Page 39 - Psalms Ebook

Reading PSALMS to know God

Chapter 4 Word Pictures - Conclusion

We are studying the book of Psalms, this hymnal of God’s people. It is a
book of joy, rejoicing and praising God. It is a book of singing. The
theme of the book is exactly that. Sing! Sing! That is what God wants
to accomplish in our hearts. God has planned, with every changing
experience in our lives, to put a new song in our heart. Psalm 22: 3,

“Yet You are holy, You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.”

Isn’t that a precious thought? Another version says,

“Thou inhabits the praises of Thy people.”

In other words, God has a throne, and it is your praise. He reigns from
your praise. You will see that in the Old Testament. Remember when
Solomon dedicated the temple and the glory of God filled the temple? If
you look you’ll see that it took some doing before the glory of God
showed up. They offered animal sacrifices, and the glory of God did not
come. One choir sang, and the glory of God did not fill the temple.
Another choir sang, and the glory of God did not fill the temple. The
music began to play, the instruments, and the glory of God did not fill the
temple. The Bible says when all the voices blended together as one,
when there was a national praise, then the glory of God filled the temple.
God waits until our voices are one and we praise Him together, and then
he sends His glory. He is enthroned upon the praises of His people.

In this chapter I would like to look at several figures of speech that I am
going to call “Precious Figures”. Of course, the superlative figures of
speech are completely amazing but there are some figures of speech that
are just specifically designed to show you how much God loves you. If
you will just turn to your Bible, Psalm 17: 8 and 9,

“Keep me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of Your wings,
from the wicked who despoil me, my enemies who surround me.”

I want to focus on that double word picture in verse 8. Two pictures
there – the apple of the eye and the shadow of His wings. Both show
His affection and His care. Deuteronomy 32 uses that same double
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