Walk This Way | Psalm 1
Do you like to sing? God created us to sing. We are a singing people. Human history is a history of singing and music. We sing when we are happy or sad or celebrating. We sing at birthdays, funerals, holidays, sporting events, concerts, while we are driving down the road or when we are taking a shower. People sing to communicate their feelings, to connect with other people, for the fun of it and stress relief. Neurologically singing, “lowers cortisol and relieves stress and tension.” Studies have shown that when people sing, endorphins and oxytocin are released by the brain and lowers stress and anxiety. Zephaniah 3:17 says that “God sings.” and Psalm 96:1 says, “Sing unto the Lord a new song.” God wants us to sing to Him regardless of our circumstances because there is something powerful that happens when we do.
The book of Psalms is both a song and prayer book of the Bible. The book of Psalms is made up of 5 books of Psalms with a total of 150 psalms. When you think of the songs, it is more of a playlist than greatest hits. There are different styles and genres: happy, sad, depressed, joyful, angry, anxious, and exciting. Each Psalm is written within a context stirring different emotions during different seasons of life. But in every season, good or bad, we are to praise the Lord. There are different authors: David (wrote the majority), Korah, Moses, Solomon, Jedidiah, and Heman. The book has an intro which is Psalm 1 and 2 and an outro Psalm 149-150. Psalm 1 is the key to the rest of the Psalms. Psalm 1 sets a contrast between two ways of living that have two different outcomes. One way leads to blessing and the other way leads to brokenness. The call of the book of Psalms is to choose which path you will take: blessing or brokenness.