Inscribe the Word - May Scripture Writing Plan
Happy May, Dear Friends. Spring is here and new life is upon us. The birds are singing and nature is declaring the glory of God. What a perfect time to Inscribe through The Psalms. But first let me ask you . . .
How have you been doing Inscribing the Word this year? I have to tell you that I am LOVING this years plan. The Bible is becoming more real and tangible and I am learning and growing like never before. When you read (or Inscribe) from the beginning, you see the entirety of Scripture as one story - His story - The story of Jesus. It is truly remarkable. We are so excited to continue Inscribing the Word with you this year.
WHY WRITE THROUGH THE BIBLE ?
This year we began a new series here at A Symphony of Praise called “READ THE BIBLE IN A YEAR.” This plan is a minimalistic, simple, and efficient way to read the Bible in a year. (You can join us HERE) As I was praying about the direction for Inscribe the Word in 2019, I felt in my heart to go along with the reading plan as we WRITE THE BIBLE in a year. Now before you get nervous - no, we aren’t writing the entire Bible (although that is a dream of mine to accomplish!). We are taking gleanings out of the Scriptures and writing parts of the chapters.
The word glean means to collect bit by bit gradually. We are going to collect some of the key treasures out of the entire collection of sixty-six books of the Bible. It is going to be thrilling and exciting, and I cannot wait to start writing (and reading) the Word with you this year.
GLEANINGS FROM The Psalms.
In January, we started with the first two books of the Bible; Genesis and Exodus.
In February, we finished the Pentateuch, the Law, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
In March, we inscribed part one of the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
In April, we inscribed part two of the Historical Books of the Old Testament.
The Psalms
WHO: The Psalms were written by many authors. Many think that David wrote all of the Psalms, but this is not true. While David wrote the majority, the Book of Psalms is the only book of the Bible with multiple authors. For the sake of this study, I only chose Psalms written by David to keep things clear and concise. This does not mean that the other Psalms are “lesser” or “less significant”. I simply wanted to keep our study to one author.
David wrote over 75 Psalms.
Asaph wrote 12 Psalms.
The Sons of Korah wrote 11 Psalms.
Heman wrote one Psalm with the Sons of Korah.
Solomon, David’s son, wrote 2 Psalms.
Moses wrote 1 Psalm.
Ethan the Ezrahite wrote 1 Psalm.
The remaining 48 or so Psalms are anonymous.
WHERE: The majority of the Book of Psalms was written in Israel and Judah.
DIVISIONS: Our God is a God of order, and the Psalms reflect this clarity and order. See the chart below which explains the divisions of the Book of Psalms.
WHAT: The Psalms are songs of praise and worship. Each of these pieces of poetry was set to music to sing and worship in the Temple. Read through Chronicles and see the vast worship ministry David had. Thousands were dedicated to praise and worship in the Temple 24/7/365! As a worship leader and songwriter, praise and worship is the cornerstone of my life, (Just look at the name and theme of this ministry!) and the Psalms speak to me daily. They provide poetry to express our love, devotion, and thanks to our God. They show His character. They are prophetic. The Psalms announce the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament.
We often use the Book of Psalms as our “quick fix”. When we want comfort, we run to Psalm 23. When we need to know that God is in control, we turn to Psalm 146. While the Psalms lend themselves to application in our times of joy, sorrow, distress, and rest, I pray that through this study you don’t necessarily find something you need, but you find SOMEONE you need.
My prayer is that through the Psalms, you see Jesus. You see your need for a Savior and you see your need for a Friend. David knew God intimately. David was not about religion, he was about relationship. May that be our hearts cry - Lord, we are sick of religion! We want relationship! - as we read and Inscribe THE PSALMS.
