Heart of a Psalmist - Worshipping Christ Through The Psalms

1. ‘ LURKING SINS ’-(errors) “ How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart!”(12) Despite our good intentions, we all make mistakes and sin. 2. ‘ HIDDEN FAULTS ’- (secret faults) “ Cleanse me from these hidden faults.”(12) These are the sins that we are not aware of within our fallen nature. 3. ‘ DELIBERATE SINS ’- (presumptuous sins) “ Keep me from deliberate sins! Don’t let them con- trol me.”(13) These are sins that we purpose to do with full awareness of their wrongness. If we persist in them they enslave us. 4. ‘ GREAT SIN ’- (great transgression) – “ Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin.”(13) This refers to both amount of sin (great) and degree of sin such as the more serious sins of murder, idol- atry etc. The greater amount of sin and degree of sin translates into greater guilt upon the person’s con- science. Only the blood of Christ can wash that away. “ Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts (conscience) from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God.” (Heb. 9:14)

Meditating Upon the Goodness of God- 14

“ May the words of my mouth and the thoughts (meditation) of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.” (14)

We need to fill our mouths with right words and our hearts and minds with right thoughts. God’s so- lution is a pleasant one, it is called meditation and it is the act of contemplating deeply, speaking and singing the words and wonders of God. As the sheep chews its cud, we are to continually fill our hearts and our mouth with his promises, our prayers and his praises. Psalms is the grand book of meditating upon God and his word: • “ May my meditation be sweet to Him; I will be glad in the Lord.”(Ps. 104:34) • “ Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long.” (Ps. 119:97)

This beautiful song encourages us to become students of the wonders of creation, the marvels of his word and the intricacies of the human soul.

1 Spurgeon 2 Keil & Delitzsch

PSALM 20: SOME TRUST IN CHARIOTS The Battle Blessing of the High Priest

Psalms 20 and 21 belong together with Psalm 20 being written before a crucial battle and Psalm 21 being written after David had won the victory. Both are written by David and given to the choir director to be used in the worship service for the nation. The first part is the seven blessings given by the High Priest before the Israelites began the battle and the second part is David expressing his confidence in God’s help. This psalm was written in response to a battle with a nation who had many chariots much like David’s battle with the Arameans. “ They (the people of Ammon) also hired thirty-two thousand chariots…Then he (David) engaged the enemy troops in battle, and they fought against him. But again the Arameans fled from the Israelites. This time David’s forces killed seven thousand charioteers and forty thousand foot soldiers…” (1 Chron. 19:17,18)

The psalm is divided into three parts with one ‘Interlude’ (Selah) occurring after verse three:

I. MAY HE GRANT YOUR HEARTS DESIRE -The Priestly Blessing (1-5) II. HIS GREAT POWER - The Protection of the King- (6-8) III. GIVE VICTORY TO OUR KING - The Prayer of Victory (9)

INTRODUCTION :

“ For the choir director: A psalm of David.” (See Psalm 11)

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