Psalms Together: A Journey of Faith

By Judy Richards

This book is based on the Psalms which is one of the most well-known parts of the Bible.

It is formed of a number of weekly studies from March 2020 at the beginning of lockdown, to strengthen, encourage and bless those receiving the studies in their Christian faith during that time. The studies continue and there is more to come!

Each chapter title begins with an active verb for everyone to make a response as they consider their individual journeys of faith.

The book is written in an easy conversational style to encourage each reader to be able to respond to the Lord in what they are learning from each section. There are additional Bible references for further study.

It is hoped that the different human emotions, struggles, mind tangles, difficulties and circumstances found in these Psalms will encourage readers to find faith, hope, peace and joy in the Lord as they read and study. May the different emphases reflected in this book bless each reader with a unique experience on their individual journeys of faith.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Oct 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781398473553

Judy Richards

Judy Richards is a retired nurse, community worker and teacher. She is married with one daughter and three grandchildren. She is a member of Bunyan Baptist Church Stevenage where she is a worship and service leader and leads Bible studies. During her teaching career, she wrote textbooks to develop the learning experiences of health and social care students. She has a genuine love for the Bible and she loves to encourage and bless others in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Book preview

About the Author

Judy Richards is retired nurse, community worker and teacher. She is married with two daughters and three grandchildren. She is a member of Bunyan Baptist Church Stevenage where she is a worship/service leader and is involved in a bible study group. During her teaching career, she wrote and published textbooks to develop the learning experiences of health and social care students. She has a genuine love for the Bible and just desires to encourage and bless others in their faith in an Almighty Lord.

Dedication

To the wonderful group of people who received the studies every week through lockdown and from then on. They are such a blessing and encouragement from the Lord to me. This book is also dedicated to many others who may take a journey of faith through the psalms.

Copyright Information ©

Copyright © Judy Richards 2022

The right of Judy Richards to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398473539 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398473553 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9781398473546 (Audiobook)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2022

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®

1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

Grateful thanks:

To my husband, Jeff, my editor in chief.

To Donna, my mentor, who kept me on the straight and narrow! To Sarah, my friend, for her lovely cover design.

To the wonderful group of people who received the studies every week through lockdown and who were such a blessing from the Lord to me.

Synopsis

This book is based on the Book of Psalms from the Bible. It has been noted that generally there are not a great number of books on the market based on the Book of Psalms which is one of the most popular parts of the Bible.

It is based on a number of weekly messages which were sent out to a group of people during the COVID lockdown in 2020. They are continuing into 2021.

The book called ‘Psalms Together: A journey of Faith’ is made up of five chapters based on a collection of selected psalms. The chapters comprise;

Building our relationship with the Lord, developing our faith in the Lord, learning the power of prayer, exploring praise and worship, finding the Lord’s promises of love and hope.

Each title begins with an active verb to encourage the reader in their journey of faith. The book is written in an easy conversational style to encourage reader inclusion and response. In each message there is additional Bible references for further study.

It is hoped that the different human emotions, struggle and mind tangles reflected in the psalms will encourage the reader to identify with the difficulties, and yet find strength of faith demonstrated in the lives of the psalmists.

It is hoped that the different experiences of the psalmists will bless each reader with a unique experience on their individual journeys of faith.

Judy Richards, July 2021.

Introduction

This book was written during the COVID lockdown of 2020 and 2021. As lockdown started, my usual study group could not meet. One morning, I sensed the Lord was laying on my heart to start the ‘Devotionals from the Psalms’ studies. As I approached different people they encouraged me to ‘get going’ and that is what I did. However, not everyone was on WhatsApp so it was decided that a companion study card would be produced and sent out weekly with some references to encourage further study. From there it has developed into this: Psalms Together: A journey of faith book.

The book is written in an easy conversational style to encourage inclusion as some of those who received the studies lived alone and somehow it seemed we were more together as we studied.

It is interesting to note that not all the psalms were written by David, and there were different psalmists such as Asaph and unknown singers and choir leaders.

The psalms have been divided into chapters and the chapters evolve from building our relationship with the Lord, developing our faith in the Lord, learning the power of prayer, exploring praise and worship to finding the Lord’s promises of love and hope. There are some similarities in the chapters because of the content of the psalms. Most of the psalms identify with honesty and openness about human sin and struggle to an all-seeing Lord. Alongside this, they identify the overwhelming love and faithfulness of a wonderful Almighty Lord God. The chapters all begin with an active verb, (which is underlined) to encourage and bless us on our individual journeys of faith.

What I have loved about these studies is the truth about the different soul tangles and conditions we get ourselves into. For instance, waiting for answers to prayer. Psalm 13 identified this with David asking the Lord four times ‘how long’ to bring answers to his prayers over his struggle and stress. Find out more as you read through the chapters and allow the Lord through the power of His Holy Spirit to help you on your journey of faith as we study the Psalms Together.

