Summary of Psalms of Ascents

If you have not been to my blog before, I have just finished posting on a series through the Psalms of Ascents (Psalms 120-134). I have really enjoyed posting on these and hope the reader has benefited from the post. I wanted to sum up my thoughts on these psalms and my posts regarding them.

First, I want to acknowledge that these are songs which were meant to be sung and they were not necessarily meant to be analyzed as deeply as I may have done. Do not get me wrong, because the Psalms are God's Word and inspired by Him, they are valuable to teach through (2 Tim. 3:16-17). But I want to let the reader know that I know these are poetry and I have attempted to handle them as poetry while I have attemped to form them into something I can communicate to the modern hearer.

Second, and related to the first, the reader may be tempted to think that I am more concerned about the structure of the outline of the sermon/lesson than I am about the content of the sermon. This simply is not true. I want to communicate to today's audience what the audience heard when these psalms were sung. This is the main reason I have attempted to connect a "modern" song to each of these. I hoped to communicate the same message the psalmist was sending through his words. In the post, it looks like the outline is the source of the discussion. I did post the outline first but the discussion which follows each outline is really the basis for which the outline comes. Whenever one is studying Scripture in an attempt to teach it, the content is the most important part of the passage; not the outline we use to communicate that content.

Rabbit Trail: By the way, I was preparing these for my home church, which sing mostly hymns which is why these songs are hymns and not "contemporary" (i.e. 80's) praise songs. I have nothing against praise songs and enjoy utilizing them in worship. The audience I have preparing these for, however, do not enjoy nor utilize these in their worship. Thus, I used what would communicate to them. If you use these outlines as a the basis for a sermon series, and you are going to attach a song to each psalm, you should think about what song would best communicate to your audience.

Finally, I pray these will be useful for someone. I hope that if you are pastor or a Christian leader wanting to preaching through these psalms, these psalms will provide you with "sermon seeds" which will allow to you powerfully commuincate the message God has laid on your heart. If you have used these, would you let me know by either posting here or emailing me at rkenneson[at]gmail[dot]com. I would love to hear from you. Thanks for reading.

Because the blog puts the most recent posting first, all the posts are in reverse order. Thus, below I have made a list in numerical order so that you can bookmark this page and simply refer to it to get each post in the order you want.

Psalm 120 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Dissatisfaction of living in a foreign land
Title: Longing to Go Home
Song: Beulah Land

Psalm 121 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Protection along the journey
Title: My Help Comes from the Lord       part 1      part 2
Song: His Eye is on the Sparrow

Psalm 122 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Praising God at the arrival to Jerusalem
Title: When We All Get to Heaven
Song: When We All Get to Heaven

Psalm 123 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Asking God for mercy
Title: Finding Mercy
Song: ?

Psalm 124 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Praising God for past help
Title: Whose Side is God On?
Song: God Will Take Care of You

Psalm 125 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Praising God for a relationship with Him
Title: I Have Found a Friend in Jesus
Song: Lily of the Valley

Psalm 126 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Remembering redemption from slavery and prayer for restoration
Title: Remembering the Great Acts of God       part 1      part 2
Song: Count Your Blessings

Psalm 127 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Vanity and family
Title: Vanity and Children
Song: ?

Psalm 128 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Family and corporate worship
Title: When We Walk with the Lord
Song: Trust and Obey

Psalm 129 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Persecution from enemies
Title: My God will Deliver Me
Song: He Hideth My Soul

Psalm 130 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Conflict within self
Title: The Comfort which Comes from God
Song: Heaven Came Down

Psalm 131 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Benefits of relationship with God
Title: The Life which Comes from God
Song: The Solid Rock

Psalm 132 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Prayer for the restoration of the Davidic kingdom
Title: The Davidic King is Coming
Song: All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name

Psalm 133 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Unity with the people of God
Title: True Unity
Song: The Family of God

Psalm 134 (NASB, NIV, KJV)
Subject: Continuation of worship
Title: Wrapping Up with Worship
Song: Amazing Grace