Sayings on The Psalms
“Come, let us sing a psalm, and drive away the devil.”
I just finished a 2-year journey and journal in the Psalms, I thought I’d share some of my favorite quotes I came across as well as some of my own reflections.
Entire Psalter
Praise almost seems to be inner health made audible.
C.S. Lewis
Heavenly music is not harping upon one string, but all strings shall be tuned to one praise.
Charles Spurgeon
Whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book [the Psalms] you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you…learn the way to remedy your ill.
Athanasius
The Psalms showed me that imagination was a way to get inside the truth. As I have often told my students, a metaphor is a verbal link between the invisible and the visible, between heaven and earth.
Eugene Peterson
The psalms have become my bread of heaven in the wilderness of my exodus.
Paraphrase of Thomas Merton by W. David O. Taylor
In the Psalter, death exists in a shadowy underworld called Sheol, where chaos and lifelessness rule.
W. David O. Taylor
My meditative soul is, after all, the best instrument, and the harp's [smooth] tones comes in to aid my thoughts.
Charles Spurgeon
David made Psalms; we also will make Psalms, and sing them as well as we can to the honour of our Lord, and to spite and mock the devil.
Martin Luther
I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.
C.S. Lewis
The psalms are a “gymnasium for the soul.”
Ambrose
The Psalms have among other roles in Scripture one which is peculiarly their own: to touch and kindle us rather than simply to address us.
Derek Kidner
Most of the scripture speaks to us, while the Psalms speak for us.
Athanasius
Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers
Charles Spurgeon
Properly viewed, church music runs back up the sunbeam to the sun.
C.S. Lewis
The Psalms are “the anatomy of the soul.”
John Calvin
Psalms are the language we use when we need a voice other than our own.
Cornelius Plantinga
Singing is the sound of joy in God. It is joy in God made audible.
David Mathis
Psalm 1
If you want guidance for true joy, read Psalm 1
Psalm 2
The Lord is both the one who can pour out wrath on us AND offer Himself as the place to take refuge from it.
Honor His Son - Psalm 2
If election nights makes you nervous, rest in the God of Psalm 2.
If you feel like God is going to lose, read Psalm 2.
Psalm 3
If you want to know how salvation impacts your day, read Psalm 3.
Psalm 4
If you feel dishonored, read Psalm 4.
Psalm 5
If you feel overwhelmed by the onslaught of ungodliness, read Psalm 5. It is God’s help in a wicked world.
Psalm 6
If you are looking for safety, read Psalm 6.
Psalm 7
Psalm 7 shows the good and bad news of God’s righteousness.
Psalm 8
If you are trying to find God, read Psalm 8.
Psalm 11
If you fear of persecution or fear of society crumbling, read Psalm 11—A psalm for anarchy culture.
Psalm 12
If you're feeling bombarded and frustrated by all the fake news and lying out there, read Psalm 12. Take heart.
Psalm 13
If you feel forgotten by God, read Psalm 13.
Psalm 14
If God went on the news to talk about atheists, he might discribe Psalm 14.
Psalm 15
If you want to understand how to be in God’s presence, read Psalm 15.
Psalm 18
Nothing makes God so angry as an injury done to his child.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 19
"Look what God did." ~ Creation
(A short poem of reflection inspired by this mornings sermon from Psalm 19)
Whenever you enter your college classroom, take off your shoes if creation really is what Psalm 19 says it is: and let the last lines of Psalm 19 burn themselves into your flesh—it’s not just a formula clergy use before a worship service, but it’s perfectly fitted out for prof and student who want to make their studying Christian, a heart-covenanted analysis.
Calvin Seerveld
Psalm 25
Psalm 25, a psalm for the emo kid at heart.
Psalm 25
God’s truth > my truth (25:5)
He best knows himself who best knows the Word.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 26:4-5
Psalm 26 is what happens when you trust God.
Many people have a very strong desire to meet celebrated or ‘important’ people, including those whom they disapprove.… But I am inclined to think a Christian would be wise to avoid, where he decently can, any meeting with people who are bullies, lascivious, cruel, dishonest, spiteful and so forth. Not because we are ‘too good’ for them. In a sense because we are not good enough. We are not good enough to cope with all the temptations, nor clever enough to cope with all the problems, which an evening spent in such society produces.
C.S. Lewis
Many Christians can trace a lost youth or fruitless middle years to the bad influence of evil persons, whom they looked up to and even envied at one time.
James Montgomery Boice
Psalm 27
"The Lord is my light and my salvation..." Psalm 27:1
The Lord not only provides salvation... He IS it.
“Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, yet I will be confident” Psalm 27:3
Confidence is the child of experience.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 28
If you feel like God is silent to your cries for help, read Psalm 28. God is our forever, listening, king.
Psalm 29
Psalm 29 is a psalm to reinterpret your storms with lenses of true reality.
Ascribe: acknowledge his supreme worth with our minds.
Worship: boy down, subordination of our wills and minds to his.
James Montgomery Boice
The thunder is only a poetic image for a reality, the actual voice of God, which is infinitely beyond it.
James Montgomery Boice
Psalm 30
“To you, O Lord, I cry. and to the Lord I plead for mercy” (Psalm 30:8).
Prayer is the unfailing resource of God’s people.
