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Fall 2024  Worship in the Covenant Community   Unit 3: Psalms of Thanksgiving and Praise

“So you will be my people, and I will be your God” (Jeremiah 30:22). God’s covenant—his enduring promise of relationship and presence—is central to the worship of his people. Worship is the act of ascribing worth to and celebrating the glory of something or someone. The truth is, all people worship. For the people of God, the question is, who will receive our worship? Is the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—the only one we will choose to direct our worship toward?
Scripture reveals a pattern to the worship of God’s people: God reveals himself, and his people respond through their worship. In the stories of Scripture, we read how they responded: they sang songs, raised their hands, played instruments, danced to music, and did good works of service.
The lessons of this quarter examine the worship that God’s people have offered. Although the ways his people worship may have changed throughout history, the reason for their worship remains the same: a faithful response to God.

For the ancient Jewish person, music and song had a great deal to do with worship. But worship was not expressed solely through those things. It was more important for the worship of the one true God to include encounters between the spiritual and physical realms. We see the importance of this in various psalms. One example is Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The impact of the Scriptures did not merely result in increased knowledge for the psalmist. The stress on the origin of the Scriptures had real and vital implications too.

Worship as Thanksgiving and Praise
The final unit of the quarter focuses on the Hebrew psalter. The psalmists invite us to “praise the Lord” (Psalm 146:1, lesson 11) and to “shout for joy to the Lord” (100:1, lesson 12). The worship of the people of God should be filled with thanksgiving and praise to the Lord, for he is our good shepherd who sustains us (Psalm 23, lesson 10). The Lord is not distant and far off from us. Instead, the Lord is near us and has invited us to have a close relationship with him (139:1-12, lesson 13). As you study the worship practices of the people of God, consider how your worship is a response to the truth that the Lord is the one who is worthy of praise.  For the ancient Jewish person, music and song had a great deal to do with worship. But worship was not expressed solely through those things. It was more important for the worship of the one true God to include encounters between the spiritual and physical realms. We see the importance of this in various psalms. One example is Psalm 119:105: “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” The impact of the Scriptures did not merely result in increased knowledge for the psalmist. The stress on the origin of the Scriptures had real and vital implications too.

Lesson 10    Confidence in God’s Shepherding. Psalm 23
We know less than we would like about where and when the Psalter was assembled. There is clearly a consideration given to an  arrangement of its 150 psalms; it is frequently noted that they are arranged in five “books,” the first four of which conclude with  Amen,” meaning “we agree” or “true” (Psalms 41:13; 72:18-20; 89:52; 106:48). A connection to David is apparent in half the psalms. His name appears in the superscriptions  of 73 of them, with 2 more psalms attributed to him in Acts 4:25 and Hebrews 4:7. Superscriptions are instructions or attributions appearing at the beginning of many psalms. Superscriptions are part of the text,  although modern Bibles give them no verse number, and Bible software gives them a verse number of zero. Although many  superscriptions list one or more names, the relationship of the named person to the psalm in view is often unclear. Today’s text is an example. Its superscription reads “A Psalm of David.” This may indicate that David was the author, but the Hebrew preposition behind the English word of can also express relation or direction. This means that Psalm 23 could be about David or dedicated to him.

Lesson 11  Songs of Praise. Psalms 146, 150
The book of Psalms ends with five psalms of praise (Psalms 146–150). Each of these psalms begins with the admonition to praise the  Lord, which suggests that there are common links between them (see Psalms 146:1; 150:1, below).  Some have suggested that the  initial declaration, “Praise the Lord” (Psalm 146:1, below), is actually a title of the work. Both the writer and date of composition are  unknown.  Psalm 146 and Psalm 150 are the bookends of this final grouping. At the same time, these two psalms have distinctive elements. Psalm 146 exhorts the reader to rely on God alone and praises him in part to illustrate how reliable and awesome God is. Psalm 150, on the other hand, is a relatively simple call to praise God. In both psalms, however, the psalmist reiterates the need to consider God’s mighty deeds and show gratitude for them.

Lesson 12   A Song of Thanksgiving. Psalm 100
Psalm 100 is familiar to many Christians through the hymn “All People That on Earth Do Dwell,” whose tune is called “Old  Hundredth.”  The superscription to Psalm 100 states the obvious.  The psalm concerns praise, or better, thanksgiving.  Anyone singing  this psalm should come to God with deep gratitude.  The book of Psalms is actually a collection of five books or sections. Most  Bibles note these book divisions (often with Roman numerals) at the beginnings of Psalms 1, 42, 73, 90, and 107.  Altogether these five  books feature 150 poems.  Psalm 100, today’s text, is found in the fourth of these five books. Many scholars consider this section of Psalms (that is, Psalms 90–106) to be the answer to the problem presented in the first three books: the Davidic dynasty established (Psalm 2); the flourishing of that dynasty (Psalm 72); and the failure of that dynasty (Psalm 89). The emphasis in Book IV of Psalms is simply that God reigns! 

Lesson 13  God’s Promised Presence. Psalm 139:1-12
Several difficulties confront us when reading this psalm. First, there is no reference to a particular historical circumstance. This means  that a specific historical context, even in David’s life, cannot be determined. Context is a great help in interpretation, so the questions presented below reflect to some degree the question of the context of this psalm’s being written. Second, a thorough examination of Psalm 139 reveals complexities in its structure that complicate a straightforward interpretation of David’s intent.  To analyze the psalm’s content, some scholars have proposed dividing it into sections of praise (vv. 1-18) and lamentation (vv. 19-24) based on the initial expressions of gratitude followed by anguish. These can further be broken into four stanzas of verses 1-6, 7-12, 13-18, and 19-24. These issues also prevent this psalm from fitting neatly into conventional categories of psalms, which, when clear, can also aid in understanding ancient texts.

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September 25, 2024 – November 20, 2024

Who is the Holy Spirit?

How does he change our lives?

How does he work in the world?

This 9-week study will help us examine these and other critical questions. You will see that the Spirit of God is eager to work in your life to draw you closer to God.

These studies cover the specific aspects of the Spirit, including “The Spirit Invades” and “The Spirit Transforms.” Come and meet the Spirit!

1. Meet the Holy Spirit! (John 16:5-15)         Lesson 1 Replay

2. The Spirit Invades (Acts 2)      Lesson 2 Replay

3. The Spirit Speaks (1 Corinthians 2)         Lesson 3 Replay

4. The Spirit Renews (John 3:1-8)           Lesson 4 Replay

5. The Spirit Empowers (Acts 6:1-15; 7:54-60)    Lesson 5 Replay

6. The Spirit Guides (Acts 16:1-15)

7. The Spirit Liberates (Romans 8:1-27)       Lesson 7 Replay

8. The Spirit Equips (1 Corinthians 12)       Lesson 8 Replay

9. The Spirit Transforms (Galatians 5:13-26)