Come Follow Me Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2026-Psalms 87-150

This is our last week in Psalms. And it’s gonna be a good one!  In the CFM manual for this week, it teaches us that the traditional Jewish name for the book of Psalms is Tehillim, a Hebrew word that means praises.  It’s related to the exclamation Hallelujah! And then the manual states, if you had to pick one word to sum up Psalms, praise would be a good choice! And praise would be a really good choice!  But if I had to pick one word to sum up the Psalms for me it would be “lovingkindness”.  Which translated into Hebrew would be Hesed!  And I am sure that does not come as a surprise to you!  But the Savior’s mercy, His covenantal love for us is written all over the pages of the Psalms!  Last week welearned that “He is nigh unto those who come unto Him with a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”  He comes to us in ourbrokenness and heals us.  He gives us a brand new heart, and that experience leaves us so completely changed that wecannot help but sing praises to Him!  So, yes praise is a wonderful word to describe Psalms—but the reason the Psalmist wants to praise the Lord is because of the Lord’s great Hesed!  In Psalms 103:2-5, 11 we read, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits.  Who forgiveth allthine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like theeagle’s.  For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him.”  Our focus this week is going to be on what we can learn from the Psalms about temple worship. Psalms 120-134 are known as the songs of degrees, or ascent.  In an essay entitled “Singing of God’s Love”, written by Kevin Tolley, he teaches us that “In ancient times the people of Israel would travel to the temple at Jerusalem to worship the Lord during annual festivals.  As they traveled they sang. Some of the songs they sang are recorded in Psalms 120-134. These Psalms reminded the people of God’s grace, mercy, provision, protection, and salvation, and prepared their minds and hearts for their experience at the temple.”  Learning how ancient Israel prepared for temple worship can be beneficial to us as we consider our modern day temple attendance and the effort we put into preparing for a meaningful experience as we worship there.