Charles Spurgeon
If we are not singing God’s praise, it is because our hearts are not full of him. Instead they are filled with things of this world, things that will perish with the worth and pass away.
James Montgomery Boice
Psalm 31
If you are struggling to trust God, consider Psalm 31.
Prayer: Ask God to prove to be his attributes in our personal experience. Is God powerful? Ask him to prove his strength in my weakness. If he wise? Ask him to display his wisdom in the ordering of my life.
James Montgomery Boice
Providence is a soft pillow for anxious heads, an anodyne [painkiller] for care, a grave for despair.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 32
Psalm 32 shows the journey from God’s crushing hand to his guidance and joy.
King David wrote a Psalm (Psalm 32).
The missionary, Paul, wrote to the church in Rome.
The missionary, Paul, quoted King David's Psalm to help the church in Rome understand that justification comes by faith (Romans 4).
If a song and a letter helped expand the kingdom of God, what other gifts could be useful for the Great Commission today?
Psalm 33
Psalm 33 shows us a God worth summoning the nations for.
There is always room for a fresh voice to praise the old gospel, the old creation, the old providence.
Alexander Maclaren
Psalm 34
Psalm 34 provides an interpretation for that suffering you got there.
To Jehovah, and not to second causes, our gratitude is to be rendered
Charles Spurgeon
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalm 34:1).
Happy is he whose fingers are wedded to his harp…God deserves blessings with the heart, and extolling with the mouth—good thoughts in the closet, and good words in the world.
Charles Spurgeon
David's heart was more often out of tune than his harp.
Charles Spurgeon
Want to taste and see God? Obey him.
James Montgomery Boice
Psalm 35
If you desire public vindication, read Psalm 35.
One word from the Lord quiets all our fears.
Charles Spurgeon
An inward persuasion of security in God is of all things the most precious in the furnace of persecution.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 36
If you want to know the distinguishing characteristic between the wicked and the upright, read Psalm 36.
Take refuge: flee with haste and intensity, stopping for nothing. Flee for refuge, like a man guilty of manslaughter fleeing from the avenger of his blood.
James Montgomery Boice
Good men man well be afraid of proud men, for the serpent’s seed will never cease to bite the heel of the godly.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 37
If you feel like evil people are winning at life, reflect on Psalm 37. It shows a glimpse of the reality of where life is heading.
“I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He is ever lending generously, and his children become a blessing” Psalm 37:25-26.
God pays back with interest in the next generation…the friend of the father is the friend of the family. The God of Abraham is the God of Isaac and Jacob.
Charles Spurgeon
The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble (Psalm 37:39).
By salvation is meant deliverance of every kind; not only; the salvation which finally lands us in glory, but all the minor rescues of the way these are all to be ascribed unto the Lord and to him alone…Where trouble overthrows the wicked, it only drives the righteous to their stronger Helper, who rejoices to uphold them.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 38
If you feel internally sick, read Psalm 38.
In Psalm 37, waiting is advice. In Psalm 38, waiting is practiced.
James Montgomery Boice
“O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!” (Psalm 38:1).
Deal gently although I have sinned grievously.
Chales Spurgeon
“There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin” (Psalm 38:3).
Mental depression…is in itself the most painful of all diseases.
Charles Spurgeon
“O Lord, all my longing is before you; my sighing is not hidden from you” (Psalm 38:9).
He takes the meaning of our tears, the language of our groans.
Charles Spurgeon
“But for you, Or Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer” (Psalm 38:15).
Trust = waiting. God is wait-worthy.
Psalm 39
Read Psalm 39 if God’s rod seems to stay.
“My hope is in you” (Psalm 39:7)
My hope is in God means “you are the only one who gives meaning to life.”
James Montgomery Boice
Psalm 40
Read Psalm 40 if you want some security amidst an unsecure situation.
“I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8).
Herein is the essence of obedience, namely, the soul’s cheerful devotion to God.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 41
Psalm 41 shows the blessings, needs, and comforts of the merciful.
Selfishness bears in itself a curse, it is a cancer in the heart; while liberality is happiness, and maketh fat the bones.
Charles Spurgeon
Mercy is God’s favor to those who deserve the precise opposite.
James Montgomery Boice
The feeblest saint shall win the day though death and hell obstruct his way.
Charles Spurgeon
Praise: to call others to awareness of God’s great character, awesome power, and merciful benefactions to humans.
Bless God: an expression of the human desire to return goodness to God.
(**I forget where I found these definitions.)
Psalm 42
If you know God is behind your sorrows, but you still…kinda trust him, read Psalms 42-43.
It is always edifying to listen to the experience of a thoroughly gracious and much afflicted saint.
Charles Spurgeon
The next best thing to living in the light of the Lord’s love is to be unhappy till we have it, and to pant hourly after it.
Charles Spurgeon
When it is as natural for us to long for God as for an animal to thirst, it is well with our souls, however painful the feelings.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 45
[The writer’s] utterances…are no ephemeral sentences, but such as fall from men who sit down calmly to write for eternity. It is not always that the best of men are in such a key, and when they are they should not restrain the gush of their hallowed feelings. Such a condition of heart in a gifted mind creates that auspicious hour in which poetry pours forth her tuneful numbers to enrich the service of song in the house of the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 45:1
The glorified are not field labourers in the plains of heaven, but sons who dwell at home, princes of blood, resident in the royal palace.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 45:15
Psalm 46
If you fear the obliteration of the world, reflect on Psalm 46.
