Knowing God Through The Book Of Psalms
Discover the transformative power of knowing God through the Book of Psalms. Explore how creating a ‘GOD’ list can deepen your understanding, enhance worship, praise, and prayer, and boost retention of His attributes in daily life.
Every new semester of Bible Study, I ask the girls in my group three questions: “What’s your name?” “Tell us about yourself,” and “What is your favorite book of the Bible TODAY?” In almost 20 years of teaching, the indisputable favorite book of the Bible has consistently been Psalms.
This enduring popularity piques my curiosity. What is it about this ancient book, penned over 3,000 years ago, that continues to resonate so deeply? Here’s my take on the answer…
What Is The Book Of Psalms
The Book of Psalms is a profound anthology of songs, prayers, and praises. It serves as a heartfelt expression of worship and a source of comfort and guidance. Its enduring appeal lies in its timeless themes—joy and sorrow, gratitude and lament—that speak directly to the human heart and experience across cultures and generations.
To truly appreciate its significance, we must look at the meaning of three pivotal words…
Worship
Worship is the act of verbalizing the immeasurable worth of God. It’s as if you could place God on a scale, capturing the entirety of His glory, and then, in awe-filled wonder, proclaim to the world the weight of His majesty that you’ve beheld!
This essence of worship transcends mere words; it’s a profound expression of reverence and adoration, where our hearts and voices unite to magnify the greatness of God’s presence and character. Worship is where we see and feel God’s majesty, reflect on His infinite attributes, and respond with humility and praise.
Praise
Praise comes from the Hebrew word Halal (haw-lal’), echoing elements found in ‘Hallelujah,’ as in the famous ‘Hallelujah Chorus.’ This term carries with it the act of casting a brilliant spotlight on someone and then vividly describing what is seen. When directed towards God, it involves exuberantly boasting and joyously proclaiming the attributes and wonders we beheld.
Prayer
Prayer is the act of communication—an intimate, two-way conversation with God, the Creator of all things. It’s not just speaking into the void. It’s engaging with a God who leans in and listens attentively. When we open our hearts and minds to Him, He responds in ways that speak to our souls. Prayer is the gateway to a deeper relationship with God, where we not only express our praise, hopes, fears, and gratitude but also receive His guidance, comfort, peace, and wisdom in return.
If the Book of Psalms serves as a collection of worship, praise, and prayer, then it is like a monumental scale and an immense spotlight focused on God, illuminating His glory and infinite worth.
The Psalms magnify and exhibit the very essence of God’s character through their verses. They provide an intimate look at God’s awe and wonder.
We can meditate on and then engage with the words of the Psalms, worshiping and praising Him using the very words of the Psalmist. This allows us to enter into a dialogue with God Himself, where we are invited to reflect on His greatness and respond in heartfelt acknowledgment and adoration.
Get To Know God Through The Psalms
If you want to know God, read the Book of Psalms. With its 150 chapters, the Psalms reveal God’s character, accomplishments, abilities, personality, exploits, and much more.
This ancient collection was primarily authored by King David, a man chosen by God and described as a man after God’s own heart. It reflects the profound influence of God’s Spirit on David’s life.
According to 1 Samuel 16:13, David experienced the Spirit of the Lord descending upon him through an anointing by the prophet Samuel. As a result, David’s life became intertwined with God’s divine inspiration, leading him to compose songs of worship, praise, and prayer. Each psalm, infused with God’s breath, was a gift to David and a timeless gift to all who read it through the ages.
Selah
Occasionally, the word selah (say-la’) appears in the Book of Psalms. This Hebrew term carries a profound meaning. Selah says, ‘This is so magnificent! Stop and think about it!’
Since the Psalms were musical compositions with words for worship, selah often served as a musical interlude. It provided listeners with a pause—a moment to reflect deeply on the profound truths just expressed. It invited us to pause, allowing the grandeur and wonder of God’s revelations to fill our hearts and minds.
Selah holds a special place in my heart. The Book of Psalms isn’t meant to be hurried through. Instead, it beckons us to pause frequently, to close our eyes, and to truly absorb the magnificence of the Lord’s glory. SELAH!
