How to Use Your Favorite Psalm

Many people have a favorite Psalm, including myself. Even more people have a favorite verse from a single Psalm. That’s great. However, focusing in on a single Psalm, or a single line from a Psalm is great in the way having a sea shell is great. It’s beautiful, it’s special, you can make jewelry out of it and wear it wherever you go. But when we behold the entire book of Psalms (The Psalter), understanding the reason these poems, songs, and prayers are ordered the way they are, and how the various sections of the Psalms work together — it’s like we have the whole ocean along with the entire shoreline. We understand our favorite Psalms more richly when we see that it’s just one chapter of a book (The book of Psalms). And that book has a message. That message is the good news that God is with us when the waves are raging or when the sea is calm and tranquil. Not only is he with us, he is bringing us through the waters. He turns disorientation into reorientation. He turns our burdens into blessings. He does this through prayer and he does this through a king like David (JESUS!) who conquers the enemy and reigns with mercy and justice.