The purpose [of stillness] is consent.
Tyler Station, Psalm 46:10
A fortress firm,
and steady rock,
is God in time of danger;
A shield and sword in every shock,
from foe well-known and stranger.
Charles Spurgeon
"Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when He lifts His voice." Psalm 46:6
God's voice is protection for His people. It is His weaponry.
Art prompt from Psalm 46:8-9:
What are all the desolations God has brought to your life which have ushered in peace?
“Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth.” (Psalm 46:8).
Whenever we read history, it should be with this verse sounding in our ears.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 47
If you’re wondering how all nations can be unified, read Psalm 47.
Psalm 46: Nations defeated.
Psalm 47: Nations submitted.
The insignia of pomp, the emblems of rank, the weapons of war, all must pay loyal homage to the king of all.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 48
Psalm 48 is a psalm for passing on the tradition of God’s work in my life.
We have received and we must transmit. We must be students that we may be teachers. The debt we owe to the past we must endeavor to repay by handing down the truth to the future.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 49
Psalm 48: What to invest in.
Psalm 49: Warning if we only invest in earthly wealth.
Psalm 50
If you were to die tomorrow, read Psalm 50. If you get 60 more years of life, how would this Psalm impact your day?
The point of offering “thank offerings” is that such sacrifices acknowledge the offerer’s absolute dependence on Yahweh’s grace and mercy.
Gerald H. Wilson
Praise is the best sacrifice; true, hearty, gracious thanksgiving from a renewed mind.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 50:23
Psalm 51
Psalm 51 is the sinners guide: a psalm of revival for a sinner and his city from the impact of his sin.
Be warned by Psalm 50 before you sin. Be restored by Psalm 51 if you did sin.
Psalm 52
I call Psalm 52 “the tale of two trusts.” It shows the downfall of the evil as well as the resolve of those who trust God.
Wherever we see to-day a man great in sin and substance, we shall do well to anticipate his end. and view this verse as the divine in memoriam.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 52:7
Eternal mercy is my present confidence.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 53
Psalm 52: what fools trust.
Psalm 53: What fools believe.
Psalm 53 is essentially Psalm 14, but with music…very sad music intended for the people to comprehend.
Psalm 54
If you want to grasp a future hope amidst a hopeless moment, ponder Psalm 54.
Providence is varied, and so should our recording songs be.
Charles Spurgeon
It is appointed, and so it must ever be, that those who shoot upward the arrows of malice shall find them fall upon themselves.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 54:5
The more we receive, the more we ought to render.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 54:6
Psalm 55
If you’re trying to trust a God who seems to hide, read this Psalm.
Let us not marvel when we are called to tread the road which is marked by his pierced feet.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 55:12
Begin, continue, and end the day with God is supreme wisdom. Where time has naturally set up a boundary, there let us set up an altar-stone
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 55:17
Some cry aloud who never say a word. It is the bell of the heart that rings loudest in heaven.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 55:17
Moaning is translatable in heaven.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 55:17
Psalm 56
If you have a bully in your life, read Psalm 56.
It is possible…for fear and faith to occupy the mind at the same moment.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 57
If you feel like you are unsafe, read Psalm 57.
Psalm 58
Psalm 58 is all about aligning my values to God versus the values of gods and idols.
Psalm 59
Read Psalm 59 when the most unloving things afflict your life.
Whom God preserves Satan cannot destroy.
Charles Spurgeon
Saul had more cause to fear than David had, for the invincible weapon of prayer was being used against him, and heaven was being aroused to give him battle.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 59:1-2
Psalm 60-67
These Psalms showcase the theme of God’s sovereignty over the earth and nations. Gerald H. Wilson calls these an “evangelistic pamphlet” to encourage non-Israelite nations to submit to Yahweh.
Psalm 60
Read Psalm 60 when you feel your plans fail and sense divine abandonment.
“God has spoken; I will rejoice” - a fit motto for every soldier of the cross.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 60:6
Psalm 61
Psalm 61 displays a songwriter/missionary’s commitment.
The fear of God is no trembling terror. It is instead the appropriate awareness that one is absolutely and completely dependent on God for everything: life, health, protection, and care.
Gerald H. Wilson on Psalm 61:5
Psalm 62
If you have a bully but know you have God too, read Psalm 62.
Happy is the man who feels that all he has, all he wants, and all he expects are to be found in his God.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 62:5
What does it look like to trust God:
Wait (v. 5)
Pour out your heart (v. 8)
Don’t trust man’s statuses (v. 9-10)
Psalm 63
Read Psalm 63 if you wake up thirsting...knowing full well that everything to come in the day will not satisfy that thirst.
The temple is the symbol David imagines in the wilderness which leads him to beholding God’s power and glory.
If day’s cares tempt us to forget God, it is well that night’s quiet should lead us to remember him. We see best in the dark if we there see God best.
Charles Spurgeon
If day’s cares tempt us to forget God, it is well that night’s quiet should lead us to remember him. We see best in the dark if we there see God best.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 63:6
Psalm 64
Psalm 64 is a psalm to turn to when seeing so many mobs.
