combine these two together and it has great power just by virtue of its artistic form. And there are other songs in the scriptures, but this is the only book that's a book of songs intended to be sung. And so as we understand them, as we delve into the poetry, and especially as we sing them and combine the power of music, and we were talking tonight in our time of music instruction, Matt Ball was introducing us or refreshing us about the Doric mode, which was one of the ancient modes of writing and composing music. And he said, I think there were eight. Is that right, Matt? And each one connected with a distinct emotion. Each one intended to convey a certain feeling by the way the notes were put together. And even Plato, the great pagan philosopher, saw that music was, I think he described it as dangerous, but because it was so powerful, it had a profound power to affect people's emotions. And so you had to use that power carefully. And so in the book of Psalms, especially when we do sing them, we combine artistically the power of poetry and vivid images, the expression of strong feeling with the power of music. and those together are another reason why it can enrich our spiritual lives. And one thing I should say about poetry and the Psalms themselves, they teach us about God, but not in a cool and detached way. It's not an objective, broad, abstract kind of way, but this is teaching about God, not just thought about, but God experienced, teaching fervently, feelingly, practically, personally. In the Psalms, we find God known, loved, trusted, feared, worshipped, missed and sought after, longed for, enjoyed, delighted in. In the Psalms, we have God experienced by gifted and godly men. And so, like a good hymnal, but in this case, an inspired hymnal, one of the benefits of any good hymnal is it gives us the benefit of Christian experience. Godly people through the years who've experienced God's faithfulness in a variety of ways and recorded that experience for us. We have that same thing in the Psalms, but again, by divine inspiration. And so, by virtue of divine inspiration, by virtue of their artistic form, The Psalms have a special power to enrich our spiritual lives. But thirdly, and I want to dwell more on this tonight, by virtue of their diverse content, because even though these things are important, the artistic forms are only significant because they're intended to convey divine truth to us. And it's the divine truth that's ultimately most important, not the frame. It's the picture that's important, not the frame. The frame is intended just to enhance your appreciation and enjoyment of the picture. And that's the function of these artistic forms. And so let's think just a little bit about the contents of the book of Psalms. And in fact, I think it's safe to say that in the Psalms, we have the whole range of Christian doctrine and experience. Now, some might think that's too presumptuous or too broad a statement, but I think you can defend it. The whole range of Christian doctrine and experience is included in the Psalms. Think just a little bit, and I'm gonna suggest for all of these, just one or two references. You might think of many others. But think of all that we have in the Psalms about God Himself, the true and the living God, the one true God. And so we have Psalms again and again. I happen to be here at Psalm 97 and Psalm 97, 6 to 9. The heavens declare his righteousness. All the people have seen his glory Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images who boast themselves of idols Worship him all you gods are you spiritual beings? I and heard this and was glad the daughters of Judah have rejoiced because of thy judgments for thou O Lord art most high over all the earth thou art exalted far above all gods and you get in Psalm 115 135 the contrast between the idols of the pagans who have mouths but can't speak and ears but can't hear. They're dumb and dead idols, but God is the true and the living God. And so of all the gods, of the so-called gods, He is the one true and living God. Think of what the Psalms tell us about the majesty of God, His omnipresence in Psalm 139. If I go up to heaven or down to Sheol, where can I go to escape you? Nowhere. Think about the eternality of God, Moses in Psalm 90, before the earth was made or the mountains came into being, from everlasting to everlasting, you are God. Psalm 102 speaks of that as well. The holiness of God, we sang about that in our opening hymn in Psalm 99, that's one of the recurring themes Here, worship the Lord, exalt the Lord our God, worship at His footstool, holy is He. Exalt the Lord our God, worship at His holy hill, for holy is the Lord our God. Psalm 93 describes that holiness in wonderful terms. His power, Psalm 29 describes the power of God as David saw it in the thunderstorm. His breath, His words can cause the trees of the forest to be shattered and the pregnant animals to give birth to their young and so on. Throughout the book of Psalms, we see God glorified and described, combining this poetic imagery and the power of music, but all about God in His character, His holiness, His goodness, His covenant faithfulness, even the Trinity. Now, I'll grant you there's not as much in the Psalms as there is in the New Testament, but I think there are even hints. In Psalm 45, for example, the psalm of the marriage of the king, there's a clear distinction made between God and His Son, who is also called God. And there are other places that refer to the Spirit of God, and so there are at least these hints that are further clarified in the New Testament, not just of God's unity and His greatness, but God the Trinity. Think of the works of God and how we see those in the psalms, His work of creation. In Psalm 33, by the breath of the Lord, the heavens were made, by the word of his mouth, all their hosts. His work at the flood, Psalm 29, talks about God sat as king over the flood, this great cataclysm that destroyed the world. Psalm 104 describes God's providence in terms of caring for and feeding all the animals in what we call the processes of nature, especially God's