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Commentary on "Worship in the Psalms"
Day 1: Sabbath, August 6, 2011 - Introduction
Overview
Today’s memory verse sets the theme for this week’s study:
How lovely is Your dwelling place, Lord of Hosts. I long and yearn for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh cry out for the living God. (Psalms 84:1-2 HCSB)
This week we will be examining the book of Psalms to see what it has to teach us about real worship.
Observations
In the opening sentence of today’s lesson it is stated that: ‘The Hebrew word translated as “Psalms” comes from a root word that means “to sing with instrumental accompaniment”’. However the Hebrew word for this book of the bible is ‘tehillim’ which is commonly understood to mean ‘praises’. The English word ‘Psalms’ comes from the Septuagint Old Testament title for this book which, of course, was written in Greek and is where we get the meaning mentioned in the lesson.
Many of the Psalms are Messianic and very frequently quoted in the New Testament. Aside from one reference, Ps. 40:6-8, they are largely overlooked in this week’s lessons. Since we are to direct our worship to the Messiah our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ these particular Psalms should have figured more prominently in this week’s lessons.
Again, the Devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to Him, “I will give You all these things if You will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only Him.” Then the Devil left Him, and immediately angels came and began to serve Him. (Matt 4:8-11 HCSB)
Here we see that Jesus quotes scripture which teaches we are to worship and serve only “the Lord your God”. In John 10:30 when Jesus declares “The Father and I are one” the Jews are about to stone him because he is clearly saying that he is equal with God the Father.
In Matt. 21:9 the crowds were giving Jesus praise in their worship by quoting from Ps. 118.
This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Lord, save us! Lord, please grant us success! He who comes in the name of the Lord is blessed. From the house of the Lord we bless you. (Psalms 118:24-26 HCSB)
Summary
- Overall, the quarterly lessons for this week give some excellent illustrations on how and why we are to worship our one and only true God by focusing on the teachings to be found in the Psalms.
- The Psalms can certainly be understood to convey the idea of “to sing with instrumental accompaniment”. However it is wrong to say this is the meaning of the original Hebrew title which really translates as “praises” without, instead, attributing that definition to the Septuagint title written in Greek.
- Since many of the Psalms are Messianic in nature that prophetically point to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are extensively quoted from in the New Testament to prove the divinity of Jesus, it is an oversight in this week’s quarterly lesson to not spent more time reviewing these special Psalms that direct our worship and praise to the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised August 7, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
The Sabbath School Bible Study Guide and the corresponding E.G. White Notes are published by Pacific Press Publishing Association, which is owned and operated by the Seventh-day Adventist church. The current quarter's editions are pictured above.
Official Adventist Resources
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