, describes this book as having the power to comfort the afflicted, renew the soul, and magnify the Lord. \u00a0He says, \u201cFrom the pinnacle of praise to the pit of despair, this book captures the full range of human emotions, \u201c but most of all, he continues, \u201cthe psalms led God\u2019s ancient people in worshiping Him.\u201d (pp. 78-79)<\/span><\/p>\nThose are a couple of reasons I am looking forward to this new series. \u00a0We all have struggles and joy and pain, and successes and the book of Psalms helps us to work through each of these and, ultimately, lead us to the throne of Christ in worship.<\/p>\n
To me, summer has always been about taking a little time to relax, maybe travel a bit and take some away from the normal stresses of life, reflecting on what has happened in the year so far, and planning how we\u2019re going to finish it out. \u00a0That\u2019s what I see this series being about, as well. \u00a0Taking time out from our normal Sunday morning series to look at these reflections of the heart as the writers plumb the depths of their emotions as they deal with all the stresses of life and finding their way to the foot of the throne of God. \u00a0That\u2019s something that I think we all need to experience!<\/p>\n
Another reason I have chosen to spend the summer in the Psalms is that this is the season of vacations. \u00a0Everybody is on the go (as, to some extent, it should be). \u00a0When the kids are out of school, that time with family should be taken advantage of if there is an opportunity to travel together. \u00a0That doesn\u2019t mean we take the summer off from gathering together as a church family, but it does take into account that some time out of town inevitably happens.<\/p>\n
Because the Psalms can be looked at as individual units, this will be an expositional<\/a> series where you won\u2019t be lost if you miss a week. \u00a0I wanted to continue walking straight through a book, but one that isn\u2019t dependent upon the last weeks message. \u00a0Psalms gives us that best of both worlds approach.<\/p>\nFinally, I decided to tackle this admittedly challenging book this summer because it seems everything I\u2019ve been involved in over the last couple of months has been pushing me in this direction. \u00a0For a long time, I sort of avoided the Psalms because of the sheer volume of Psalms to cover–I\u2019m not sure we\u2019re ready for a 150-week series! \u00a0Actually, it would be even longer because there\u2019s no way we\u2019re covering Psalm 119 in a week! \u00a0Now, I think we\u2019re ready. So, the plan is to begin working through it this summer and, if the Lord directs, we may pick it back up where we leave off next summer and on and on. \u00a0The prospect of an ongoing summer series in the Psalms is pretty exciting to me and I hope it excites you, as well.<\/p>\n
So, take a week or two to enjoy sitting under the palms, if you get the chance, but make sure you commit the rest of the summer to sitting under the Psalms<\/em>!<\/p>\n