work of redemption. to redeem the people of Israel. We find that frequently in the Psalms. The record reflecting back on God's delivering Egypt, Psalm 136, Psalm 105, 106, a number of places go back to God's redeeming His people from bondage and bringing them out and bringing them into the land. But there is also an anticipation of the redemption which God will bring to all the nations. In Psalm 67, O Lord, bless us. Let all the nations rejoice. And Psalm 87 talks about the privilege of being born in Jerusalem, and yet it mentions people from Babylon and Philistia and Tyre and Ethiopia. This one was born there, and it seems to anticipate the time if Jerusalem represents the church, the place where God dwells, where people from all the nations would be included in it. And so God's glorious character in God's mighty works of creation and providence and redemption, even the idea of a new heavens and a new earth in Psalm 96. Let the heavens be glad, let the earth rejoice, let the sea roar in all it contains, let the field exult in all that is in it. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy before the Lord, for He is coming, He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in His faithfulness." All creation longing for and anticipating the great consummation of God's kingdom. And so and I'm just hitting the high points, beloved. But you see how much we have in this great book about God in terms of his own nature and character and his works. And how about our Lord Jesus Christ? You remember, Jesus himself said, you search the scriptures because you think of them, you have eternal life. And it's these that bear witness of me. He mentioned the psalm specifically in Luke 24. He said in Luke 24, 27, Beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted them and all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. And then in verse 44 of Luke 27, he said, These are my words, which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Now, he's talking about the three divisions of the Old Testament that they use in those days. But the Psalms was prominent in the third division. And he cites that as representing it. Jesus himself mentions the Psalms as pointing to him. And think of what they tell us about him and his person. I mentioned Psalm 45, where we find his deity and his humanity together. The writer of the Hebrews quotes Psalm 45 and applies it to Jesus' deity. And it certainly, it speaks of him as the fairest among the sons of men. Think of what it tells us about his work of keeping the law. We read Psalm 40 this morning. I delight, O God, to keep Thy law. Your law is in my heart." And I'll suggest, Lord willing, next Sunday night that Psalm 1, Jesus Christ is the epitome of Psalm 1, the blessed man. who delights in God and meditates on his law and never walks in the ways of sin. He was the perfect man, and because of his keeping the law, you and I become partakers of those blessings. Psalm 22, we all know, speaks of his crucifixion and how he's been surrounded by his enemies and how he hangs there naked and they cast lots for his clothes and make fun of him. And he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Psalm 16 describes His resurrection. It's time and again quoted in the New Testament, you will not leave your Holy One in the grave, you will not allow Him to seek corruption. That psalm is clearly by the New Testament writers seen to speak of Christ resurrection from the grave. Psalm 68 in Ephesians is quoted to refer to his ascension up into heaven. The Lord has gone up and he's given, he's carried captivity captive and given gifts to men. We see Christ as the prophet and teacher. In Psalm 25, you will teach sinners your ways and those who fear you, you will make to know your covenant. The great priest in Psalm 110, God said, to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. You will be a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. Psalm 110 describes him as a priest-king. Psalm 2, the Lord has established his Messiah on his holy mountain, and he's going to rule with a rod of iron. All of these different dimensions of Christ's person and work in the Psalms. We see ourselves there too. Very briefly, just in two ways, our dignity. Psalm 8 describes man and the order of creation and how God has set him. You've made him a little lower than the angels and crowned him with glory and honor. You've given him rule and dominion over all the creatures. And we see his depravity as well. In Psalm 2, the nations raging against God regarding his reign as bondage, let us cast off his fetters. Psalm 36, the wicked lying on their bed, pondering how they're going to do evil. Psalm 14, the wicked says in his heart, there is no God, they are corrupt, they all do evil, there is none that does good. And so we see both in the Psalms, our dignity as those made in God's image, but also our depravity as fallen in sin. We see the church in its glory and its beauty. Psalm 45, to which I've alluded, describes the church, at least in a figurative way, as the glorious bride of Christ. We see her described other ways and in various places. In Psalm 48, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and the city of our God is holy mountain, beautiful in elevation. The joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion in the far north, the city of the great king. God in her palaces has made Himself known as a stronghold. Jerusalem's a beautiful city. Apparently, I've never been there, but it's set in the mountains, and apparently it's a majestic place. But the psalmist here, while he celebrates the glory of Jerusalem, it's not just her geography, it's the fact that God is there that is her real glory and her beauty. I mentioned Psalm 87 earlier and the prophecy that the nations would be included. That's the psalm that inspired John Newton to write, glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God, and that's the point of the psalm. The Lord loves the gates of Zion more than all the other dwelling places of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken of you, oh city of God. And so the church and