This year in FamilyQuest we’ll be looking at some Old Testament heroes of the faith. We’ll see how God took flawed human beings and accomplished great things while showing many, including us, just who He is. These famous heroes faced many hard choices and had to trust God to do miraculous things. We pray that as you study these real, live heroes your families will be encouraged that you, too, can trust God to do the big things that seem impossible to us.
In this unit we'll be talking about David. Most of our lessons will be focused on the epic battle between David and Goliath, but the Bible is full of much more information about the life of Israel's greatest king. He wasn't perfect, but he was a man after God's own heart. We have much to learn from this hero who was human and imperfect, but sought God with his whole heart.
Here is a fun family devotion by our Worship Pastor, Joshua Tanner:
King David the Musician
When we think of King David, we think of the mighty king that conquered the giant as a small boy and whose army destroyed countless enemies. King David was also a very skilled poet and musician. 1 Samuel 16:16 tells us that King Saul was troubled and called for someone that was a skillful player on the harp to come and play for him. The person chosen was young David.
One of the greatest things to come from the life of David are the Psalms. Seventy four of the 150 Psalms in the Bible were written by David. David prepared this collection of songs and hymns for worship in the Temple of Jerusalem. The Psalms are a book focused on God as our Creator and Promise Keeper. They are still a big part of worshipping God today and give us a way to express our hopes, dreams, and even times of suffering. Many churches uses the Psalms as a main part of their worship. Many individuals use a Psalm each day in their personal worship to God. Let’s take a closer look!
The Psalms fall into five main subjects: Praise, The King David, Praise of God’s Greatness, Lament (sorrow or grief), and Wisdom.
Praise:
This is the largest section of Psalms. The main subject of these Psalms is that God is to be praised for who He is. Psalm 9 and 29 are a couple of examples of a praise Psalm.
The King David
These are known as the Royal Psalms. These dealt with King David’s rule and his relationship with God. Many of these Psalms correspond with events in his life, Examples include Psalm 57 when David hid from Saul in a cave and Psalm 32 when David received forgiveness for his sin.
Praise of God’s Greatness
These psalms are simply telling God how great He is and thanking God for the great things He has done. Examples of this type of Psalm are Psalm 2 and 18
Laments
These are psalms that cry out to God for difficulty in both the persons life and in the country where they lived. Most of these psalms of crying out to God end with a section of praise to God. Examples include Psalm 13 and 60
Wisdom
These psalms talk about knowing and doing the right thing based upon the will of God. Examples of this type of Psalm are Psalm 1 and 49
As I stated earlier David was a skilled poet. Many of the Psalms contain several features of Hebrew poetry. The first is the order of the words. Each line contains two to four words each of which is accented. Many also contain a repetition of a thought. An example of this is Psalm 136 that repeats the phrase, “His love endures forever”. A third poetic element we see are the acrostic Psalms. This means that each verse begins with each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Examples are Psalm 9, and 25.
God’s Word is alive to us today. The Psalms speak to our hearts and draw us closer to God. They give us voice to praise and words to be honest and open to God. Now it’s your turn……….to write a Psalm to God! Pick one of the subjects above and - if your brave - try to add in the poetry structure of some of the psalms. If you are up to another challenge start each verse with each letter of the American alphabet. When you are done, feel free to share your Psalms either in the comments here on the blog or on Facebook using the tag #cbcfamilyquestpsalms. We can't wait to see all the ways you praise your Creator!
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