Psalm 65
Psalm 65 - a Psalm for all the animists in the house. A response of those affected by God.
Our sins would, but for grace, prevail against us in the court of divine justice, in the court of conscience, and in the battle of life.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 65:3
The child of God in seasons of trouble should fly at once to him who still the sea: nothing is too hard for him.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 65:7
Psalm 66
In Psalm 66, we see how a songwriter summons the nation’s worship.
Power brings a man to his knee, but love alone wins his heart.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 66:3
Reader, never attempt to come before God without Jesus, the divinely promised, given, and accepted burnt offering
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 66:13
“Selah.” It is most fit that we should suspend the song while the smoke of the victims ascends the heavens: let the burnt-offerings stand for praises while we meditate upon the infinitely greater sacrifice of Calvary.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 66:15
Nothing hinders prayer like iniquity harboured in the breast
…If thou listen to the devil, God will not listen to thee.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 66:18-19
Psalm 67
If you want the world to be peaceful, read and pray through Psalm 67.
Psalm 68
If you feel like God’s not in control in global events, read Psalm 68.
“Selah.” Well may the strings need tuning, they have borne an unparalleled strain in this mighty song.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 68:19
The church of God, when truly spiritual, wins for her God the homage of the nations
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 68:29
Psalm 69
If you feel like life is drowning you with shame, read Psalm 69.
“upon the lilies.” In this we have the lily among thorns, the lily of the valley, fair and beautiful, blooming in the garden of Gethsemane.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 69:1
Prayer is never out of season, it stands us in good stead in every evil day.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 69:13
One smile of heaven will still the rage of hell
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 69:18
“Offer unto God thanksgiving” is the everlasting rubic of the true directory of worship.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 69:30
Psalm 70
If you are needy, read Psalm 70.
The poor and needy throughout the psalms are those who are vulnerable to the manipulation and control of others.
Gerald H. Wilson
Evidently our poverty is our wealth, even as our weakness is our strength
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 70:5
Psalm 71
The Old Man’s Prayer: From birth to grey hair, read Psalm 71 to recognize your need to always need the Lord.
Jehovah deserves our confidence; let him have it all.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 71:1
Psalm 72
If you feel you have no helper, understand the God of the king of Psalm 72.
Read Psalm 72 if you want a glimpse of the new creation.
The proverb says, “God helps those that help themselves;” but it is yet more true that Jesus helps those who cannot help themselves, nor find help in others.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 72:12
A child’s cry touches a father’s heart, and our King is the Father of his people. If we can do no more than cry it will bring omnipotence to our aid. A cry is the native language of a spiritually needy soul; it has done with fine phrases and long orations, and it takes to sobs and moans; and so, indeed, it grasps the most potent of all weapons, for heaven always yields to such artillery.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 72:12
Psalm 73
If you feel like holiness is pointless, read Psalm 73.
We can cheerfully put up with the present, when we foresee the future.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 73:24
How pleasant and desirable are the things of this world - wife, children, friends, possessions, power and honour! But the person who has all these things and also has a knowledge of the glory of Christ will say:
Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none on earth that I desire besides you. (Psalm 73:25)
John Owen
Psalm 74
When it seems like God is on vacation, read Psalm 74. Psalm 74 is a song to wake up God.
The history of the suffering church is always edifying.
Charles Spurgeon
Our faith as to the present is revived by glad memories of the past.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 74:13
Psalm 75
Psalm 75 - a Psalm for the arrogant to tremble about.
Nothing is more vain or mad than glorifying in a thing of nought; and such is everything but God; his nature, his word, his grace, his blessing.
William Plumer
His seat is not vacant; his authority is not abdicated; the Lord reigneth everymore.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 75:7
“Mingled, strong, and mantling high;
Behold the wrath divine.”
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 75:8
Psalm 76
Faith in the 75th Psalm sung of victories to come, and here it sings of triumphs achieved.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 77
If you need to imagine your way out of depression, read Psalm 77.
Asaph…often touched the minor key.
Charles Spurgeon
It is a wise thing thus to put unbelief through the catechism.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 77:8
Faith cannot literally see God. But it can imagine his traceable evidences.
Psalm 78
If you are looking for some stories about how people were saved out of their stubbornness, read Psalm 78.
Psalm 78 is a song for multigenerational instruction.
The sin began in their hearts but it soon reached their tongues.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 78:18
Lust grows upon that which it feeds on.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 78:30
We must never dare to judge men’s happiness by their tables, the heart is the place to look at. The poorest starveling believer is more to be envied than the most full-fleshed of the favourites of the world. Better be God’s dog than the devil’s darling.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 78:31
Trusting God is my stability.
Psalm 79
If you find yourself grumbling everyday, read Psalm 79 as a path toward thankfulness.
God’s name…is the great gun of the battle, the mightiest weapon in the armory of prayer.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 79:9
Psalm 80
When you don’t understand why God put you through suffering, read Psalm 80.
Psalm 80 is a turn-me-back-to-God (again and again and again) Psalm. It is for the one who craves restoration.
Just as the mention of the names of his children has power with a father, so is it with the Lord
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 80:2
Men can do little with their arm, but God can do all things with a glance.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 80:19
Psalm 81
To understand the implications of God being our God, read Psalm 81.
