I don’t preach regularly, so I’ve not thought much about a sermon series in the . However, here are some of my thoughts about groups of psalms and how they might form a series. This was a great question, and it’s spurred me to reflect on this more.

Psalms 51-60 These are all fairly biographical from the life of based on the superscriptions that precede each of them. You could connect them with a series on the life of David paralleling 1 & 2 Samuel.. Issues he is praying about: confession/repentance after a moral failure (51) anger at injustice on behalf of others (52) wisdom in a fallen world (53) justice again, this time David is the one wronged (54) betrayal of a friend(55) personal injustice again (56) in a cave - darkness, depression, fear, worry, loneliness, (pandemic???) (57) corrupt leaders/injustice (58) David has been slandered, post-truth culture (59) a national catastrophe (60)

Psalms 8,19,29,104 Psalms of Creation: The Hebrew concept of the world was that it consisted of three elements: water, earth, and sky. There is a psalm that focuses on each of these. The first of the four creation psalms () describes the role of man in creation and Hebrews 2 links this psalm to ’ incarnation, God enters his creation to save us Psalm 29 - water (weather/storm) - God is king over the flood Psalm 104 - earth - God cares for the earth like a master gardener - sky - God speaks through creation Psalm 8 - mankind - God has made man a little lower than the angels, crowned him with glory and honor -- the place of man in creation, inherent human worth and dignity, (declares the origin, purpose, and identity of human beings)

Psalm 65 also has references to the earth, but it is in the context of agriculture -- showing the harmony between God who provides the rain and the men who till the soil

Psalms 9-10 Psalms about justice. This is a major theme in the Psalms. One of my favorites is Psalm 9-10. It’s actually one psalm that has been split in two. It’s an acrostic so we know it was originally one psalm. It demonstrates both God’s restorative and retributive justice, two sides of the coin.

The Psalms that Jesus prayed (Psalms that Jesus directly quotes) 22, 31, 35, 40, 41, 69, 118 There are probably others, these are just the first that come to mind. Most are related to his crucifixion.

You could do the same type of thing with other quotations of the Psalms. For example, “The Psalms the first church prayed” (Acts 2, 4 and 13); Paul in quotes Psalm 44 and applies it to the church, the writer of Hebrews quotes several psalms - 102, 8, 40. Peter’s sermon featured Psalm 16 as its primary text. The Psalms were the hymnbook of the early church (Acts 2:42) -- which ones were they singing most?

Psalms 113-118 These are the psalms of the Passover , the psalms traditionally associated with the Passover meal. Jesus likely prayed these at the Last Supper. I think these would make a good 6 week series leading up to Easter with Psalm 118’s references to the paschal sacrifice and victory over death, Jesus the cornerstone.

Psalm 120-134 are the Songs of Ascents. Eugene Peterson’s A Long Obedience in the Same ​ ​ Direction is essentially a sermon series on these 15 psalms. They are all fairly short and deal ​ with very practical issues. These were probably grouped together as pilgrim songs, so the series could be titled something related to a journey. Peterson really uses that metaphor to link them.

Psalms 47, 67, and 87 all have a strong missions theme ​

Psalms 45-48 could form a series about the church. ​ 45 - the king and his bride (the church as the bride of Christ) 46 - the king in his city (the church as the city of God, “God is within her, she will not fall) 47 - the king ascends his throne, worshiped by the nations 48 - the beauty of the city/church, also focuses on her security (These psalms all have obvious ties to the book of Revelation, particularly Rev. 21-22)

You could keep going... 49 - outside the city, those who truth in their wealth and not in the Lord, will dwell forever in their tombs, “the righteous will rule over them in the morning”, (judgment) 50 - a psalm of judgment, however its focus is on the judgment of the people of God.

Or you could back up and tie in these other 2 psalms of the Sons of Korah (who were “clergymen”) 42-43 - life without the church (the psalmist is in exile and longs to worship with his faith community once more) 44 - “Why does it seem that God has abandoned his people?” - Paul quotes this psalm in Romans 8 right before declaring “nothing can separate us from the love of God”...interesting Psalms 45-48 seem to be an answer to the psalmist’s complaint in Psalms 42-44. These are all psalms of the Sons of Korah so they form a group.

Psalms 146-150 This is the great doxology to the , it could be the basis for a series on worship Other psalms on worship: 115, 95-100

God’s library: Our sins (51) -- blot out my transgressions Our tossings and our tears (56) Book of the living (69) Your story (139) -- all the days ordained for me were written in your book

Psalm 37 & 73 When bad things happen to good people (37) and good things happen to bad people (73)

What’s next? Psalms and the afterlife 16, 23, 49, 116, 118

The Good Life 1, 37, 52, 71, 73, 90, 92, 127,128

Prayers we’re ashamed of: 58, 69, 109, 137 These are some of the strongest , particularly 109 and 137. What do we do with these? Is there any use for them in the modern world? [C.S. Lewis has a good chapter on this in his Reflections on the Psalms where he intentionally begins with a discussion of the most ​ ​ difficult psalms]

You could always do a series like “Prayers for when you are… ​ Angry (4) Depressed, lonely (88) Afraid (27) Sick (38) Betrayed (41, 55) Guilty (6,32,38,51,102,130, and 143 are traditionally categorized as ) Disappointed with or angry at God (74) Envious (73) Lonely (42-43) Tired (62) Falsely accused/slandered (26) Old (71, 90, 92) In leadership (101, similar to 15) Grateful (103) ...There are many others, but you get the idea

I preached a sermon recently on The Two Types of Messiahs -- Jesus is both the messiah of :2 (the king) and of Psalm 22 (the suffering servant), a king who suffers with us