Introducing the Psalms
For the next nine weeks, we’ll be studying a portion of the book of Psalms together. Where the rest of Scripture usually tells us God’s words to people, the Psalms are unique: this book is the collection of people’s praises, cries, questions, songs and prayers to God.
Through the 150 Psalms of various authors and genres, we see a picture of what it looks like to communicate with God. The Psalms give us permission to bring everything to Him. We don’t have to hold any thought or emotion back from Him because He can handle it all. He’s both the creator and sustainer of the universe and the God who wants an intimate relationship with you.
As we study the Psalms, you’ll see songs of thanksgiving and praise for what God has done next to songs of lament written on tear-stained paper. When you don’t have the words to cry out to God, you can turn to the Psalms and find prayers begging God to act quickly, asking how long we’ll have to wait on Him, and – above all – holding onto hope as the writers remembered God’s unfailing love in every circumstance.
How we’ll study the Psalms
We’ll follow the POST study method to guide our time in God’s Word. This method of inductive study seeks to answer what the text says, what it meant to its original audience, and what it means today.
POST stands for Pray and Prepare, Observe, Seek Out, and Take Action. Today we’ll walk you through each step in detail. We recommend taking notes as you read or bookmarking this page so that you can reference it again and again while you study the Bible.
For the rest of the days, we’ll share the passage of Scripture to read, a short outline of the POST method to guide your time, and a study tip that relates to each day’s text or introduces a new study tool that you can incorporate into your personal study.
Step 1: Pray and Prepare
We want to approach God’s Word rightly, and prayer helps us to focus our hearts and minds. Ask God to help you hear what He’s saying. We’re not pursuing mere knowledge; we’re pursuing God Himself.
We prepare before we read because the Bible is about God, not us, and it tells one unified story from beginning to end. Each book fits into the metanarrative: the overarching story of creation, fall, redemption and restoration.
We also prepare because the books of the Bible were written over 2,000 years ago by men who were inspired and directed by the Holy Spirit. We need to understand the original author’s intent for the original audience.
Before you dive into the Psalms or any other book of the Bible, start by looking for the genre (literary style) of the book, the author, date written, purpose in writing, audience and key themes. One collection of resources to help find this information are the Bible Project’s “Intro to the Bible” videos on each book. In addition, many study Bibles include an overview at the beginning of each book.
Write down these main facts somewhere you can refer to as you read through Scripture. We encourage creating a dedicated place to keep your notes, whether you write in your Bible, in a journal or digitally.
When you’re ready to begin this step, watch the Bible Project’s overview of the Psalms here.
What did you learn from the video? Do you have any further questions about the Psalms or other parts of Scripture referenced? Write down these facts and questions – it's expected that you won’t know the answer to all of them right away. This summer, our study will mainly focus on Book 1 of the Psalms, but our prayer is that you’ll grow in confidence to study any passage of Scripture on your own. Don’t be afraid to seek out other chapters of the Bible to help answer questions you find in the Psalms!
For another resource to help you prepare to read the Psalms, check out the Bible Project’s “How to Read the Bible” series, specifically “The Art of Biblical Poetry,” “Metaphor in Biblical Poetry,” and “The Book of Psalms.” Poems need to be read differently than a book of historical narrative, and these videos will help you approach the Psalms with the right lens.
Step 2: Observe
This step is one to linger on. Before we can understand a passage and how to apply it, we need to know what it says. Without this step, we risk interpreting it wrongly. Observing Scripture can take many different forms, so try out a few methods and choose the ones that work best for you.
Begin by reading Psalm 1 multiple times. What words or phrases stand out? Do you see repeating or contrasting ideas? We encourage you to write down what you observe. This can be in a journal, in your personal Bible, or on Scripture printed out; biblegateway.com is a great resource if you’re interested in printing Scripture to annotate or make notes on.
The suggestions below are starting points to guide your observation. They aren’t a checklist of requirements to complete your study, so we encourage you to try them gradually and return to or adapt the ones that suit your learning style.
Outline
The subtitles and paragraph breaks you see in your Bible weren’t part of the original manuscripts of Scripture. They were added by publishers as a helpful tool for today’s readers, meaning they vary between Bibles and translations. For this step, read the entire chapter and break it into sections that make the most sense to you. Outlining will cause you to naturally make observations you may have missed on a first reading.
Play “I Spy” with the chapter
- Go through the chapter and underline or circle repeated words or phrases. Repetition usually indicates something important.
- Answer the questions who, what, when, where and why.
- Look for connecting words like but, if, therefore, for, etc. They can help you see important comparisons or contrasts and help you follow the writer’s logic or line of reasoning.
- Look for cultural and historical ideas, things that may be rooted in the culture at the time of writing.
Write down questions
As you read the text, don’t skip over any words or passages that you don’t know or understand. Write down the questions you come up with, no matter how big or small.
Paraphrase
Make bulleted lists or summaries of what you observe. Paraphrasing, or writing in your own words, can help you remember what you’ve read, reveal what you already know, and illuminate the big ideas or themes of the passage.
Step 3: Seek Out
As you observe Scripture, you might find rabbit trails you want to explore further. We encourage you to follow that curiosity and see where it leads you! Dig into the text a little more by using different translations, commentaries, or study Bible notes. These are great tools to seek answers to the questions you have, expand on connections you’ve made, and affirm or correct your observations.
First we recommend reading a passage in at least three translations: NLT, ESV and The Message. Then after you’ve spent time with the passage on your own, we encourage you to use resources like commentaries, study Bibles and more.
If you don’t yet have a study Bible, we recommend finding one in a translation you enjoy reading (try NIV, NLT or ESV). In the meantime, you can find free online commentaries and resources at these sites:
- www.esv.org (also an app). Click on “Read Now” for the ESV Bible, and click on “Global Study Bible” for a free study Bible with book overviews and verse-by-verse notes.
- www.enduringword.com (also an app). An application-focused commentary on each book of the Bible.
- www.bibleproject.com (also an app and on YouTube). Animated videos, podcasts, and articles covering books of the Bible, themes in Scripture, and much more.
- https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/ includes a handful of free Bible dictionaries to help define ancient terms, names and places.
Step 4: Take Action
By now, you should be able to answer the first two questions from the inductive study: what does the passage say, and what does it mean? Now it’s time to move to application and answer the question, “What do I need to do to obey?”
Over and over in Scripture, we see the importance of knowing and doing. Jesus summarized His famous Sermon on the Mount with a final illustration, concluding that those who hear His words and put them into practice are like the wise builder who built his life on a solid foundation (Matthew 7:24-27). Therefore, every day we’ll ask the same three application questions:
1. What does this passage teach me about God and following Him?
2. What is God saying to me as I read His Word and listen to His voice?
3. What do I need to do to obey Him?
Finally, we encourage you to make a commitment statement each week based on what you’ve heard God say through your study time, prayer, and discernment. A few things to note on this:
- Your commitment doesn’t have to be new each week. It might be something you sense God asking you to continue doing or build from the previous week.
- Your commitment doesn’t always have to tie directly to the Scripture you read that week. The most important thing is learning to listen to what God is saying to you and then putting it into practice.
- Try to make this statement as practical and tangible as possible. We recommend starting with “I will” and giving it a timeframe. Some examples include, “I will ask forgiveness of a person I’ve wronged,” “I will spend one hour this Monday morning in prayer,” or “I will pray for an opportunity this week to share my testimony with someone.”
- Share your commitment with someone and ask them to hold you accountable to it. We were never meant to walk with Jesus on our own! Whether it’s with one person or a small group, share your commitments, update each other on how you’re doing, and listen to what each person is hearing from God.