Psalms Book 4 (Psalms 90-106)Sample

Watch out! Something is about to happen

When the reformer Thomas Cranmer framed the main Sunday worship service for the Church of England 1662 Book of Common Prayer, he chose Psalm 95 to open the worship.

It was an excellent decision.

One of my boyhood memories is the deafening roar of the crowd as my school friend and I walked out of the Grandstand tunnel at Lords Cricket Ground. We took our seats just as Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee ran in from the boundary to bowl his first ball to the England opener Geoff Boycott.

The papers had been writing about this moment all summer. The best of the Australian bowlers challenging the best of the English batsmen! And we were there watching it start!

My friend and I were electric with excitement. Something incredible was about to happen.

And I’ll never forget the sense of excitement at the very start of the Worship Conference held in Brighton (where John Wimber was the main speaker) in 1989 when the worship group stood up and opened the conference singing Psalm 95:1-4. A phenomenal burst of exaltation to the Lord. An equally electrifying moment. Something was about to happen! We were all about to encounter the king!

And we did.

Psalm 95 opens a sequence of seven psalms that frame an act of worship at the heart and center of the chiastic sequence of psalms in Psalms book 4. The first three, Psalms 95, 96, and 97, exhort us to worship. Psalm 98 is the center where the Lord comes as Saviour, King, and Judge. Psalms 99-101 each describe three responses.

Everything in the chiastic sequence of Psalms 90-106 has led us to this moment! We are about to encounter the king of heaven.

‘Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with worship and song. For the Lord is the great God, the great king above all gods.’

Psalm 95- Psalm 101 are the central collection within a collection.

95: Calling God’s people to worship
96: Calling the Nations to worship
97: Celebrate: The righteous judge is coming
98: God comes: Saviour, King & Judge
99: 1st response – Holy awe and wonder
100: 2nd response – Outrageous Praise
101: 3rd response – I will live righteously