her beauty and her glory is described there, but also the church in her militancy, her battle in this world, and her weakness and her suffering is also there. In Psalm 79, probably written after the destruction of the first temple, "'O God, the nations have invaded Thine inheritance. They've defiled Thy holy temple. They've laid Jerusalem in ruins. They've given the dead bodies of Your servants for food to the birds. the flesh of thy godly ones, the beasts of the earth," and so on. It goes on to describe how they've come into the temple itself with hatchets and hatcheted, destroyed the walls of cedar and carried away the gold. The church, glorious, but also the church, militant and weak and at times almost overcome. But thirdly, the church invincible. In Psalm 46, is but one. Psalm 48, I read earlier, Psalm 46, one other example of the church's invincibility. God is our refuge and strength, the very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth should change, though the mountains slip into the sea. Though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride, there is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy dwelling places of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She will not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The church is glorious, but the church is also at times attacked and sometimes very near destroyed, but never completely. God is in the midst of her, and He will help her. And so we see, again, there's so many that that we could go on, but the point is the church in all her different perspectives, at least many of those perspectives is here. And then the last one I'll mention tonight is the life of faith. The life of faith. I would call it the Christian life, but some might say, well, but these Psalms were written before the Christian era, so rather than argue it, I'll just say the life of faith, the life that all of God's believing people live. And how much is there here about that life? The call to worship. And of course, so much of the Psalms are about that private worship. And you see in the Psalmist speaking as an individual and praising God for His greatness, His goodness, His deliverances. And then you see the corporate worship of God's people. Psalm 100 come into his presence with gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise and so on. The reality of pain, affliction, and sorrow. And I read recently that there are only a handful of psalms that don't mention or allude to enemies of some kind. Sometimes there are personal enemies that the psalmist is dealing with and sometimes, as we saw in 79, They are the enemies of the church. But one of the things that goes through the Psalms is the reality of enemies and the struggle. And you often see the psalmist struggling with sorrow and affliction of various kinds. Psalm 13, how long, oh Lord, how long? Not just the specific problem he had, but the fact that he thought he'd been praying and crying out again and again and again, and God had yet to answer. The problem was exacerbated by the fact that God seemed not to hear an answer. So these realities, Psalm 77, the psalmist in despondency and what we would probably call in our day depression. And so the Psalms are realistic about this dimension of the Christian life or the life of faith. Again, it is a life in a fallen world, a life lived in the midst of enemies and opposition. So it's a life that involves pain and affliction. It's a life in which we are called to trust, though, in our faithful God. Psalm 27, one of many great psalms of trust, where the psalmist says, "'The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life, whom shall I dread?' Though a host camp against me, my heart will not fear, though war arise against me. In spite of this, I shall be confident." Then he ends, wait for the Lord, be strong, let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. And so many of the Psalms exhort us to trust in God. Psalm 62, and God only is my rock. and my hope." It's a life to be lived in the fear of God. And Psalm 1, we've already mentioned, talks about that, the righteous who fear God and walk in the ways of His Word and not in the counsel of the wicked. Psalm 15, who will ascend to God's holy hill and who will dwell with Him? The one who has clean hands and so on. It's a life that involves the use of the means of grace. And Psalm 1, Psalm 19, I've already read part of that, talks about the word. Psalm 119, the longest psalm, the longest chapter in the Bible, all about the word of God. Prayer, of course, and virtually all the psalms are prayers. So it's taking Coles to Newcastle to read that. The whole book of psalms is a book that we see the psalmist praying to God in various modes and ways. And so these means of grace, the means of corporate worship, And I've been struck in reading the Psalms recently how often the psalmist who understood God's omnipresence, the psalmist knew that God was everywhere. And yet you see them longing when they didn't have access to Jerusalem and the temple and corporate worship, you see them longing for that. That's the case in Psalm 42 and 43, where the psalmist apparently is is not able to go up to Jerusalem. As a deer pants for the water brook, so my soul pants for thee, O God, my soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? And then he remembers about how he used to go and lead them in procession to the house of God. And then he prays, Lord, bring me to your holy hill. And time and again, Psalm 84, a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. And so the means of grace, the word, prayer, corporate worship, all of these things are an important part of the life of faith. And then, finally, last but by no means least, joy and blessing. And that's one of the things that's so wonderful. The Psalms are very realistic about that hard dimension of the life of faith. The Christian life is a life lived often in the midst of adversity and affliction, but it's also a life of joy. And we are called again and again and again. We think it's the book of Philippians where Paul says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice, but