Creator, Father, King #122

May all who are godly rejoice in the LORD and praise his holy name!

WHERE CAN YOU GO to find joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and a range of other emotions all in one place—well, other than the movie Inside Out or morning drop-off time at your local preschool?

The book of Psalms!

The psalms are 150 songs and poems, written by seven identified authors over at least eight hundred years, from the time of Moses to the Jews’ post-exilic period in Babylon. The book of Psalms is like a hymnbook for God’s people to sing about his character and his mighty acts throughout history.

As a whole, the book of Psalms is beloved because of the beauty, breadth, and “realness” of its contents. For every psalm that urges the reader to exalt God for his majesty, there’s a surprisingly candid psalm that explores suffering.

Are you bursting with joy and thankfulness toward the Lord for his blessings? Do you feel downtrodden by life? Are God-haters criticizing you? Do you need God’s rescuing hand? Are you astounded at the overwhelming beauty and majesty of God’s creation?

Then there are psalms for you! The book of Psalms truly has something for everyone. For ten days, we’re going to worship God by reflecting on a handful of beautiful psalms.

What’s It Mean?

The very fact that the book of Psalms is in the Bible should greatly encourage you. It means that Christianity is not a pie-in-the-sky religion—and God is not an unrealistic, aloof deity who expects his followers to be robotic slaves. No! The psalms prove exactly the opposite.

Here are a few of the beautiful spiritual realities that the psalms gloriously magnify:

• God is holy, majestic, and worthy of all of our praise (today’s verse).
• God deeply loves his creation and has revealed himself to us (Psalm 19:1-6).
• He is a God who we can turn to in all circumstances—in success and failure, fear and happiness, in joy and despair. (See Psalm 69 for an example of faith amid suffering and Psalm 100 as an example of thanksgiving.)

All of these truths cause us to joyfully join David in declaring, “O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!” (Psalm 8:1).

Turn to the psalms often to worship God, marvel at him, and draw near to him. They will bless you spiritually from the inside out!

Now What?

Memorize Psalm 8, a short, beautiful psalm that magnifies God’s glory.

Did You Know?

King David wrote almost half of the psalms. Asaph, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, and the sons of Korah wrote some too. Many psalms are anonymously written.