From the Psalms to your Heart
Seasoned pastors speaking from the Psalms to your heart about life’s struggles and Christ’s saving grace – that about sums up the year’s worth of meditations found in Christ’s Psalms, Our Psalms – Devotional. Whether serving God’s people in a settled church or ministering to new believers on the mission field, the sixteen ministers behind the devotions know the troubles Christians face and how God provides real relief and comfort in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Psalms
Christians everywhere love the Psalms. They have touched the hearts and lives of countless believers for centuries. They speak to both our plights and our prosperity, our gaffes and our gifts. They teach us deep truths and bring us profound comfort. The Psalms give us words to praise our God and pleas to cry out to him in prayer. The Holy Spirit has truly made them to be our Psalms. Each meditation connects a key thought from the psalm to our daily lives and lets us take them over for ourselves.
Christ’s Psalms
But there’s another dimension to the Psalms. Each also speaks of Christ Jesus in various ways. We may see the outline of Christ in David’s experiences – in his intense suffering and waiting upon God, in his victories and success, in his role as the King who defends and judges. Jesus fulfills all these. We can see the Son of God lifted up on the praises of so many psalms and the One in whom every believer finds ultimate refuge. We also catch glimpses of Christ as our great High Priest and our Prophet who teaches us wisdom from above.
Each meditation is an effort to bring out of the psalm some aspect of Christ’s person or work for us to ponder and wonder at. The emotions we feel and the hard questions we ask in the many trials of life are honestly and skillfully brought forward and then dealt with in the light of Christ’s own trials – and his great work of salvation! The answer to our sin and sorrow is found only and abundantly in Jesus, and each devotion leads us to him.
Short & to the Point
You might be wondering: with so much packed in, how long are these pieces? I haven’t got that much time! Do not worry: each devotion is 400 words or less – no easy feat for us sermon-writing ministers! Two meditations are offered per psalm with the result that often the main Bible reading divides the psalm into two parts (typically up to 12 verses per reading). At times a secondary reading from elsewhere in Scripture is offered for those who wish to read more and reflect further on the subject matter. Each author has chosen one key verse from the psalm and worked out one main thought.
The idea is to allow busy individuals and families to take in a focussed, Word-based meditation that will feed their souls with the gospel of Christ and still allow them to catch the bus, get to work on time or arrive at soccer before the whistle blows. We hope and pray that our heavenly Father will bless you in this way.
Special Events
There is one more feature of the Devotional that we hope will interest you. At certain times of t
he year we often commemorate and celebrate the saving works of Christ: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension Day and Pentecost Day. Many Christians and churches also pay attention to the need for God’s blessing during the planting of the crops (Crops and Labour prayer service), gathering in of the harvest (Thanksgiving Day), and the turning of the New Year of our Lord. Several contributors have worked out a series of psalm-based, Christ-centred meditations that bring each of these topics to light.
When a special event is coming up on the calendar, you can prepare to mark it by using the specific meditations found in the back of the Devotional. There are several on each topic so you or your family can read a few over the days leading up to the occasion. It may sound amazing but it’s true: the Psalms do speak to all of Christ’s work and make for thought-provoking, encouraging meditations that direct all glory to our Saviour.