When our hearts wander from God, our answered prayers cry “shame” upon us.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 81:7
Where false gods are, their worship is sure to follow. Man is so desperate an idolater that the image is always a strong temptation: while the nests are there the birds will be eager to return.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 81:9
Psalm 82
To see what God expects of those in authority, read Psalm 82. It is the end for which all authorities face.
How quickly death unrobes the great.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 82:7
Psalm 83
Psalm 83 shows us a famous God for an impossible enemy.
Shame has often weaned men from their idols, and set them upon seeking the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 83:16
Psalm 84
Psalm 84 is for the imagination of the one whose soul longs for God.
When we cannot occupy a seat in God’s house, he shall have a seat in our memories and a throne in our hearts.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 84:3
To be the guests of God, enjoying the hospitalities of heaven, set apart for holy work, screened from a noisy world, and familiar with sacred things—why this is surely the choicest heritage a son of man can possess.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 84:4
Psalm 85
If you need to be restored...AGAIN...meditate on Psalm 85.
God’s past doings are prophetic of what he will do.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 85:1
Joy in the Lord is the ripest fruit of grace, all revivals and renewals lead up to it.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 85:6
Psalm 86
Psalm 86 is a song displaying our need for our great God.
We must be…as men who voluntarily go where their trusted friend and helper appoints their path.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 86:11
One turn of God’s face will turn all our darkness into day.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 86:16
Psalm 87
If you want to know where ultimate joy comes from, read Psalm 87.
The Lord is the source of artistic expression. Instruments are but tools. (Psalm 87:7)
Psalm 88
If you want to imagine what Jesus suffered when he went to the cross, read Psalm 88.
Psalm 89
If you feel God’s wrath, yet still trust him, contemplate Psalm 89. It is praise in a lament context.
“I will sing of the steadfast love of the Lord, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations” (Psalm 89:1)
We ought to have an eye to posterity in all that we write, for we are the schoolmasters of succeeding ages.
Charles Spurgeon
“Faithfulness.” The brightest jewel in the crown of goodness.
Charles Spurgeon
"The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours. The world and everything in it- You founded them. North and south- You created them."
Psalm 89:11-12a
Every possession you have is simply on loan to you. Your entire life is as a guest in someone else's house.
Psalm 90
If stoicism is letting you down (or you can’t keep up), let the God of Psalm 90 catch you. If you want to see where stoicism gets its ideas from, read this.
Be it ours to submit ourselves as dying sinners to this eternal God, who can, even at this moment, command us to the dust, and thence to hell.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 90:11
Psalm 91
A Psalm about abiding [being connected to] in God.
Refuge: I go tot God for shelter and protection.
Fortress: I go to God as a city, for security.
Psalm 92
To understand the heart and happiness of the Sabbath—God works!—read Psalm 92.
A Sabbath without thanksgiving is a Sabbath profaned.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 92:1
Fine music without devotion is but a splendid garment upon a corpse.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 92:3
No heart has so much joy as that which abides in the Lord Jesus. Fellowship with the stem begets fertility in the branches. If a man abide in Christ he brings forth much fruit.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 92:13
Psalm 93
The world is chaotic. If you just need to know God is THERE, Stability through the ages, read Psalm 93.
Get to the end of Psalm 93 and remember who's in charge.
“He is clothed with majesty.” Not with emblems of majesty, but with majesty itself: everything which surrounds him is majestic. His is not the semblance but the reality of sovereignty.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 93:1
Psalm 94
Psalm 94 is a psalm for quieting my anxiety.
Never is the soul safer or more at rest than when, all other helpers failing, she leans upon the Lord alone.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 94:16
From my sinful thoughts, my vain thoughts, my sorrowful thoughts, my griefs, my cares, my conflicts, I will hasten to the Lord; he has divine comforts, and these will not only console but actually delight me.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 94:19
Psalm 95
To understand the gravity of worshipping God, read this Psalm.
If manna and miracles could not satisfy Israel, neither would they have been content with the land which flowed with milk and honey.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 96
Psalm 96 is a song to invite the nations to.
Dread of other gods is mere superstition, awe of the Lord is true religion.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 96:4
Psalm 97
Psalm 97 shows a global reason for joy.
"The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD-
at the presence of the LORD of all the earth." (Psalm 97:5)
Twice repeated incase it's forgotten.
In the furrows of integrity lie the seeds of happiness, which shall develop into a harvest of bliss. God has lightening for sinners and light for saints.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 97:11
Psalm 98
Spurgeon calls Psalm 98 a coronation hymn.
We are not only to believe the Lord’s goodness, but to rejoice in it evermore; it is the source of all our joy; and as it cannot be dried up, so the stream ought never to fail to flow, or cease to flash in sparkling crystal of song. We have not one, but many mercies to rejoice in, and should therefore multiply the expressions of our thankfulness.
Charles Spurgeon
Skill in music should not be desecrated to the world’s evil mirth, it should aid the private devotions of the saints.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 98:5
Psalm 101
What will destroy and/or build a kingdom and a king? Psalm 101 gives us a clue.
He who does not even resolve to do well is likely to do very ill.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 101:2
Psalm 102
Read this Psalm when you feel or think you’ve angered God.
