And with that, we are going to start in the book of Psalms tonight. Cannot wait.

Talk about looking forward to what the Lord has. I have been really, really looking forward to

the book of Psalms. And the next book after it, which by the way is the book of Proverbs,

one of my favorite books in all of the

Bible, actually really the Psalms and the Proverbs. Whenever I do pastoral counseling, I always

tell people that if you need comfort and encouragement, bathe yourself in the Psalms.

If you need wisdom and direction, spend time in the Proverbs.

And if you're anything like me and I know that you are, I need both all the time, which is why Psalms and Proverbs is a devotional favorite of many, a believer.

So the book of Psalms, to me personally, has, well, how do I say this without sounding too

much like it's hyperbole, but it's actually

throughout my life sort of saved my life, if I can say it that way, in the sense that

there have been times in my life where I was just at the end of myself broken beyond broken.

And it was the Psalms that the Lord really ministered to me from.

And I think the reason, one of the reasons is that the book of Psalms speaks to and deals with

every aspect of our lives, every arena of our lives, emotionally, spiritually, psychologically, even physically, and especially,

I'll add experientially.

It's one of those books that you sort of get the sense that you're standing in this long

line of saints who over the ages have gone to this book, this book of Psalms,

to be ministered to and blessed by.

So why don't we pray and we'll ask God to bless our time together as we commence with a study

of this amazing book.

Father in heaven, thank you so much for your word and for this book that we have before us tonight.

...