Kootenai Church Morning Worship

What is the value of a book most modern Christians skip over on their way to the New Testament? Pastor Jim Osman makes the case for the Psalms in this introduction to a short new series, an exposition of Psalm 1 and Psalm 2.

Before turning to the text, Osman lays out why the Psalms deserve careful attention. They are the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament, they were written across roughly a thousand years, and their Hebrew poetry works through structural parallelism rather than rhyme, so the beauty and meaning of the Psalms translate fully into any language. Osman also traces how thoroughly the Psalms describe God's character and the span of Old Testament history, and how they teach believers not just what to think about God but how to feel about him.

Osman then revisits Psalm 1 and Psalm 2 as what he calls the gateway to the Psalter, the doorposts that frame every theme in the rest of the book. Psalm 1 contrasts the blessed man who delights in God's law with the wicked who will perish, and Psalm 2 answers the world's rebellion against God with an installed King on Zion, his own Son, who alone can ascend the holy hill and offers refuge to anyone who will trust him.

This sermon sets up a five week series through Psalms 145, 113, 34, 46, and 62, built around psalms the congregation actually sings.