What is your favorite musical album of all time? Think about that for a second. What is your favorite album? If you can't think of album, think of, maybe think of artists. Go ahead and share that with your neighbor this morning. Go ahead and share that. What is your favorite album and share your real album? OK. Don't try to be all churchy on me. We know you're filled here with this room is filled with heathens. OK? If you're watching online, feel free to comment, favorite music album, you know, I tried to look up what is the most popular, most famous albums of all time and actually every list that I found was completely different. Uh So I couldn't find a consensus of the most popular musical albums of all time, but some of the ones that kept coming up over and over uh were the, the Beatles Abbey Road came up. Uh Stevie Wonder Songs in the key of life came up. Uh Beach Boys Pet Sounds came up. Uh They had Michael Jackson's Thriller album. Uh Pretty much anything from youtube is, is going through there. Uh So, you know, whatever your favorite artist is Right. If, if, maybe for those who are thinking rap, I know, I know Paul, you're thinking rap down there. I can tell, I can tell how he had that head, Bob, he was thinking through it. Maybe it's country. Maybe this room's filled with Swifties. I don't know, a Taylor Swift album trying to pick one. You know, we'll pray for you. Um, and, uh, wherever your album is, why, why is it that it's your favorite? Why is it? Well, maybe it's the way that formulated the music. Maybe it's, it's the beat, it's the rhythm, it's the lyrics, maybe it's the emotion that you feel, maybe it was a moment in life that you experience to a particular soundtrack. Have you ever been in the car and going somewhere and a song comes on and your mind immediately goes back to our moment, right? See, music has a way of connecting with us. The other parts of culture just can't, it reaches beyond really anything we can imagine and, and really speaks to the soul. What I wanna do over these next really eight or nine weeks, these next two months here is that we're gonna take a study and, and take a look in a deeper dive into the greatest music album of all time. And I can say that not just from a personal preference thing, but historically speaking, the most sung, the most printed, the most read music song book of all time is the book of Psalms in the Bible that spans really written over about 1000 years. Actually, if you go back to the first song that was put together, so from about 1400 BC to last ones in there comes in at around 400 BC. And so it was a collection of songs or praises that really has shaped the Jewish faith and the Christian faith and really all of humanity. And so if nothing else, let's take a look at the greatest music album of all time because there truly is a song for every season of life. That's why this morning's message is entitled Lyrics For Life, Lyrics For Life. If you've ever read the Bible and you thought to yourself, man, it just seems like religious jargon. I, I don't get it. It doesn't make sense to me. What I love about the Psalms is that the Psalms make sense to us because it is, it is not just God's words to us, it is our words to God and it is an emotional expression of faith through every season of life. It is authentic, it is raw, it is real. You'll see what I mean by that. It's, it's the high times, it's the low times and so whatever you're walking through right now, it can speak to it, to your heart, to your life. See the word Psalm. We get the word Psalm really? From a Greek word that gets translated meaning song or praise the original book, the, the Hebrew word and I'm awful at pronunciations, but to Helium means praises. And we had a Greek translation of a Hebrew word uh Mismo, which then we translate Psalms or Psalms. We see this actually in the New Testament already, it actually gets quoted as Psalms by the gospel writers and accounts. So Luke actually quotes and uses the word Psalms in Luke 20 verse 42 in acts one verse 20. So by the time The New Testament comes along, the early church was already using this book. And so you know what's cool to think about that? We're gonna be studying the same book that Jesus studied. The same book that the early church studied. The very first church studied and brought them comfort in every season. So if it can bring Jesus comfort, if it can bring the very first church comfort, I promise you it can bring us comfort as well. And so if you're taking notes, I want you to write this down that the Psalms help us experience God in everyday life, the Psalms help us experience God in everyday life. You see the Psalms are complex enough to deal with reality, but yet they are simple enough to be understood by anybody and then they are important enough to be read and prayed through by everybody. There are Psalms that speak to your head, there are Psalms that speak to your heart. There are Psalms that speak all the way down to your fingers and toes and your phalanges and right. That's a fun word for fingers and toes. Um It to every little component of your body and life. There is a psalm for that. Go ahead and turn to your neighbor and say there's a song for that. Ok. There