Giving Us The Right View

Giving Us The Right View

We hope you enjoy the Psalms, because this month’s Feature articles are about a lot of them. Several readers asked which psalms are referred to as the “Creation Psalms,” “Messianic Psalms” and “Psalms of Ascents.” Their inquiry prompted us to devote this issue to these psalms, to see what they themselves tell us about our Creator, our Messiah and our approach to Him as pilgrim worshipers.

The Creation Psalms show us that when the psalm writers looked at creation they saw the Creator God, in contrast to unbelieving poets who saw nature as their god, and deified mountains, rivers, plants and animals. The word “creation” points to a Creator, but “nature” suggests a world with its own being and dynamic (Mother Nature and the wonders of nature). The Creation Psalms give us the right view of the Creator, and His creation.

The Messianic Psalms contain some compelling prophecy of our Redeemer – His crucifixion, resurrection, present place at the Father’s right hand, and coming reign. These psalms prove to us that while men held the pen, God gave them the foreshadowing words to write. The Messianic Psalms give us the right view of the Messiah, and His redemptive work.

Were the Psalms of Ascents sung on the way to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity? Or were they sung by worshipers as they came from all over Palestine to celebrate the Feasts of Unleavened Bread, Weeks and Tabernacles in the temple? Or were they ritual songs, one sung on each of the 15 steps as worshipers ascended to the temple? I suspect the answer is “Yes” to all three questions. But the important question is not when they were sung, but why. The Psalms of Ascents give us the right view of the only One worthy of worship, and of His worshipers going up to worship.

We hope that this month’s Feature articles lift you up to worship your Creator and Redeemer.

By Larry Ondrejack