he's just quoting the Old Testament, dear ones. In Psalm 32, there's that wonderful psalm of forgiveness and the blessedness of not having our sins imputed to us. And then in Psalm 33, the very next psalm, sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones. Praise is becoming to the upright. And it concludes with another exhortation that we should rejoice in the Lord. It's appropriate for the righteous to rejoice in the Lord. And so this joy now and the promise of joy to come, Psalm 30. His anger is but for a moment, Psalm 30, verse 5. His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into dancing. Thou hast loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness that my soul may sing praise to Thee and not be silent. O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to Thee forever. And so the psalmist, even though often beset by troubles and enemies, because of his faith, And he's not always, there are a few psalms. Psalm 44 is I think the only psalm that ends on a negative note where he cries out and there's no mention of an answer. But virtually every other place they may begin in the depths, but the psalmist by faith sees beyond it to that promised joy eventually and exhorts us to rejoice by faith even now. Well, let me just mention a couple of applications that I think flow out of this. One is the fact that the Psalms shed a great deal of light on our lives, and our lives shed a great deal of light on the Psalms. It was Charles Spurgeon, that great British Baptist preacher who wrote one of the great commentaries of all time on the book of the Psalms, The Treasury of David, and he said, it's one thing to read the Psalms, it's something else to live in. And it's amazing. I know in my own life, I'm embarrassed to admit it, but there was a period in my Christian life where I didn't really like the Psalms particularly and didn't understand. I would hear people speak of them and couldn't quite enter into their love for the Psalms. That time has long since passed, and after living a little bit longer as a Christian and experiencing more, I've come to see how rich and full they are, and that's what Spurgeon himself said. William Plummer, who wrote about a 1,300-page commentary on the Psalms, and some of you have seen it. It's large and it's got small print. He said, during a Christian and ministerial life, neither short uneventful nor free from dark days and sharp sorrows, the author has never been able to secure to himself or administer to others full support and abounding consolation without a resort to the Psalms." He says, If I wanted to really sustain and encourage my own soul in the midst of a variety of difficulties or minister God's encouragement to others, I've never been able to do that fully without going to the Psalms. And so there is that abundance of consolation. And so I think as we study the Psalms, it will shed insight on our lives. It will help us understand our own experiences to view them from a more biblical perspective. And at the same time, those experiences will give us insight into these wonderful inspired songs as well. And as we study the Psalms, we become familiar with them as we sing them, they will be a means to help us express to God often feelings we have and couldn't ever express as well or better. They provide an expression in our own prayers and corporately. to help us in crying out to the Lord and worship and prayer and intercession and praise. They also will help us not just to understand and see our experiences, but how to handle them in a more godly and a biblical way. And so, we need to learn the Psalms so that we know where to go in them to find what we need. Now, they say for medical persons, it's dangerous to to diagnose and prescribe for yourself. And there may be some real truth to that. We all have the danger of, or the need for objectivity. But there is a place, at least spiritually, to say, I have some idea of what my problem is at this point. And to say, I know in Psalm, whatever it may be, Psalm 133, I'm discouraged or a burden in a personal relationship, and Psalm 133 celebrates the beauty and the blessing of Christian fellowship and unity, and so here's a place where I can go for some encouragement and help. But to be able to go in the Psalms where we need to go to get the help we need, and not only that, to point others to it as well. to be able to mine out of this vast, rich reservoir of spiritual truth the instruction and consolation that will be good to others who may be in similar situations. Well, that's again a very quick summary. But I hope it's of some help to you to suggest briefly reasons why it's, I believe, will be very beneficial to us to study at least the first part of the Psalms together. Because of the great power they have to enrich our spiritual lives because of their divine inspiration, because of their artistic form, and especially, I've spent most of my time tonight, the diversity of their content on this whole range of Christian doctrine and experience. Well, I'd like us to stand for prayer, and then we're going to respond by singing a song based on Psalm 98. Please stand, and we'll pray, and then we're going to sing number 14 in the hymnal, which is based on Psalm 98, a call to sing new songs of praise to our God. But right now, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for all of the holy scriptures and we thank you that every verse from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22 is divinely inspired and profitable for our spiritual benefit. But Lord, we thank you especially for this wonderful book of the Psalms and the fact that by your guidance, these men of God not only wrote but preserved and compiled over nearly 1,000 years, these 150 Psalms. And we can see why, for your glory and our mutual good, we're exhorted in both Testaments to sing the Psalms. And we pray that you would help us as we begin this study next Lord's Day and as we continue to sing the Psalms, to do so with increasing profit and to our own soul's benefit, to that of one another, and to your glory and praise, we ask it in Jesus' name, amen.