really is. And it might not be specific in your context, but it is specific in your calling and in your heart again, in your soul, you're gonna feel it. I love this quote from the Westminster Catechism. It says Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. And that when we read the Psalms, we can actually encounter God and enjoy him and find joy in every circumstance in life. If it worked for Jesus, if it worked for the early church, it can work for you. And I today we don't always have to find the latest, newest greatest, best thing. We can go back to the best thing thing that's worked for literally thousands of years and will thousands of years from now if we can get through November, just verdicts out on that one verdicts out. So here's what I wanna do. Ok? Today's sermon is gonna be a little bit different in that. I really, the entire sermon is really an introduction to this summer. We're gonna end with actually a couple of free resources we've created for you. And so what I want to encourage you to do though is to engage with us all summer. And so if you, if you're out of town, if you're traveling, I get it. It's Arizona people leave if they can. Uh That's why we have online is that you can engage with us. That's why we have youtube and Spotify and Apple podcasts. So I want, I really want to encourage you to stay connected with us because I believe that if you can study the Psalms and apply it within your life and create a rhythm to reflect on this, this won't just give you the best summer ever. This will radically transform and change the way you view your life. And I want that for you. And so I invite you to study this with me. Let's have a conversation here together. And so today's message is really just the first conversation. It's really gonna set up because when you read the Psalms, sometimes you just get a verse or you get a quote or you have something you grab onto. But when you actually study the, the history of it behind it in the context, it actually gets even more incredible. It gets more amazing to see what's underneath the surface. And that's what we want to do today. Let's get underneath the surface and give you a little bit of background of how these came to be, uh how we can use them, actually, how it's structured, how it's put together and then how we can read it and how it can actually apply to our lives. All right, let's jump into it first. Let's share a little bit of the background to the Psalms, a little bit of background. So I shared with you where the word comes from. It's real simple. Psalm even sounds like song or praise. So that's an, a book of Psalm. So they're individually written 100 and 50 put together and, and so when it comes to authorship, some, some people think that King David wrote all of them, he actually did not, he did write about half of them. He wrote 73 of the Psalms. But there are actually multiple authors again, I already shared with you that it was written over 1000 year period. A good chunk of it was in the life of David. But there is 11 by a guy named Asa who was one of David's worship leaders. There was 12 Psalms written by the sons of Cora, maybe that's like a boy band of back in the day, you know, but it was a group of worship leaders. So we worship leaders. There, there was one by a guy named Hein, one by a guy named Ethan, two by Solomon, his son. Uh We actually have one by Moses. There's actually saw Moses that's actually in the subscription underneath. That's why it dates all the way back to 1400 BC. And then there are 49 that are seen as Orphan Psalms. They're not Orphan Psalms. It's just that they're anonymous because we don't know who they are attributed to. And so you'll see it actually, if you read the Psalms, you'll see, they'll acknowledge who it's by and if they don't acknowledge the author, that's one of the 49 anonymous ones. Ok. So now a little bit about the structure, a little bit about the structure of it. Uh This is actually cool. The Psalms actually is organized in five books and whatever translation you're reading you'll actually see in there. Book one book, two, book, three, book four, book five. OK. And what's really fascinating about that is that uh what commentators think is that actually it was structured to reflect or mirror the first five books of the Bible, which was known as the Torah. And so actually, and here's the breakdown of the books and it actually has specific chapters, you can see it. So book one is really chapter one or Psalm 1 to 41. And that really, and I'm gonna get um I really like this um description. It was by a guy named Skip um Hez and it passed out in New Mexico and it was alliterated and, you know, I love alliteration. So I share this with you. Um And so the first book here actually is really the songs of relationship, the songs of relationship. And this mirrors actually Genesis and really it reflects now at works there. A lot of Psalms of David are gonna be found in these first chapters, but it's all about the relationship between man and God and God and man, right in there. You have incredible powerful ones like Psalm 23 which I want to share a resource with you at the end. But you see that book two is, is Psalm 42 to 72. This is the