May the Lord bless you as you study the psalms. Judy.

Chapter 1

‘Building Our Relationship

with The Lord’

This chapter will explore the different and varied components of building our relationship with the Lord. Each psalm will have a particular emphasis and they are in no particular order or system. Building our relationship with the Lord should begin with learning to trust the Lord, so where does the trusting begin? Any ideas? Maybe faith in the Lord and trusting in the Lord go hand in hand. Faith is described in the following way as ‘faith is a trustful human response to God’s self-revelation via His words and His actions’ (Holman 2019). This is certainly underpinned in a verse from 1 Peter ‘though you have not seen Him, you love Him, even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with inexpressible and glorious joy’ (1Peter 1: 8 NIV). Trust is explained as ‘to put one’s confidence in a person or thing. God’s name and His word are worthy of our trust.’ (Knight and Ray 1998) Proverbs explains this with a clear instruction ‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not to your own understanding’ (Proverbs 3:5 NIV).

In this chapter we explore building our relationship with the Lord. In these selected psalms, David and others guide us through his different directions and struggles but they always found their way back to their relationship with the Lord. May this be our experience as we read.

Psalm 4: Being set apart with the Lord

This psalm was written by David and he directed it to the chief musician with the intention of it being a song to sing in the temple accompanied by stringed instruments. In this psalm, David talks to the Lord about his enemies. In fact, he is telling the Lord about all his problems and finds his refuge in Him. Perhaps we can learn in this psalm that sharing our problems with the Lord will build our relationship with Him. Let’s find out!

:1–2 Talking to the Lord. David was having problems with his enemies. We are not sure who they are but he was definitely fed up! He wondered how long it would be before he would have any relief. Have we ever felt like David? Fed up, frustrated and wondering if things will ever change. There is a positive indication in these verses that David is at least sharing his problems with the Lord and that he is not trying to sort them out himself. This is helpful for us. David shows us that talking to God and telling Him our problems is positive practice for us. Although these problems may not go away immediately it can definitely make us feel better. (Psalm 121:1–2 Nahum1:7 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 1 Peter 5:7)

:3 Knowing the Lord is listening. David knows that as he pours his heart to the Lord, He is listening to Him. David is not in a rush for answers. The enemies are still on the ‘war path’ but he is giving the Lord time to listen because he trusts the Lord. Maybe this is a word for us. We need to be like David and give the Lord time and space in our daily lives, in our daily routines and schedules so we can be still, learn and know who our Lord is. Through this, we can also know that the Lord listens to our prayers because we are not letting other distractions get in the way. (Psalm 46:10 130: 5 Isaiah 30:18)

:5–7 Receiving from offering. Offering the right sacrifices and trusting in the Lord is very important to the Lord and David knows this as part of building his relationship with Him. We need to be learning from David about what the Lord desires. He says it is about an open heart, without the motives being about himself and what he wants. What is the result? He receives the light of the love of the Lord shining on him, filling him with such joy. The Lord had heard David’s cries to Him and replied with the Light of His presence to chase away the shadows. What do we learn from these verses? That we should not give up, we should have pure motives before the Lord and trust Him to respond and He does. We can receive the light of the truth of the Lord into our lives, dispelling the shadows of sin, guilt, fear and helplessness. Isn’t that wonderful? It does not stop there, does it? We, like David, can know the joy of being filled with the love of the Lord who strengthens and helps us. (Psalm 24:4–5 Hebrews 13:15 1Peter 2:9)

:8 Resting in the peace. After spending time with the Lord and with the light of the Lord’s presence filling him with joy, David is able to get a good night’s sleep! No more tossing, turning and struggling to get to sleep. He sleeps knowing it is the Lord who makes him dwell in safety. This is such an encouraging message for us, of a Lord who loves us and cares for us and helps us to strengthen our faith in Him. (Philippians 4:6–7 Matthew 11:28 John 14:27)

David has shown us in this psalm the journey of faith, that took him out of his distress and darkness into the glorious light and joy of the Lord. Learning to be set apart with the Lord teaches us about the qualities we can develop as we set time aside for our Lord. These qualities not only help us to grow and strengthen our faith but increase our trust and confidence in the Lord. We know that this helps us to live our daily lives in the full assurance of the Lord’s love for us, and therefore builds our relationship with Him.

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Psalm 18: 28–36 ‘Be strong in the strength of the Lord’

Psalm 18 was written by David, who sang this psalm to the Lord when He demonstrated His strength and delivered David from his enemies and from Saul. Do we want to learn more about the strength we can receive from the Lord? These verses will explore the Lord’s strength in the following verses

:28–29 Strength that keeps us going even when the way is dark. David is going through a