Every day’s experience should be to us a new gazette of love, a court circular from heaven, a daily despatch from the headquarters of grace. We are bound to inform our fellow Christians of all this, making them helpers in our praise, as they hear of the goodness which we have experienced.
Charles Spurgeon
The sovereignty of God in all things is an unfailing ground for consolation; he rules and reigns whatever happens, and therefore all is well.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 102:12
Psalm 103
Read this if you struggle to accept that truth all nations must yield to Jesus above all.
God knows us to the bottom yet nevertheless loves us to the skies—literally.
Tim Keller
Our faculties, emotions, and capacities…God has given them all to us, and they ought all join in chorus to his praise.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 103:1
Reader, have we not cause enough at this time to bless him who blesses us? Come, let us read our diaries and see if there be not choice favours recorded there for which we have rendered no grateful return.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 103:2
Having forgiven as a judge, he then cures as a physician
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 103:3
His is the only universal monarchy.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 103:19
Faith in the gospel enables you to hear and join in the music.
Tim Keller
“Bless the LORD, O my soul!”
My first, my greatest, business.
William Plumer
Psalm 104
Read Psalm 104 to be in awe of God’s creativity.
[Psalm 104] is a poet’s version of Genesis.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 113
He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter…He enters the community of Christians with his demands, sets up his own law, and judges the brethren and God Himself accordingly.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Jesus Christ alone is our unity.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalm 113:1
Psalm 119
Psalm 119 is actually not about the topic of getting Scripture into your life. Instead, it is the honest words that erupt when what God says Gets into you. It’s not an exhortation to Bible study; It’s an outcry of faith.
David Powlison
In the Law you find the “real” or “correct” or stable, well-grounded, directions for living. C.S. Lewis
Psalm 119:1-8
If you want a blessed life through God’s word, read this.
The surest way to abstain from evil is to be fully occupied in doing good
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:3
“Where shall a young man cleanse his way?”
Never was there a more important question for any man; never was there a fitter time for asking it than at the commencement of life
Charles Spurgeon Psalm 119:9
Psalm 119:9-16
If you want that last section, but wonder how, consider this section.
In seeking the way of purity in Psalm 119:9-16, the author does not simple ask God for purity. He asks God...
"do not let me wander from Your commands"
"Lord, may You be praised"
"teach me Your statutes"
He did not wear a text on his heart as a charm, but he hid it in his heart as a rule.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:11
As the miser often returns to look upon his treaure, so does the devout believer by frequent meditation turn over the priceless wealth which he has discovered in the book of the Lord. To some men meditation is a task; to the man of cleansed way it is a joy
Spurgeon Psalm 119:15
Psalm 119:17-24
If you’re looking for someone to counsel you through lonely times of scorn and slander, read this.
It was their delight to slander and his delight to meditate.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:24
Psalm 119:25-32
If you want to know how to confront your own false beliefs, read this.
Psalm 119:33-40
I call this the “Ephesians” Psalm—a Psalm about the new life we crave.
Happy shall we be when we feel habitually inclined to all that is good.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:36
Sin first entered man’s mind by the eye, and it is still a favorite gate for the incoming of Satan’s allurements.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:37
What to look at: God’s word (Psalm 119:37); Jesus himself (Hebrews 12:2); the kingdom above (Colossians 3:1-2); God’s glory in creation (Psalm 19:1); and people in need (Matthew 25; John 4:35; Philippians 2:4).
Psalm 119:41-48
A section about the life of one who lives the Word.
God hath more respect to a man’s trust than to all else that is in him.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:42
The way of holiness is not a track for slaves, but the King’s highway for freemen, who are joyfully journeying from the Egypt of bondage to the Canaan of rest.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:45
Loving subjects wish to be familiar with their sovereign’s statuses, for they are anxious that they may not offend through ignorance.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:48
Psalm 119:49-56
If you’re looking for a go-to passage in times of affliction, consider this one.
When we hear any promise in the Word of God, let us turn it into a prayer.
Richard Sibbs
Comfort is desirable at all times; but comfort in affliction is like a lamp in a dark place…Some have comfort and no affliction, others have affliction and no comfort, but the saints have comfort in their affliction.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:50
Psalm 119:57-64
A passage to align all of me to my loving God.
Action without thought is folly, and thought without action is sloth: to think carefully and then to act promptly is a happy combination.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:59
A thankful heart is such a blessing that it drives out fear and makes room for praise. Thanksgiving turns night into day, and consecrates all hours to the worship of God. Every hour is canonical to a saint
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:62
The holy man spent his nights with God and his days with God’s people.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:63
Psalm 119:65-72
If you want to see God’s goodness in your affliction, read this.
Sweet are the uses of adversity, and this is one of them, it puts a bridle upon transgression and furnishes a spur for holiness.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:67
My one anxiety shall be to mind my own business and stick to the commandments of the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:69
God’s commands are best read by eyes wet with tears.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:71
Psalm 119:73-80
I call this section, “being a metaphorical Christ.”
No true child of God can live without the tender mercy of the Lord; it is death to him to be under God’s discipline.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:77
Psalm 119:81-88
Are you waiting for God’s divine judgment? Read this.
Psalm 119:89-96
No atom escapes his rule, no world avoid his government.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:91
He who seeks holiness is already saved.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:94
Psalm 119:97-104
If you want a wise life, read this part.
