Going Through The Psalms

In this Psalm David prays that the Lord will hear his petition for relief for he is sorely vexed by his enemies. He seeks comfort under the protection of the Lord and that the Lord may be mindful of him as if he were the apple of the Lord's eye. Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry! Give...

This Psalm is titled "A Miktam of David" and, as with the titles of previous psalms, there is a lack of clarity as to its meaning. C.H. Spurgeon bestows upon it the title of "Psalm of the Precious Jewel" and states that others have called it "The Golden Psalm," apparently both titles underscore...

Who can abide in the presence of the Almighty God? In the Book of Exodus the Lord told Moses to warn the people lest they should come unto the Lord in Mount Sinai and die (Exodus 19:21). Even Moses could not look upon the Lord's face lest he die (Exodus 33:20). Thanks be to God that he provided...

This Psalm does not have a particular title. C.H. Spurgeon proposes "Concerning Practical Atheism" (see Spurgeon commentary). I think the definition in this Psalm of "atheism" is broader than we would typically define it, that is, one who does not identify with any religion nor believe in any...

This Psalm, which I would categorize as a lament, is, like many of the previous psalms, intended to be accompanied by music as its title is "To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David." Going forward I probably won't be flagging these as all of the psalms have at one point or another been set to music...

Just wanted to share this video because it speaks to my soul. I believe these are Anglicans singing (maybe Westminster Abbey?). One of the commentators has the whole list with time stamps. God Bless!

This Psalm is titled "To the Choirmaster; according to the Sheminith. A Psalm of David." Once again this Psalm is intended to be set to music but it is unclear of what type. Given its dramatic nature, we could imagine it as an operatic lament as our hero David wonders where all the godly have...

It is not exactly clear when this Psalm was written. Some commentators speculate that it was written while David was in Saul's employ and was pondering an escape (see C.H. Spurgeon commentary and also W. Wilson notes therein). Others that it reflects a time when he had already fled Saul (see...

According to Martin Luther this Psalm was described by Augustine as the "Psalm of Antichrist" (see Martin Luther note in Psalm 10 by C. H. Spurgeon). Per Luther, "There is not, in my judgment, a Psalm which describes the mind, the manners, the feelings, and the fate of the ungodly with so much...

We continue this entry with its namesake verse. Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds! For he who avenges blood is mindful of them; he does not forget the cry of the afflicted. (Psalm 9:11-12 ESV) Here we see verse two (Psalms 9:2 ESV) echoed...

This psalm is titled "To The Choirmaster: According to Muth-Labben. A Psalm of David." (ESV). Having read through some commentary there is a lack of consensus and certainty as to what the term "Muth-Labben" means. The English Standard Version of the bible indicates that it is "probably a music...

This is one of my favorite psalms in the psaltery because it speaks to the mystery of man (and thereby, the mystery of God). I call this the "What is Man?" psalm. I have prayed this psalm in various moods. Sometimes when I was feeling insignificant and I wanted to remind myself of the divine...

The English Standard Version Bible (ESV) titles this psalm "A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjamite." It is not altogether clear what the word "Shiggaion" means but Matthew Henry and C.H. Spurgeon both indicate it to mean a song. It is unclear...

Psalm 6, which calls for stringed instrument accompaniment, is the first "penitential" psalm (see David Guzik commentary; C.H. Spurgeon commentary). Per C.H. Spurgeon, the psalm "expresses at once the sorrow [], the humiliation [], and the hatred of sin [] which are the unfailing marks of the...

The title for this psalm in the English Standard Version (ESV) is "To the Choirmaster: For the Flutes. A Psalm of David." From my review of Charles Spurgeon's commentary and Matthew Henry's commentary there appears to be some debate as to whether this was the original title and whether or not...

We continue in this series with Psalm 4, which is titled "To The Choirmaster; with Stringed Instruments. A Psalm of David" (ESV). Let us note here this psalm conveys instructions to a choirmaster. So this is the first psalm that is explicitly indicated to be performed to the accompaniment of...

This psalm is entitled "A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son" (Psalm 3 ESV). Before we begin delving into the psalm it would be worthwhile to provide some context. For those who are not familiar, David was the King of Israel who ruled after Israel's first King Saul was slain in...

We continue our journey through the psalms with this famous Christological psalm, which foretells the coming of Jesus Christ and the fulfillment of his kingdom. Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together...

Continuing our discussion of Psalm 1 we are asked, what is the blessed man, the righteous man like? He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that...

This is the first entry of my planned blog series to discuss each of the psalms of the psaltery. I plan to continue with Proverbs as well and I do not know if I will be able to keep up with the one-a-day pace for each of these but the goal is to finish both eventually. As mentioned by C.H...