Today I have finished my study of Psalms. I have read a Psalm a day for about 150 days, as there are 150 Psalms. I noted on the heading to the book in my written book: “Trying to read the Book of Psalms straight is like having a meal of just desserts. They are too rich to eat many at one sitting. Read one a day, or even interspersed with a chapter of Proverbs.”
Things I learned through reading them include that there are 5 divisions to the book, each which ends with a specific phrase denoting the end in the following verses, concluding that book:
- 41:13
- 72:18-19
- 89:52
- 106:48
- 150, the entire Psalm
I also learned about the great Psalm 119, the longest, the Hallel’s, and other technical groupings. But the heart of the matter it the heart, and how the psalm affect the heart. Here are the psalms that stood out to me:
- 18: Power
- 19: Law
- 23: Savior’s Life
- 40: Overcoming
- 59: Safety
- 65: Beauty
- 84: Temple
- 88: Sadness
- 89: Moses’s Psalm
- 98, 100: Song
- 103: Fatherhood
- 104: Creation
- 112: Integrity
- 117: The shortest
- 113 – 118: Egyptian Hallel
- 119: The longest
- 120 – 136: The Great Hallel
- 127: Children
- 130: Forgiveness
- 145: Praise
- 150: Benediction, the purpose of the Psalms
Here is Psalm 150, that you might have the sense of what I feel at the conclusion of his effort:
1 Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.
2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.
4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.
5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.
6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.
Kip on Character 