One ancient author wrote about the Psalms. . .
Whatever your particular need or trouble, from the Psalms you can find words from which you can remedy your ill.
I’ve read Psalms for decades, and I’ve been in full-time ministry for decades. Experiencing the frustration, low self-esteem, and self-doubt that too easily come from serving others, I’ve also (through years of reading the Psalms) marked specific verses that I re-read when I need an emotional boost.
Let me share seven of them. . .
You have given me your shield of victory. Your right hand supports me; your help has made me great (18:35, NLT).
My eyes are always on the Lord, for he rescues me from the traps of my enemies (25:15).
So be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord! (31:24).
Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again – my savior and my God (42:5-6a).
You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book (56:8).
Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture (100:3).
I love the Lord because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath! (116:1-2)
He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them (145:19).
Yes, I shared eight, not seven, I couldn’t help myself.
We have an advantage over those who originally wrote and sang the Psalms. For their ultimate worship experience, they would travel to Jerusalem to worship God in His temple. Psalms 120-134 are called “Songs of Ascent” as pilgrims would sing them as they walked up the hills and mountains to Jerusalem.
Today, we are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in us (1 Corinthians 3:16). Singing and reading the Psalms connect the words of the Spirit in the Psalms to the Spirit within us. Because of the Spirit within, I sense a supernatural presence while reading the Psalms. You can too! And that presence dissipates darkness from our souls.
Psalm 139 describes this cleansing. . .
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you (vv. 11-12, ESV).
Amen. Peace out!