songs of redemption, songs of redemption. And so this actually mirrors Exodus, where the people failed God. But then God actually brought them out. Uh again, you actually reflect through a lot of the Psalms of David and through the struggles and the issues that he went through. And then you have book three is Psalm 73 to 89. These are the Psalms of Refuge, the Psalms of Refuge. This reflects the book of Leviticus in which people continually break the law. Now, historically, what where these take place is a lot of the Psalms in here are really dealing with the exile of Israel when they some, you know, there's Babylonians, there's Assyrians, they come in and as a judgment of God kind of take over the rebellious people of God. And so they get pulled out. And so if you think through exile, there's other biblical characters that are found in this are like Daniel in the Lion's den with Babylon, you might think of the Assyrians, you might think of people come out, you think of actually Nehemiah who came back and rebuilt the wall. So like there's this whole story of exile where people rebelled against God. And then God comes in and actually says, well, there is still a chance for refuge. There's a remnant, there's truth, there's hope which then transitions into book number four, which is Psalm 90 to 106. These are the songs of repercussion. This is number. This is what happens when you rebel against God. It doesn't go well for you. It's never gone well for you. It never will go well for you that at the end of the day that your choices have consequences and it shares that. But even in your bad consequences, even when you are faithless, God remains faithful. And so even in the middle of all the troubles and the struggles, there's actually hope because then in book five, the last ones, 10 which is Psalm 107 to 150 there's the songs of revival songs of revival that kind of reflects Deuteronomy. I it's the giving of the law. It's the reflection of that. And then actually the book ends well, it starts chapters one and two or Psalm one and two are like an introduction which we're gonna jump into next week, the actual Psalm one and, and teach through that. Um And then we're gonna end the last week of July teaching through the final chapters or final Psalms there where the theme is praise and hallelujah. And actually where we get our word. Hallelujah, what that means and why people are singing those praises, uh which really leads to the coming of Christ, which is pretty cool. And so, um how do we know that these books are separated? Books? Well, number one, it actually says book one, book two, book three. So there's, there's that, uh but then also at the end of every book, it has basically the same verse. And so it's what I would call book and verses. And so I have them listed there and I'm gonna quote one of them. Really the first one. Psalm 41 verse 13 is that blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting Amen and amen. And when you say amen, what you're saying is that I believe this, I confirm this. May it be true? This is true. It's a declaration, an affirmation of what was previously said. That's why when we pray, we end our prayers with Amen, right? So like you pray a prayer and you say, I believe this or may this be true? Right? Sometimes I feel like when we pray at the meeting of word, that's like we pray a prayer and be like, is it though, you know, like what if we ended our prayers that way? Dear Lord just protect us. Maybe, you know what I mean? Like, but like when we say amen, it's like even in our doubts, we're saying, OK, I'm gonna put my trust in you God. And so that's what these verses do. And so at the end of every book, you have this verse, this blessed be the Lord of God and Savior and for everlasting and everlasting. And so we, that's kind of how the, the book is laid out this book of songs. Then you have really in that the history itself. It is a series of poetry and songs. And so there is beautiful, picturesque language that really speaks to the heart of the matter. And actually there are many passages in which people get angry at God and get angry at others. I would say even getting some chariot rage, you know, like not road rage, but some chariot rage that people and you'll, you'll, I, I'll read you, I'll give you one example a little bit later of one. You're like, wait, that's in the Bible. Yes, it is. And people get mad and they like curse at people and the other people because they get really upset and you're like, wait, that's not in the Bible. Yes, it is because it speaks to the humanity and the struggles of real life and it's honest, right? And so I love that, I love that. So we have this here and it was used, what's interesting too about this is that it, the people wanted encouragement. They were and especially in exile. And so David is writing Psalms through his struggle, running for his life, becoming king, falling into sin, being convicted of sin, coming out of that longing to build a temple that ultimately Solomon would, would complete. And so this longing for establishing a secure faith is something that then when the people were on the run in exile in another country were longing for secure faith that then applies