Obedience to the divine will begets wisdom of mind and action.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:104
Psalm 119:105-112
If you’re looking for God’s word in the dark world, look no further.
It is true the head needs illumination, but even more the feet need direction, else head and feet both fall into a ditch.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:105
Psalm 119:113-120
If you’re looking for a place to hide, look to God here.
We must either break with the wicked, or with the Almighty.
William Plumer, Psalm 119:115
My God I how charming is the sound!
How pleasant to repeat!
Well may that heart with pleasure bound,
Where God hath fix’d his seat.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:115
The “wicked” are:
those with split loyalties (v. 113)
bad influences (v. 115)
wanderers from God’s word (v. 118)
Psalm 119:121-128
If you’ve got nothing left in your spiritual tank, read this.
Take up my interests, weave them for me with thine own, and stand for me.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:122
Love to truth begat hatred of falsehood.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:128
Psalm 119:129-136
What drives a Psalmist? (read this portion).
Psalm 119:137-144
Where does objectivity come from? Inquire from this passage.
Heart-cries are the essence of prayer.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:143
Psalm 119:145-152
Do you wonder how you ought to interact with the bible? Read this.
Psalm 119:153-160
If you want to find life, consider Psalm 119:153-160.
Faithfulness to the truth is victory over our enemies.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:157
Psalm 119:161-168
Read this to know Scripture’s real impact on your life.
Persecutors kindle big fire. Hell is a bigger fire. They threaten the loss of friends, riches, honors and pleasures; but if we break with God, we lose the friends, riches, honors and pleasures at his right hand.
William Plumer, Psalm 119:161
In times of trouble there are two things to be done, the first is to hope in God, and the second is to do that which is right.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:166
Psalm 119:169-176
What is at the core of a servant to others? Ponder this passage.
We learn the music of heaven in the school of holy living.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 119:171
Psalm 120
If you feel like you live in Liar-Land, read this Psalm.
Silence to man and prayer to God are the best cures for the evil of slander.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 120:2
It is better to be the victim of slander than to be the author of it.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 120:4
Psalm 121
Turning from slanderers, we ought to take a pilgrimage to our main Helper.
Psalm 121 is a quiet voice, gently and kindly telling us that we are, perhaps, wrong in the way we are going about the Christian life, and then, very simply, showing us the right way.
Eugene Peterson
Psalm 121 is the neighbor coming over and telling us that we are doing it the wrong way, looking in the wrong place for help.
Eugene Peterson
It is wise to look to the strong for strength…Satan will endeavor to keep our eyes upon our sorrows.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 121:1
An ounce of sin can harm us more than a ton of suffering.
Tim Keller
Psalm 122
This is the Psalm of peace.
Judgment is not a word about things, describing them; it is a word which does things, putting love in motion, applying mercy, nullifying wrong, ordering goodness.
Eugene Peterson
When Wolfgang Schuch was to be martyred by burning, he sang Psalm 122.
[There is] one sufficient reason for going to church…God.
Eugene Peterson
Psalm 123
If you are searching for relief, go to the Master of Psalm 123.
The Christian is a person who recognizes that our real problem is not in achieving freedom, but in learning service under a better master.
Eugene Peterson
Psalm 124
Read this to imagine your life without your Creator-Helper.
Our thanksgiving needs a spur.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 124
Psalm 125
If you’re seeking security, consider this Psalm.
Psalm 126
How does God bring joy to us? Meditate on this.
We nurture these memories of laughter, these shouts of joy. We fill our minds with stories of God’s acts.
Eugene Peterson
Nothing strengthens faith more effectually than the memory of a previous experience.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 126:4
The desert will become a garden.
Tim Keller
Psalm 127
If you’re wondering how God desires us to work, read this Psalm.
Faith brings calm with it, and banishes the disturbers who both by day and by night murder peace.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 127:2
The very offspring…are themselves the gift of God, an inheritance from the Lord, the reward of his love and kindness to men; and if God give us children, he will make provision for them.
William Plumer, Psalm 127:3
A man of war is glad of weapons which may fly where he cannot go: good sons are their father’s arrows speeding to hit the mark which their sires aim at.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 127:4
Psalm 128
What does is mean to have a blessed life? Read this Psalm.
The essence of all true religion: the fear of reverence, of dread to offend, of anxiety to please, and of entire submission and obedience.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 128:1
Our families are gardens of the Lord.
Charles Spurgeon
Psalm 129
If you’re having a hard time enduring, find peace in this Psalm.
Perseverance does not mean “perfect.” It means that we keep going. We do not quit when we find that we are not yet mature and that there is a long journey still before us.
Eugene Peterson
Psalm 130
Ever wonder why sinners hope in God? Read this.
Waiting does not mean doing nothing…It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusions.
Eugene Peterson
Psalm 131
Sometimes, we just need to be content to just be with God. Ponder this.
I will not try to run my own life or the lives of others; that is God’s business, I will not pretend to invent the meaning of the universe; I will accept what God has shown its meaning to be; I will not noisily strut about demanding that I be treated as the center of my family or my neighborhood or my work, but seek to discover where I fit and do what I am good at.
