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Song: Sun Of My Soul
Scripture: Psalm 51:1-19
The Psalms puzzle Bible students. They’re divided into five books, the reason for which is not fully understood. They are poetry, but a poetry foreign to us. They’re verses don’t rhyme like our poems do. They use a different kind of rhyme, a rhyme of thought. For instance, “I was brought forth in iniquity” rhymes in sentiment with the next line “and in sin my mother conceived me.” Both lines say the same thing but in different words.
Scholars have divided individual Psalms into two broad categories: praise and lament. Psalms of praise are those that worship God for who He is and what He has done. Psalms of lament are songs that petition God for help: for forgiveness, for salvation, for victory, for vindication. Most psalms are a combination of both types, though one type is usually dominant in the psalm. Psalm 51 is chiefly a lament, a prayer to God for forgiveness. We can learn from the psalms how to pray. They are the sung prayers of godly men. But they are also inspired prayers. They are prayers which met with the approval of God and so bear His seal that these are the sacrifices which He accepts. If you feel it or have suffered it, the psalmist probably felt it first and wrote about it. Read the psalms and practice your prayers. They’ll help you do it better.
James 5:13 shows that the two-fold taxonomy of songs and prayers is logical: “If anyone is suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.” Whatever your condition—good or bad—God gave you a voice to tell Him about it. The psalms teach us that.
Oh, and think about today’s song selection. Is it a praise or lament?
Jason Moore
