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I have just finished reading the book of Psalms! Even before when I only read in tidbits and just when I wanted to, I loved it already. It is one of my favorites. Now that I’ve read it as a whole, beginning to end, I love it even more! It is amazing.
Psalms is actually written by different authors but for simplicity’s sake, in this article I will just refer to all of them as one person, the “Psalmist”.
I believe that this book shows the universality of the human experience. Even if these are “poems” by people from a different culture, space and time, I could feel them piercing through me. As I read, I would catch myself blurting their words out as if I owned and composed them.
It is full of raw, intense and real emotions. With the depths of their thoughts, the Psalmist is really feeling, soaking in and living them out. As a reader, I can’t just dismiss the gravity and authenticity of their experience.
This made me think when I worship the Lord, do I truly glorify and bless Him with all my heart and soul? When I appeal to Him, do I really cry out all my worries and concerns to Him? When I thank Him, do I really celebrate with sheer gladness for all the gifts and favors He bestowed upon me?
Praying and worshipping among others have become an all too common experience for some Christians, including me. On the other hand, the Psalmist doesn’t consider them mundane, normal part of faith life. He treats them as extraordinary opportunities to outpour to God and he relishes in that sacred time. No holds barred. All in. It doesn’t matter to him if he will sound overly emotional or lunatic even.
What I also love about Psalms is the multiplicity of human emotions, from rejoicing to grieving, praising to pleading, peace of mind to fear. Being human indeed, we are prone to a long ride of varying emotions. Oftentimes, it is a rollercoaster ride.
The portrayal of these emotions gives me a sense of comfort. It is a reassurance that our ever changing, unstable feelings are part of our humanity. I am not abnormal. I am just human.
With our current state of medicine, there are a lot of options (drugs, therapy and treatments) that we can take to achieve healthy emotions. They are expensive and they usually have side effects. But for the Psalmist, he seeks a no cost, no side effect remedy by turning to God and seeking peace and clarity in Him.
For the record, I am not advocating that we don’t take advantage of medicine. But I believe that they can only do so much. We may take all the available medications out there but only God can fulfill our deepest longings and the Psalmist is very confident of that.
He runs to God because he knows that:
God listens;
God is compassionate and abounding in love;
God is powerful and can do all things;
God is holy and pure. God is righteous and will execute justice.
He has a profound reverence and fear of the Lord. He does not only acknowledge God as all powerful, he proclaims that He is the creator, the beginning and the end, the source of all sources, Lord of all creation. The Psalmist does not merely asks for forgiveness and protection, he begs and wails for mercy and refuge. He is not just guilty; he is ashamed and full of remorse.
Moreover, he meditates on the word of God. Embedded in this book is his outstanding knowledge and mastery of the Scripture and of the history of God’s goodness towards Israel.
To think about it really, our generation grows pale compared to the Psalmist. I am saddened and disturbed by how we fare off. Many of us take God very lightly.
I’ve heard this a million times:
“God is a God of Love and so how could He judge, punish us and send us to hell? We can just do anything we want and He will forgive us anyway.”
This erroneous thinking leads to a very low standard for holiness, purity and morality. Being nice is not the same as being holy and pure which is what God desires for us.
The devil loves to twist the truth as later seen in the temptation of Christ. He even quoted Scripture- a tactic which he fondly uses until now. Yes, God is a God of Love but He is also a God of Justice. He forgives and offers salvation to anyone who repents and truly accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
But God is also all good and He is a God of Justice so He is outraged by evil. Thus, there will come a time when He will judge each and everyone of us and we will have to give an account of our lives to Him.
The evil one just want to tell you that God is Love and He forgives but left out the other part. As it is, half-truths are lies. Let us not allow ourselves to be deceived.
Like the Psalmist, we should cling to the truth and keep it close to our hearts. This can only be done with perseverance, discipline and fear of God.