to you. And I today because we're still in a culture that is not Christian, it just isn't, we just aren't in a Christian culture. We like to use Christian terms, but we're not in a Christian society. And so yet we find ourselves in the situation in which we want to land and, and we're crying, longing for what a secure faith. And so that's why it still translates today. Uh Jesus actually quoted the Psalms 11 times, right? This is the songbook of Jesus and actually in the New Testament, it's the most quoted book in the New Testament that it's quoted for alluded to 400 times. So it was quoted by Jesus. It was quoted by the early church. It's, it, it's, it is really sustained for thousands of years. And so I want us to understand that when we read and pray through the Psalms, it's like a prayer coach. It is a praise coach. It helps us express to God how we're feeling and then gives us the strength, endurance to overcome all situations at all times. It worked, then it will work now it'll work tomorrow. That's why we want to study it. OK. So how do we read it though? How do we read it? Because it is the Bible. There are some words we don't understand it. It seems super expressive and some of us might not be very poetic. And so what do we do with that? Uh So just some practical tips here as we're reading through this. OK. First, uh read the Psalms primarily with your heart. Read it with your heart, try to identify the emotion of the writer and, and think through that there's for, for example, over 70 times you see the word uh sa put in there, which might be a musical notation to pause, but it's also a spiritual one. So you'll read it and you'll see this word in the song that says Sila, which means to ref pause and reflect or consider these things. So read it first with your heart. Second, try to identify the person and the purpose of the song. So you can actually see the author of it and maybe through reading the context because the purpose changes the tone, right? Tone matters. Husbands. Come on. We know this right tone matters. That's why a text message or an email. Sometimes you're like, wait, I didn't like tone and timing matters, right? I'm speaking to somebody in the room. I see some elbows going. So I'll just keep my eyes up there right. Between you guys and God. All right. Uh So try to identify the purpose because it changes how it was written. Uh look for indicators of genre like and I'll explain the different types that are here in just a moment. But is there a different type that you're looking for? OK. Uh then also look for structured thoughts and parallel thoughts, structure and parallel. So sometimes for those English majors out there, it'd be like chic structure. So it'd be like a BB A or ABC B A. So in other words, you have a parallel statement, parallel statement and then something to apply in the in between. And there's lots of forms of parallels in there because the early songs were not trying to match rhyme and meter and cadence like we do in modern day uh raps and songs and poetry. But really you are pa doing parallel thoughts or ideas and so you might say something and then repeat it, you might say something and expand on it, you might say something and then offer the contrast, right? You might say something and offer two contrasts and then be like, OK, which one are you gonna choose kind of thing? And so look for parallel thoughts, we'll walk through these all summer. So I'm just giving you kind of some ideas to think about as you're reading through it. OK? Then after that, then you can ask two questions. Number one, what does this Psalm say about God. What does the psalm say about God? Because some of the greatest songs of praise are in the Psalms. Some pretty cool pictures thrown in here. What does it say about God? And then the second question to ask is, what does it say about me? All right. What does it say about me? Because if you can read through something and pray and say, what does it say about God? What does it say about me? You've come a long way. OK. You've come a long way. Now there are so many different types of Psalms and I wanna just highlight again. All of this is a intro to give you just a sampling or a taste. This is a Charcuterie board today. OK? Before the meal that's coming these next couple of weeks, right? And can we just be real? Charcuterie is just an adult version of a lunchable, right? Think about that outside of an olive, like our lack of Reese cup. Like they're the same thing they really are. Although now that I think about it, Reese cups on a Charcuterie board would be great if I just think that anyway, everything I think of is somehow related to food. I don't know why. Um So le let me just give you a sampling. OK? And then after this Sunday, we're gonna take a look at specific Psalms and do deep dives into them. OK. So we're just gonna fly by today and then we're gonna go deep dives into them because they're all different lyrics for life songs for the season that you're in. But I want you to see the variety that's available. Ok. First one's hymns, hymns are really this praise and declaration of who God is and what God has done. It's an example. Psalm 19 1, the heavens declare the glory