Over the past month or so as part of my daily devotions in the YouVersion Bible App I’ve been journeying through the Book of Psalms, drawing inspiration and encouragement for my own life from the writings authors.
And although I am not quite ⅔rds of the way through them I’ve come to appreciate that the Psalms are in essence an intricately designed collection of poetry that recounts Israel’s history and God’s covenant promises, and poetically retells the entire biblical story.
The psalms comprise the ancient hymnal of God’s people and its poetry was often set to music, expressing the emotion of the individual poet to God, or about God.
There are psalms of lament, which express the author’s crying out to God in difficult circumstances. Psalms of praise, also called hymns, which portray the author’s offering of direct admiration to God. There are thanksgiving psalms which usually reflect the author’s gratitude for a personal deliverance or provision from God.
There are also pilgrim psalms which were used on pilgrimages “going up” to Jerusalem for their annual festivals, and other types of psalms such as wisdom psalms, royal psalms (referring to Israel’s king or Israel’s Messiah), victory psalms, Law psalms, and songs of Zion.
The book of Psalms expresses worship and throughout its many pages they encourage its readers to praise God for who He is and what He has done. Which I’m sure is something that well renowned preacher, theologian, and the leader of the protestant reformation, Martin Luther knew and was enamoured with.
Now Martin Luther as early as 1517 started translating the Psalms into German and as he was also a gifted musician he wrote and composed the famous hymn: “Ein Feste Burg Ist Unser Gott,” – “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” in 1527, basing it on a paraphrase of Psalm 46.
A mighty Fortress is our God,
A Bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.
And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.
That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.
Helen Steiner Rice it would appear also became somewhat enamoured with the Psalms, after the death of her husband, the editor at her workplace, and her mother. As she began to write inspirational verses to friends and co-workers and enclose them in personal notes and letters. These reflected her growing and deepening faith and reliance in God.
One such example are the words to a poem entitled Faith is a Mighty Fortress which she penned in 1967.
We look ahead through each changing year
With mixed emotions of hope and fear —
Hope for the peace we long have sought,
Fear that our hopes will come to naught.
Unwilling to trust in the Father’s will,
We count on our logic and shallow skill,
And in our arrogance and pride,
We are no longer satisfied
To place our confidence and love
With childlike faith in God above.
And tiny hands and tousled heads
That kneel in prayer by little beds
Are closer to the dear Lord’s heart
And of his kingdom more a part
Than we who search and never find
The answers to our questioning minds —
For faith in things we cannot see
Requires a child’s simplicity.
Oh, Heavenly Father, grant again
A simple, childlike faith to men,
Forgetting color, race, and creed
And seeing only the heart’s deep need.
For faith alone can save man’s soul
And lead him to a higher goal,
For there’s but one unfailing course —
We win by faith and not by force.
May the words contained within the song lyrics and poem above be an inspiration and encouragement to you each today as you go about your business in the everyday 🙂
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