Going Deeper: The Story of the Psalms

Hello everyone!

This past Wednesday night we concluded our series on the Psalms with a night of praise. We talked about how as you move through the Psalms from start to finish the number of laments become less frequent while the Psalms of praise become more frequent. This rhythm reaches its climactic conclusion in the final 5 Psalms (146-150), all of which both begin and end with the phrase “Praise the Lord.”

In class we talked about how the Psalms are structured this way in order to tell a story. The story the book of Psalms is telling is a story of God’s people going through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, but ultimately by the time the story ends God’s people are set free from everything that has ailed them and are enjoying praising God together for all he has done for them. The story told by Psalms is the Christian story. It’s the story the whole bible is telling. It’s the story of Jesus. It’s the story of the life of every Christian. Life, death, resurrection. Creation, fall, New creation. Orientation, disorientation, new Orientation.

The ending of the book of Psalms points us to the end of the Christian story. It points us to the ultimate reality that when all is said and done we will be free from all that ails us and will enjoy perfect intimate relationship with our loving eternal father, praising his name forever.

For students and families interested in going deeper with these final 5 Psalms I’d recommend reading through one of them a day over the next 5 days. If your family prays together before meals, that would be a perfect opportunity to read one of these Psalms of praise together. Read the Psalm, pray, and then over dinner share a word or phrase from the Psalm that stood out. Talk about what the Psalm teaches you about what God. Talk about the things about God, as revealed in the Psalm you read, that make him worthy of our praise.