of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands. So it's, it's a high view of God. It's God is great. God is creator. You know, Amaz. We think of amazing grace. We think of like the hymns. Ok? We think, well, we, we should just sing more hymns. I think hymns are great. Let's remember that the actual original hymns are here, right? It's a song book here found in scripture. OK? So that is a type, it is just simply praising God because He's God, that's enough to praise Him, right? Sometimes we think we have to get something from God to praise Him. You are breathing. That should be enough, you know what I'm saying? Right. And so that is enough. Do you ever stop to think about the fact that we use the very breath that God gave us to turn around and question Him? I remember a specific time when I was early in ministry and I was walking through a challenge and, and I was like, God, are you even in control? And I walked outside and I was like, man, it's hot. I put on sunglasses and I put on sunscreen. I was like, wait, like I can't even like walk outside without needing something of coverage and like God perfectly positioned where we are on this planet where we are in this place. Like I'm not telling my lungs to breathe. I'm not telling my heart to beat. I'm not to, I'm not saying for my blood to flow my body to grow, right? Like, like I don't have control over any of that yet God does. That's why he's worthy to be praised. All right, there's a hymn, there's a, then a um a Psalm of Thanksgiving, Psalm of Thanksgiving. This is a more expressive, joyful one. And so an example, Psalm 101 100 verses, one and two, shout for the joy of the Lord. All the earth worship the Lord with gladness come before Him with joyful songs. So there is these high of high, right? With hymn Psalms with Thanksgiving, Psalms. But then there's actually another category that actually almost a third, the largest category really of Psalms is actually known as lament Psalms. These are songs sung when you are struggling, when you're anxious, when you are sinful, when you are down. Right? Here's an example. Psalm 22 my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me so far from my cries of English? Now, I quote this one because not only was this the Psalm of David. This is also what Jesus quoted right on the, on the cross. Like this isn't real churchy. You don't find this, like crocheted a lot. You know what I mean? You don't, you don't have a coffee mug with Psalm 22 1 on it. You know what I mean? But we've all felt God. Where are you, where were you when blank happened? Right. And if you've never been mad at God, you're lying and that's another sin and we can talk about that, right? But that's why I love the Psalms. They're authentic. Building off this lament. Psalms is also penitential psalms. This is if you think of penance, repentance, asking questions in anguish when you fe has anybody ever felt guilty or ashamed? Yeah. What do you do in that moment? There's a psalm for that Psalm 38 verse one and two. Lord do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath. Your arrows have pierced me and your hands has come down on me. So there's some of that poetic language, right? Got it. It happened again. I fail again. There's a song for that. There's also Psalms called Wisdom. Psalms. How to live and walk on a practical basis. Psalm 1, 19 verse one and two blessed are those whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are those who keep the statutes and seek him with all their heart. Psalm 119 is the longest song. 100 and 76 verses. It's actually an acrostic poem takes the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and, and with eight stanzas each and walks through and, and values the word of God. Pretty cool little setup. OK. Which is ironically like two before that is the shortest passage in the Bible. Psalm 117. It's like five words. Basically, it's like two verses and then 100 and 76 they didn't really balance that out. But hey, uh so you have this and it's talking about the value of how to live, how to walk, how to act, what direction to take another one. Royal Psalms. These are the idea of picturing God as King Psalm 21 verse one and two, the king rejoices in your strength, Lord, how great is his joy and the victories you give, you have granted him his heart's desire and not withheld the request of his lips. So there's a practical royal kingship element that is locally contextualized. And then there's also this like picture of God as king and ruler and reigning. We just sang all hail King Jesus. Where does this come from? The Psalms? OK. There's another example called Messianic Psalms. It's about 17 or so. Psalms that directly get quoted are fulfilled by Jesus in the New Testament. But in reality, all 150 really point to Jesus if you want to break it down. But there are more, some more specific than others that then actually tie in prophecy, which is pretty cool. And so Mess Messianic. So Jesus Messiah an example here, Psalm 118 verse 22 and 23 for the stone, the builders rejected and has become the cornerstone. The Lord has done this and has marveled in your eyes. And so Jesus actually in Hebrews gets referred to as the cornerstone and we actually sing songs