There are times when what I learn about God in the Psalms overwhelms me so deeply that I find myself resting my head on my desk, moved to tears by the sheer magnitude of what I’ve learned—liquid Selah!”
Knowing God Through His Word
As my children grew up, I frequently reminded them, ‘How can you serve a God you do not know?’ Dive into the Psalms to deepen your understanding of Him! When my children started high school, I asked them to read a chapter in the Book Of Psalms every day. They continued this practice into their adult lives.
How To Understand God’s Attributes More Fully
Here’s an easy and effective way to learn about God through the Psalms and other passages in the Bible:
- Create a running list titled God in a dedicated notebook.
- Write down all the things learned about who God is from Psalms and other readings in bullet point fashion.
- After making an entry, pause and reflect with SELAH, expressing what you have learned about Him. Ask God to magnify and make Himself big in your life.
- Actively look for God and His attributes in your daily life.
Creating a God list has enriched my worship, praise, and prayer experiences while helping me remember God’s attributes. I hope this idea helps you discover who God is to worship and praise Him through prayer.
This Week’s Meditation
Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord, my soul. I will praise the Lord all my life. Psalm 146:1
Related Posts To Enjoy
Hiding God’s Word In Your Heart: The Simple Habit To A Peaceful Life
Seeing God’s Character Through His Names
What To Do When You Are Worried?
Have a blessed, day!
Psalms is my favorite too. Great post on this beautiful Sunday morning!
Hands held high in praise to God!
what a beautiful way to start the day to share the writing of another Believer.When you think we are one family and GOD is our Father.Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.And the Sweet Precious Holy Spirit that gives us His presence.I would say my second favorite Book is Proverbs.
I love Hebrews. And whatever book I am studying. we just finished Philippians in a small Co-Heart group so toay that is what is on my mind. Loving Daniel study too but not in the same way.
Thank you for your beautiful and heart-opening post.
Amen! Beautiful! Praising the Lord for you and your voice for Him! /
This is something that I truly needed today. Thank you so much for sharing!
Beautiful message and teaching on this snowy Sunday! Didn’t make it to church due to road conditions, but I got a sweet message from the God of Psalms through you, dear Yvonne! Thank you!🙏
I simply loved this! Thank you.
What a wonderful thing to read this Sunday morning. I have a family issue that weighs on me and while reading your words I handed it to God and trust Him to handle it. I feel happy I have discovered such a Godly woman in your blog – thank you.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Wonderful! Happy Sunday to you Yvonne.
HEi!wow…das ist wunderschön!Gott ist gutSchöne Woche wünsche ich dir..Bussi.Luciene.
Thanks Yvonne. How inspiring. Your passion shows in all you do-decorating, cooking and the Lord. This was a bright spot to my day!
Pat in Chicago
So beautiful and inspiring. Thank you very much for sharing. I need it.
Thank you for your beautiful message.
Thank you for your inspiring message today!
Yvonne, I love Psalms, too! Every morning I start my quiet time with a Psalm which allows me to read through Psalms about twice each year. It is so interesting that so many times the day’s need is prayed over even before it presents itself. When my mother began a steady decline I landed in Psalm 119 one day and I wondered how God would use it to speak to me. “Teach me, O Lord, to follow” (v 33) and I could rest in the assurance that He is my Guide and would show me how to care for my mother. Yes, the Psalms are indeed a wonderful way to get to know God more intimately. Leslie
~Yvonne~
I too read Psalms and Proverbs daily, it truly does make my relationship with the Lord stronger !
Thank YOU and I hope you are feeling much better.
Paula
IN.
Thank you, my Christian friend! I feel the Lord’s touch on your blog and am a faithful reader. Everything to the glory of God!
Thank you, for such encouragement! I also love the Psalms. Reading God’s Word and meditating on what He says is such comfort. Psalm 34 and Psalm 37 have brought much comfort to my life during difficult times on my journey. To God be the Glory!!!! Thanks for being a blessing and I love reading your blog, Hope you are recovering!!!
