Introduction: This is the first Psalm of the 15 Psalms of degrees. It is most commonly believed that Jewish travelers on their way to worship in Jerusalem sang the Psalms of degrees.
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Psalms |
Emphasis of the Psalms suggested by Henry M. Morris |
The fifteen degrees of going up out of the valley of weeping to the presence of God by the commentator Genebrardus. |
| 120 | Crying for Salvation | Affliction |
| 121 | Assurance of Salvation | Looking to God |
| 122 | Fellowship in God’s House | Joy in communion |
| 123 | Fervent Prayer | Invocation |
| 124 | Answered Prayer | Thanksgiving |
| 125 | Faith and Rest | Confidence |
| 126 | Sowing and Reaping | Patient waiting for deliverance |
| 127 | Children in the Lord | God’s grace and favour |
| 128 | Fruitfulness and Godly Maturity | Fear of the Lord |
| 129 | Lifelong Preservation | Martyrdom |
| 130 | Longing for His Coming | Hatred of sins |
| 131 | Hope in the Lord | Humility |
| 132 | Praying for the Kingdom | Desire for the coming of Christ |
| 133 | End of the Journey | Concord and charity |
| 134 | Eternal blessing | Constant blessing of God |
1. What cycle of human experience do we see in verse 1?
Can you think of some Bible examples of this cycle?
2. Why is lying such a problem?
Father of lies – John 8:44
Born liars – Psalm 58:3
God hates lies – Proverbs 6:16-19
Punishment for liars – Revelation 21:8
Salvation for liars – Ephesians 2:1-10 & 4:22-25
Selected quotations:
“Hezekiah liveth, these fifteen years, in safety and prosperity, having humbled himself before the Lord for his pride to the ambassadors of Babel. The degrees of the sun’s reversing, and the fifteen years of Hezekiah’s life prolonging, may call to our minds the fifteen Psalms of Degrees; viz. from Psalm 120 and forward. There were Hezekiah’s songs that were sung to the stringed instruments in the house of the Lord ( Isa 38:20 ‘The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.’): whether these were picked out by him for that purpose may be left to conjecture. –John Lightfoot, 1602–1675.
“R. D. Kimchi says, ‘There were fifteen steps by which the priests ascended into the temple, on each of which they sang one of these fifteen Psalms.’ This opinion I find referred to in the Apocryphal Gospel of the birth of Mary: ‘Her parents brought her to the temple, and set her upon one of the steps. Now there are fifteen steps about the temple, by which they go up to it, according to the fifteen Psalms of Degrees.’ But the existence of such steps and practices cannot be proved.” Adam Clarke
Magnify! 