about Jesus being the cornerstone. And so this is originated in here. Uh Here's the one I told you I remember I told you that there's like angry Elf ones. You remember in the movie, buddy like Elf with buddy the Elf like wow, he's an angry Elf like there are some angry Psalms in here that I bet you did not know this is in the Bible. OK. Let me give you an example. It's called imp precatory psalms. This is prayers of judgment on your enemies. OK. Psalm 109 verses eight and 9 May his days be few. May another take his place of leadership and may his Children be fatherless and his wife, a widow? Oh, ok. Uh That is not John 316, right? But you know what that is? That's honest. Right? How many of you have felt? Psalm 109 verse eight and nine. Right. Right. I'm just giving you some tools right now like, hey, I read Psalm 109 verse 89 and I thought of you today, right? You can literally look your enemies in the eye and say I prayed for you. There's a psalm for that like there is like these are legitimate things that, that people are crying out in anger, in sin, in shame, in anxious thoughts and worry. There's a psalm for every season of life and that's what I love about it because what you'll read is like, I'm praying this but then at the end they go, but God, you do what you need to and I trust you, right? One more example here and then we're gonna wrap up the sent Psalm. Psalm 121 verse one and two. It says, I lift my eyes to the mountains. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. And these psalms were actually be recited and celebrated when they would go to those Jewish feasts. And so in many cases, they were literally walking uphill to Jerusalem and they would sing these songs. And so there is a song, a Psalm for every season of life. There are lyrics for your life and I want you to embrace it because it, it works because the Psalms help us experience God in everyday life. It really does. Now, the band's gonna be coming up here. But let me just share with you 33 quick applications. And this is really for the entire summer and So this is some free resources for you. I wanna share with you. The first is that I wanna invite you to watch our special Psalm 23 Bible study. So we created this in house. Um High quality is about an hour and a half of video that's in there with a full book that goes with it. Uh It's spread out over six videos or six weeks if you want it. Uh There's a QR code at the bottom of your notes. If you grabbed the bulletin on the way in, there's also uh there you can grab one on your way out. It's in the description on the youtube channel. And so this is, this is a free Bible study. The most talked about Psalm ever. We did a deep dive on it and we wanna share that with you. Ok? So that's a free resource we're giving that away today. We want you to take that. We want you to watch that this summer. Second thing we want you to do is that we, I wanna invite you to read with me the Psalms this summer. So we have a little reading plan that starts tomorrow. I wanna pick up a little reading plan on your way out for those watching online. We have a link in the description to download a PDF of this and I invite you to start reading the Psalms with me. Let's start Psalm one tomorrow. Uh We'll give you Sundays off here and kind of read through Saturdays and then, and then, uh, we're gonna wrap up that last week of July and so pretty cool. So, I want you to read the Psalms with me. And then the third thing is talk about it with somebody. Don't go through this alone. Right. Whether you're watching the study or you're reading through the Psalms, go through it with somebody with your spouse, with friends in your growth group in a Bible study. And let's talk about that because it, it changes everything. I promise it will. So what we're gonna do now is that as our rhythm as a church is that we take the first Sunday of every month and we practice communion, uh practice, we practice, we, we take communion, we experience the practice of communion. And what this represents is that we are remembering who Jesus is and what Jesus did. And so if you don't believe in Jesus yet, if you're not a Christian, yet, consider this a time to reflect and just pray and that we invite you to just let those pass. But if you wanna accept Jesus into your life, or if you already call him the Lord and Savior, I want you to take these elements. We're gonna begin in just a moment. We'll pass. Uh As soon as we start the music here, you'll see until we get the elements. But it's really a chance for us to remember who God is and what, what God has done for us. All right, let me pray, dear God. Just thank you for the Psalms. Thank you for this series. Thank you for this summer. God, I pray that we can jump into and study and read and pray and praise and lament through the greatest musical album of all time that God. These are the songs that David sang. These are the songs that, that are of your people in the Old Testament of the prophets of Moses of Solomon, God of the people in exile. These are what's read in Ezra. This is quoted by Jesus and read and prayed over by the beginning of the church. So may it be our song book as well? We love you and your sons and we pray. Amen.