Blessed,
Margie Pousardien
Oh wow! I’ve read this twice. I wish it were in PDF form so I could reread in my kindle. Last summer a friend asked me to try the SPA…I thought, why not. It was set up by a national singer and speaker (Christian ) to do the Summer Psalm Adventure. Her challenge was in thirty days with time for days off. There was an email with a video every so often. Two weeks into it I had sudden cardiac arrest. After a minor procedure…two and a half minutes or so of CPR …no explanation as my heart and all are okay…but four difficult days of seizures and very strange things…I was not able to concentrate to read. Oh it was like my head and eyes were just scrambled. Yes there’s more, the experience during that time I was not living and the doctor worked to bring me back. My weakened body. All I could think was, I will not get my summer psalm adventure done in summer 🙁
God is good. I was able to continue on, reading, getting excited retreading the Psalms I’ve read several times before all at once. But new eyes God gave me. And before the last day so summer, a week before, I celebrated that God helped me to the finish line! Now I know the word I could have been using as I read SELAH!!!!
No one ever explained that tiny word in a way that I now can use. Except I have a brain injury and I will need to reread its meaning a few and a few more times to remember the meaning! But your post? I’d forgotten I’d even done SPA until I began to thank you for your post. It was a good memory too. How good God is on a day when so much has been pointing out my uselessness in this world but instead your post uplifted and pointed me to keep remembering to do SELAH as I read Gods word. Worshipping Him IS doing something worthwhile! I did not proofread. It gets hard. But maybe you can understand my heart meaning in being thankful for this post.
Thank you for sharing Gwen! You blessed me so much! I prayed that God would continue to heal you! xo
Thanks Yvonne for your inspiration…I am starting my challenge! Looking forward to a great week for everyone!
Judy
Love this idea Yvonne! Psalms is one of my favorite books of the Bible, too. ~ Lisa K.
Thank you for this beautiful lesson. I am going to start my list about GOD today. I look forward to and enjoy the scripture post each week. Terry NC
Oh yes, I too love the book of Psalms! Thanks for sharing this! Praising the Lord for faithful teachers too my friend and seek to do His I’ve been teaching women since 1997 and nothing has brought me greater joy! Hugs and blessings, Cindy
Love your idea! Prayer and praise work!
What a blessing to start the day with the Word of God. Thank you for sharing from His Word. It has been almost 40 years since I became His child. Receiving my Lord & Savior was the best decision I have ever made. He fulfills my life. He’s my everything. May God continue to bless you. L. Weatherly
Amen and Amen!!! Beautiful Yvonne and thank you for the blessing on this Sunday morning! God bless and have a blessed Sunday
Isn’t God good. He even gives us words we we need to worship and praise and pray.
Also my favorite! Praise Him!!!
Praise the Lord, oh my soul. My Selah, in these terribly troubled times: that we may go to Him with confidence and hope and assurance .
….that we may trust in His forever presence . Thank you for sharing; you are among the many blessings He has placed on the paths of so many to remind us of God’s great and enduring faithfulness.
I want to be in your Bible Study! Thanks for your blog and sharing yourself with me!
I want to be in your Bible study!
Thanks for sharing your blog w me!
You may be a Bible teacher ,but you are also a writer ! Psalms has helped me overcome many issues through my spiritual journey.
Like David I have cried out to the Lord for help from on high. The Scriptures have helped in the healing process and continue to do so.
I cannot go through one day without spending time with the Lord. I will bless the Lord at all times -his praise shall continually be in my mouth. Psalm34:1
What a beautiful and thoughtful post for today! I love the Psalms also! Thank you!
Yvonne thank you for the uplifting post this morning. I too love the book of Psalms they are very poetic. Hope you have a blessed Sunday.
Dearest Yvonne,
Refreshing to read a post like this!
Yes, we are all connected as one loving Christian Family.
Happy Sunday to you.
Mariette
As always, a beautiful inspiration for a Sunday morning.
I love the book of Psalms and Proverbs. Thank you for sharing how you write it down and explaining the verses, what a difference it makes to do this. Have a blessed Sunday.
I love the book of Psalms. Thank you for sharing.
Thanking the Lord today for the Token which is the Holy Spirit to us in this these last days.
AMEN, just AMEN!!!!
