First, it is important to realize that that there is much doctrinal instruction in the Psalms. While some poetry makes no claim to instruct the mind, the Psalms do. Jesus and the apostles often quoted the Psalms in order to teach truth (Matt 22:43-45, Heb 7:14-22). When we read the Psalms, we are meant to learn things about God and about human nature. True as this is however, if you read the Psalms only for doctrine, you’re not reading them for what they are intended to be. Psalms are also songs; that’s what the word psalm means. They are musical. The reason human beings express truth with music is to awaken and express emotions that fit the truth. Singing is intended to stir up and carry the affections of the heart. And if we fail to understand this, we will miss the very intention of God in His inclusion of Psalms in the canon of Scripture.
The Psalms is the most often-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. It was the hymnal and meditation book of the church for ages. Alongside the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, Psalms is the book that has shaped the thought and emotions of Christian throughout the ages. The reason for this is that Psalms are an expression from a heart that has experienced intimacy with God. They are the exultations of men who not only know about God, but know Him. And this will be our intention as we preach through the book of Psalms, to draw out the praise and emotion that must be the result of knowing God intimately.
