Personal Development on The Psalms

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The Directness of the Psalms

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Scripture

Psalm 5:1-3, Psalm 17:1, Psalm 86:1-3

The first distinguishing feature of the biblical psalms is the direct, personal approach to God. There are no intermediaries, human or celestial, no being or beings who facilitate the ascension of pra...

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Author

C. S. Lewis

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The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.

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Psalm 51 | Awareness of Sin

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? A Historical Clue The superscript of Psalm 51 gives us a historical clue about the composition of this Psalm, “A Psalm of David. When Nathan the prophe...

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5 Great Worship Resources on the Psalms

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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October 2018 For centuries, the Psalms have been the songbook of the church. From metrical settings of Psalms (think, “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow” or “The Lord’s My Shepherd, I’ll Not Wa...

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Psalm 30 | Gratitude for Rescue and Healing

Author

C. Hassell Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 30:, 1 Samuel 13:14, Hebrews 12:2

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? Autobiographies Have you ever thought about writing your autobiography? It would be a little like reliving your life, at least in miniscule. As a write...

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Inspired by Psalms 146 and 147

Scripture

Psalm 147:1, Psalm 147:3, Psalm 147:5-6, Psalm 147:11, Psalm 146:7-9

Leader: How good it is to sing praises to our God! People: Great are You, Lord and mighty in power. You understand everything about each one of us. You heal the brokenhearted and bind up our wounds....

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An Encyclopedia of Human Experience

Author

Timothy Keller

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There is no situation or emotion a human being can experience that is not reflected somewhere in the Psalms. Immersing ourselves in the Psalms and turning them into prayers teaches our hearts the “gra...

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Author

W. David O. Taylor

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The primary use of prayer, as the Psalter sees it, is not for expressing ourselves but in becoming ourselves, and we cannot do that alone. In praying the Psalms with others, then, we learn to become m...

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Biblical Meditation

Author

The Pastor's Workshop

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Scripture

Psalm 1:null

Biblical scholar Nahum Sarna (in On the Book of Psalms) points out that the mediation mentioned in Psalm 1 (The man who “meditates on [God’s] law day and night”) is “not engaged in meditation and cont...

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Author

George MacDonald

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No words can express how much the world owes to sorrow. Most of the Psalms were born in the wilderness. Most of the Epistles were written in a prison. The greatest thoughts of the greatest thinkers ha...

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Adapted from Psalm 130 (ESV)

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Psalm 130:null

Pastor: Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! All: If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could s...

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Adapted from Psalm 6 and “Morning Needs” in The Valley of Vision

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Psalm 6:null

Pastor: “O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. All: “My soul also is grea...

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Author

W. David O. Taylor

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We become whole by praying our honest joys and our honest sorrows. We pray our honest praise of God and our honest anger at God; we pray also for honest speech in our words to God.

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Author

Ellen F. Davis

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We must speak honestly—but also wisely.

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Adapted from Psalm 38

Author

Dustin Ray

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Scripture

Psalm 38:1-4, Psalm 38:9, Psalm 38:15, Psalm 38:18, Psalm 38:21-22

Pastor: O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath! For your arrows have sunk into me, and your hand has come down on me. All: There is no soundness in my flesh because of ...

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Inspired by Psalm 130:5-7

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 130:5-7

Leader: Let us wait for the Lord People: Our souls wait, and in his word we hope. Our souls wait for the Lord, more than the watchmen for the morning. Leader: O Church, hope in the Lord! For with ...

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Based on Psalm 1

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Scripture

Psalm 1:

Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but whose delight is in the law of the Lord. On his law he meditat...

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Author

Basil of Caesarea

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To novices it is a beginning; to those who are advancing, an increase; to those who are concluding, a confirmation.

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When God Feels Far Away: A Practice of Lament

Author

Laura B. Murray

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My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. It doesn&...

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Emotions are Divine: Why Pastors Need Biblical Permission to Feel

Author

David Lamb

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Scripture

John 11:35, Psalm 5:5, Psalm 6:1, Psalm 78:58, Psalm 78:40, Psalm 18:19, Psalm 25:6, Psalm 5:7, Exodus 20:5, Exodus 22:23, Isaiah 15:5, Luke 15:null, Genesis 23:2, Genesis 42:24, 1 Samuel 1:10, 2 Samuel 1:11-12, 2 Kings 8:11-12, 2 Kings 22:18-20, Mark 14:72, John 20:11, Acts 20:37, Revelation 5:4

When the Professor Weeps: A Personal Story About ten years ago, I was teaching a course on the psalms for my seminary students in the midst of a personal health crisis. It wasn’t in my notes, but I ...

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In a Pastoral Identity Crisis? Go Beyond Burnout and Remember Your Identity in Christ

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 91:14-16

When Ministry Burnout Leaves You Empty I imagine that some of you feel like you have nothing left to give. Perhaps you’re in a period in which motivation has morphed into varying degrees of desponde...

liturgy

Adapted from Colossians 3:12-17

Scripture

Colossians 3:12-17

Leader: Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience All: bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against an...

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Thanksgiving As a Communal Act

Author

Peter J. Leithart

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Given the Hebrew Bible’s merging of liturgical and social circles into a single infinite circle, it is not surprising that most of the instances of the language of gratitude in the Old Testament are i...

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Author

James I. Packer

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Waiting

“Wait on the Lord" is a constant refrain in the Psalms, and it is a necessary word, for God often keeps us waiting. He is not in such a hurry as we are, and it is not his way to give more light o...

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S.I.T. For the week of 6/3

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

God's Voice Speaking through the Frustration My first conscious experience of hearing the voice of Jesus occurred when I was a college student. It grew out of a period of genuine frustration. Bec...

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First and Third World Fears & Authentic Worship

Author

Mark Labberton

Keywords

Fear

Scripture

Psalm 27:null, 1 John 4:19

One Sunday I was preaching on Psalm 27. It is a remarkable psalm of hope for God’s- deliverance from fear for those who have faced tough times. With the same candor found in many psalms, this one vivi...

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Psalm 111

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Scripture

Psalm 111:null

Hallelujah! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation. Great are the deeds of the LORD! they are studied by all who delight in them. ...

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Psalm 19:14 (BOCP)

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Scripture

Psalm 19:14

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer. Amen.

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Adapted from Psalm 86 (ESV)

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Scripture

Psalm 86:null

Leader: Come, let us enter into God's presence. People: Lord, I am here, waiting. Let me hear Your voice; for I am poor, and needy in spirit. Be gracious to me, gladden the soul of Your servant,...

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Adapted from Psalm 25:1-5 (BOCP)

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Scripture

Psalm 25:1-4

Leader: To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul; People: My God, I put my trust in you; let me not be humiliated, nor let my enemies triumph over me. Leader: Let none who look to you be put to shame...

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