Seeking advice on how to best study the book of Psalms....

[Heart2Soul]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

 

[W2L]

Im interested in hearing the opinions you get. Great question.

 

[Doug Melven]

Try starting with the Psalms that are quoted in the NT or that correspond to an event in the OT.
Like Psalm 51 corresponds to David's sin with Bathsheba.
That way you are mixing in other books of the Bible.

 

[W2L]

This is some deep stuff.


Psalm 51 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

They can be studied but are best prayed. The book of Psalms is a praerbook. And the best way to do that is morning and evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. You will get to know them and the emotions expressed in them in about half a year. It is still worth seeing what a good commentary says about individual psalms but praying them is where it's at. If you want links for how to do this, let me know.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

They can be studied but are best prayed. And the best way to do that is morning and evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. You will get to know them and the emotions expressed in them in about half a year. It is still worth seeing what a good commentary says about individual psalms but praying them is where it's at. If you want links for how to do this, let me know.

 

[Dave G.]

I do Psalms by the the day of the month and when the month turns over I just keep going one psalm each day till the book is complete. When that is done I see what is on my heart , as I do all along the way as well. I read them out loud at night in my bed before sleep in a reference bible, then as the Spirit leads I may or may not look up the references. I'm around psalm 53 or so right now in this trip through the psalms.

My most recent reads have been Psalms and Job because the Spirit has me there as well LOL !. Try to get some NT reading in by way of the references, sometimes that brings added meaning ( kind of in the opposite direction of what Doug said). You can do the same with Proverbs. You can spend a year in and around there by the time you chase down all the references that lead to references that might lead back to psalms, this may be why the Spirit has you in there. It's meaty stuff but might not look it on the surface. The more you read the more they will mean to you over time.

 

[FIRESTORM314]

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[FIRESTORM314]

Im interested in hearing the opinions you get. Great question.

I was given similar advice many years ago by an elder. It didn't make much sense at the time and probably one of the books I would avoid. These days I read it with a certain fondness as I can identify with the issues and problems many of those people had. To me some of those Psalms are like markers or reference points in my Walk with God. They are full of insights to peoples feelings and pain. They are also full of hope. God speaks through the Psalms to us in a variety of ways. There is more to them than meets the eye with many hidden treasures to be found. Enjoy...

My next book is Leviticus

I'll pray about it and look forward to see what God shows me and what I learn. If i fall asleep then I'm too tired - so reading when I'm fresh would be more "fruitful". If I find my eyes just going over the words without it going in then I'll go through the same chapters another day until I'm happy it's sunk in.

I do jump about a bit when reading the bible if I find I can't go from A -Z.

Sometimes I can go down several levels before coming back up to the point I started. If one verse leads me to go somewhere else - I'll do that. Read that bit then go back to where I started.

 

[FIRESTORM314]

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[Heart2Soul]

This is some deep stuff.


Psalm 51 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I have prayed Psalm 51:10 over my life for the past 6 years....I am finally starting to see the manifestation of it this year.

 

[Heart2Soul]

This is some deep stuff.


Psalm 51 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I have prayed Psalm 51:10 over my life for the past 6 years....I am finally starting to see the manifestation of it this year.

There is more to them than meets the eye with many hidden treasures to be found. Enjoy...

Exactly, the hidden treasures is what I am seeking.....

 

[Dave G.]

I have this pond I like to go sit by and read. Then go home and re read it that night, or the other way around. Somehow out in nature it can feel different, not to mention fish might start rising and I'll fly fish. That place by the pond has special meaning to me either way, I've been going there in the springtime months for probably 30 years or more even.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

Yes, look for bits and pieces of both prophecy and prophetic speech as you go, AND think about how the statements made by the Psalmist may reflect the epistemological nature of our belief and faith. There's also the moral wrestling that comes in dealing with the imprecatory Psalms, as well as just finding within most of the Psalms various thoughts on God's grace, mercy, and judgement as we contemplate God's existence and His plan for us as individuals and within the world at large.

If you look for these kinds of things as you go through each Psalm, it can make it more interesting. Of course, there's that last Psalm, and at which time, when I read it, I crank up the music of my favorite Christian rock bands!!! Uh-Huh!!

 

[faroukfarouk]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

Remember that the church is a New Testament concept; the Psalms relate particularly to Israel, albeit with wonderful Messianic content: Psalm 2, Psalm 40; Psalm 110, etc.

 

[Heart2Soul]

Try starting with the Psalms that are quoted in the NT or that correspond to an event in the OT.
Like Psalm 51 corresponds to David's sin with Bathsheba.
That way you are mixing in other books of the Bible.

Psalm 51 is probably the only book that I could get into and relate with....the famously quoted Psalm 23 is one I have learned by hearing it in church many times and I quote when I face certain fears....the rest of Psalms....well...I am praying and working on. But this is good advice, thanks.

 

[Heart2Soul]

Remember that the church is a New Testament concept; the Psalms relate particularly to Israel, albeit with wonderful Messianic content: Psalm 2, Psalm 40; Psalm 110, etc.

Thanks, faroukfarouk.....but there is "hidden wisdom" in here....revelation knowledge that I am seeking. for example....Psalm 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones.....

So here the people are mentioned along with the hidden ones....who are the hidden ones and why does it separate them from the people.

 

[FIRESTORM314]

The one that made an impact with me most recently was Psalm 107.

It is about the history of Israel but I reckon just like straying sheep many a Christian can find echoes of their own life in this Psalm. God let's things happen to us to bring us back to him.

Many a person has got saved because they hit rock bottom. Many a Christian has come back to church when something didn't go well for them.

 

[GTW27]

Thanks, faroukfarouk.....but there is "hidden wisdom" in here....revelation knowledge that I am seeking. for example....Psalm 83:3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones.....

So here the people are mentioned along with the hidden ones....who are the hidden ones and why does it separate them from the people.

They are hidden in the palm of His Hand. As was David, and as we are.

 

[Heart2Soul]

They are hidden in the palm of His Hand. As was David, and as we are.

Thanks! Well I certainly didn't see that one! LOL.

 

[GTW27]

Of all the books in the bible this book is the hardest for me to study and get into. I try and I find myself falling asleep. The Holy Spirit has instructed me to study this book....Anyone got any advice that would help?

Read the words out loud. The Word of God is The living Word of God. As He is Alive and Eternal so are His Words. Reading The Psalms out loud brings The Lord perfect praise. If we are lacking in this area, than Davids words(praise) more than make up for it.