Bless you for unashamedly sharing the Gospel with your readers!!!❤️
Thank you. So inspirational. Reminder of the truth of Ggods word touching and changing us like nothing else. It’s so easy to let the negative thoughts and negative statements of others shape my thinking. But reading the Psalms reminds me of a compassionate God who heals and lifts up the brokenhearted. I needed that today. Thank you for taking your website to display these timeless truths. More beautiful than a well appointed home or a woman and jewelry and gems, is the truth of a solidly appointed life focused on the power of God and the love of Jesus Christ. Amen and thank you.
Great post! I do something similar in that I began writing out part of the book of Psalms most days in a notebook at the beginning of 2017. I just finished writing out chapter 106. It is amazing how much more you see when you write out scripture!
Thank you for your gift of exhortation. I love Psalm 19 as well as many others.
Psalms is also an inspiration because it shows David at his lowest (some times) and his cry out to the Lord. God always calms a troubled heart. David also pleas forgiveness. Psalms is truly poetic and always such excellent verses to pray back to our Father!
Such an inspiring post. I’m going to begin reading Psalms tomorrow. Bless you and yours! ??
By far, my favorite blog! What a joy to find this in my email today!
Yvonne, thank you for sharing your thoughts on Psalms. It is one of my favorite reads. As a life long “Christian” I have struggled with the modern teaching that Christ is God. When the Book of Psalms was written, there was no mention or foreseen evolution of Christ. So, when I look at the 10 commandments, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. I recognize only one God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. Christ on the other hand is his son as you and I. He worked many miracles and certainly is a person to be followed but not worshiped. Only God the Father is to be worshipped and called our Lord. With this in mind I have found it very hard to attend modern Christian Churches. I was drawn to God at a very young age on my own, and followed the Christian teachings for over 60 years, always with the growing conflict on the identity of God. Believe it or not I went to Church every Sunday from the age of 4 to 63. and I am more at peace with my self than I have been or years. Just my thoughts.
Oh, Shirls, I agree with you about the why the Christian Churches are teaching about that Jesus is God. I was raised in the Episcopal Church, baptized when I was less that 6 weeks old. In my heart and in my life I have always seen God and been close with Him. I too left the church at 63 and have more peace with myself than in all those years. I have always wondered as David did when he wrote “O God, what is man that thou art mindful of him?” One night while looking at the stars I said those words and God told why He was mindful of man – He created man. It took my breath away and still does every time I think about it. Jesus is Lord but not God who is the Father Almighty.
Thank you and Yvonne for sharing your hearts today.
Thank you for this post. I read the Psalm out loud to the Lord and tears began and I was reading and talking to Him and He understands
What a wonderful teacher you are to us. I’ve been a bit lost on true Study of Gods Word although I’m reading and meditating and talking to God about it and such. But I think this would be a great way to do the Psalms in a notebook. There’s some nice ones all i know God blesses our time with Him.
Thank you again.
Beautiful message. Thank you for sharing!
One of my favorite books is Ephesians, so many lessons.
Praise The Lord!
Psalms to me is like a blanket of comfort or a bandage of protection. I reach for them on days of joy and days of despair.
As a child of God, I know God of Israel. And I know Jesus is continually clearly foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament.
I know that God is my Father. ANd Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Jesus and God are one, as Jesus said in John 14:10 that He and The Father are the same. 1TImothy 3:16, Paul affirms the divinity of CHRIST Jesus.
It is hard to pick a favorite from the Bible, but I have always loved 1John. There is so much to learn from John in this thesis to reassure Christians in their faith. That is my go to book when I need the Love of my Father.
Thank you Yvonne for this precious teaching today. You are truly a blessing to your Bible study group and a true child of God.
Thank you so much Yvonne. As much as I love your decorating and recipes I really look forward to your Sunday messages. You really do bless me.
This is such a wonderful way to meditate on the attributes of God and to praise and adore Him for who He is! Thank you for sharing your heart.
Thank you so much for the reminder to open the Bible. I don’t do it as often as I think I am…nor as often as my abuela did with me. Now I have a daughter and I understand the purpose. To praise God in our happiness and our struggles. To get through life knowing God will lift us up. Amen and thank you.
This post blessed me so much and confirmed what the Lord has laid on my heart which is to start the day with him. Love your idea of a notebook to record what we learned from reading the word. I am going to practice this. Thanks so much and God Bless You.
Thank you for this beautiful challenge! I am going to take part for sure! I am dying to get to know God better! ❤️