Intro to the Psalms - Why and how?

        This year, I am embarking on a rather lengthy journey of memorizing the Psalms. Yes, you read correctly...memorizing. This will take several years and will be arduous at times I am sure, but it will also most likely be one of the most satisfying and spiritually fruitful journeys I could ever make. I am also bringing my children with me on this journey (they will probably memorize much more quickly than I can) .

          Why?

          The Psalms is such a unique portion of the Bible and has been called the Bible's Hymnal or songs that Jesus sang. In them you find the ups and downs of life: the joys and hopes...the pains and struggles. These were songs that were sung at the temple, along the road, in the home, and at work. The words were heard at coronations, festivals, sacrifices, holy days, and days of discouragement. We can read of praise, lament, or even curses. The Psalms seem to preserve for us a collage of the human emotion and this is what makes them so treasured. I want my children to be well-versed in how to praise God amidst all the many emotions of their souls throughout their lives. When the difficult days come and when the good days come, I want my children to have a vocabulary they can draw from that has been engrained on their hearts (Psalm 119:11).

         I realize this seems like a huge undertaking (it is). But I am committed, as the Lord wills, to helping each of my children memorize the Psalms before they finish high school. I have a plan worked out that should take between 3-5 years...probably closer to 5. When I type that out, it does seem a bit overwhelming, so this is where I can use help. I eagerly await hearing that some, if not many of you will join me on this journey. You may go faster or slower, but the important thing is that we are helping one another in the spiritual disciplines and are carving into our souls the very words of God. 

        I am going to challenge myself to find the structure of each Psalm and give a short exposition so that I can teach my children that the poetry of Scripture is understandable and is profitable. I will be using a worksheet from The Charles Simeon Trust for my study. 

        In addition to memorizing and finding the structure, I will also be posting songs you can sing with the text for each Psalm. I am hoping that this will be helpful for internalizing the Psalms.

Overview

           There are, thankfully, many wonderful resources that are at your fingertips now that can help you, but here is a brief overview. The Psalms are organized into FIVE major books, and each one of these major books has a rough emphasis. 

            Book 1: (Psalms 1-41) Mostly David's songs of distress, crying out to God for help from enemies

            Book 2: (Psalms 42-72) Mostly authors other than David, but keeping in the same theme as the first book

            Book 3: (Psalms 73-89) Many questions asked while the author is in deep despair

            Book 4: (Psalms 90-106) Many answers to the questions asked in book 3.

            Book 5: (Psalms 107-150) God's promises to David are reaffirmed. Many of these focus on God's goodness and faithfulness

        How do the Psalms point to Christ? - Many of the Psalms have a prophetic character (like Psalm 22,23). We also see again and again an emphasis on God's promises to David. We know the end of the story and that Jesus fulfilled all of these promises fully and completely in a way that David never could. The Psalms is more than just an expression of vast human emotion: the Psalms point us to the hope of The True King we can praise who delivers us from the enemy of sin and death and who is faithful and good and always keeps His promises. As we discipline ourselves to read, memorize, understand, and sing this wonderful book, we will find ourselves longing for Jesus even more. The timeless poetry and unique melodies of each Psalm blend together, composing a magnificent symphony of praise - a symphony that sings the name of Jesus. 

Make yourself a chart and color them in as you go. This chart is courtesy of Kandt.

   How?

How in the word are we going to do this? ..... faithful work, little by little, every day.  For our family, I have it worked out to do around 10 verses a week. It sounds like a lot, but most of the verses in Psalms are short (we aren't talking Apostle Paul length here). 

One of the reasons to study the structure of each Psalm is because knowing the flow aids in memory. Word pictures and listening also help. Be creative. Listen to the text and read the text. I have found that if I repeat something three times, my children will be able to at least fill in the blanks. As the week progresses, they fill in more and more. I will be doing about 2 verses a day and then review throughout the week. For my family, doing this at breakfast is the best time for us. We may review at lunch or supper. Choose a time when there are minimal distractions.

Resources:

All of these are worth checking out. I have started this month with very familiar Psalms so that way you can have some time to ease into this.

• General resource for Tips and Tricks to memorize the Psalms.
• Some practical ideas for memorizing (such as printing out the passage, etc.)
• The resource that got me started on this whole journey. 
• For some general memorization techniques
• A great memory tool