Eugene Peterson on Psalm 131
What the heart desires the eyes look for. Where the desires run the glances usually follow.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 131:1
See how lovingly a man who is weaned from self thinks of others! David thinks of his people, and loses himself in his care for Israel.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 131:3
Psalm 132
Ever wanted to go to the future? Take a pilgrimage there with this Psalm.
Psalm 132 activates faith’s memory so that obedience will be sane.
Eugene Peterson
No garment is so resplendent as that of a holy character.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 132:9
Psalm 133
A Psalm for united pilgrims.
Psalm 134
May blessed and blessing be the two words which describe our lives.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 134:1
Psalm 135
Why should I praise God above everything else? Read this Psalm.
it is to be feared that few of us sing to the Lord at all in proportion as we talk to men.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 135:3
Psalm 136
What does it mean to offer God your thanks? Check out this Psalm.
Personal mercies awake the sweetest song.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 136:23
Psalm 137
Do you weep for injustice in your community? Country? Do you feel like you’re not…home? This Psalm is for you.
Psalm 138
Our heavenly Father is able to interpret tears, and cries, and he replies to their inner sense in such a way as fully meets the case.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 138:3
Sweet are the uses of adversity, and our prudent Father in heaven will not deprive us of those benefits…By his word and Spirit the Lord can make the trembler brave, the sick whole, the weary bright.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 138:3
Psalm 139
If you feel like you struggle to be 100% vulnerable to God in full honesty, this Psalm is for you.
I am encircled within the bounds of thy knowledge… The Lord judges our active life and our quiet life
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 139:3
Psalm 140
This is the Psalm of the confidence of a persecuted believer.
Selah. The harp needs tuning after such a strain, and the heart needs lifting up towards God.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 140:5
Let us exalt our thoughts and praises high over the heads of self-exalting sinners.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 140:8
Psalm 141
Feeling inclined to sin? Selfishness? Holiness? Love? If you feel that tug, read this Psalm.
O that nothing may arise in providence which would excite our desires in the wrong direction.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 141:4
Evil things desired bring forth wicked things practised.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 141:4
Psalm 142
If you feel trapped, this is your Psalm.
Psalm 143
If you want God for therapy, go here.
Memory, meditation, and musing are here set together as the three graces, ministering grace to a mind depressed and likely to be diseased. As David with his harp played away the evil spirit from Saul, so does he here chase away gloom from his own soul by holy communion with God.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 143
Psalm 144
This is an anthropology Psalm. What I think of when I think of condesencion: from a blessed God to the blessed man.
If a gentleman is to grow up he must grow like a tree: there must be nothing between him and heaven.
Julius Charles Hare, Psalm 144:12
Home becomes a palace when the daughters are maids of honour, and the sons are nobles in spirit; then the father is a king, and the mother a queen, and royal residences are more than outdone. A city built up of such dwellings is a city of palaces, and a state composed of such cities is a republic of princes.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 144:12
Psalm 145
Why should we praise the Lord? Read.
Praise is for all tenses.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 145:1-2
Christ is the king for the afflicted, the poor, the fallen.
Martin Luther, Psalm 145:14
In spiritual things, when God has raised a desire, he always gratifies it; hence the longing is prophetic of the blessing. In no case is the desire of the living thing excited to produce distress, but in order that it may seek and find satisfaction
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 145:16
Psalm 146
The Psalm is soul work: why trust God and praise him?
In man there is no help in times of mental depression, in the day of sore bereavement, in the night of conviction of sin, or in the hour of death. What a horror when most in need of help to read those black words, NO HELP.
Charles Spurgeon on Psalm 146:3
His throne is never in jeopardy.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 146:10
Psalm 147
A Psalm of praise for those who know his condescension.
He himself lays on the ointment of grace, and the soft bandages of love.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 147:3
The Lord is always healing and binding: this is no new work to him, he has done it of old; and it is not a thing of the past of which he is now weary, for he is still healing and still binding, as the original hath it. Come, broken hearts, come to the Physician who never fails to heal: uncover your wounds to him who so tenderly binds them up.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 147:3
Psalm 148
All creation harmonizes to the key of its Maker.
Sin must be a horrible evil, breaking up the harmony of the universe in the worship of the Creator. What a fearful outrage it is for man or angel to introduce discord into the symphony of creation.
William Plumer
Sin must be a horrible evil, breaking up the harmony of the universe in the worship of the Creator. What a fearful outrage it is for man or angel to introduce discord into the symphony of creation.
William Plumer
Psalm 149
This is the Psalm of the new creation.
In starting out to define a Christian rationale for art, it is important to hear God’s word say that the ‘new song’ the Lord wants is double-edged artistry, praising God’s Name and setting things straight, taking captive whatever lords it over unbelieving people.
Calvin Seerveld
There can be no circumstances in which hallelujahs will be ill-timed.
William Plumer
Let us learn not to rejoice so much in the gift as in the Giver, in the blessings received as in the Source of all comfort, in the good things enjoyed as in our King himself.
William Plumer, Psalm 149:2
He makes people meek, and then makes the meek beautiful.
Charles Spurgeon, Psalm 149:4
Psalm 150
The first Psalm began with “Blessed,” and it ended with “Blessed,”—“Blessed are all they that meditate on God’s law and do it.” Such was the theme of the first Psalm; and now the fruit of that blessedness is shown in this Psalm, which begins and ends with Hallelujah.
Christopher Wordsworth
