We will begin our time with singing from the psalter and sharing some thoughts on the psalms as God inspired poetry. The rest of our time will be given to looking at psalms of praise which include what are known as royal and kingship psalms.

This week we will begin looking at the different types of psalms starting with the lament. The goal is that over the next several weeks we will become familiar enough with the different types of psalms that we can identify and use them according to our needs.

How do 21st century Americans use poetry written 2500 years ago for the Jewish community? What about songs written for kings or how do we sing psalms that were written about Jesus? What do we do with Psalms that ask God to do terrible things to people and their babies? If we are going to learn to sing and use the Psalms in worship we need to have a solid understanding of the different kinds of Psalms as well as an understanding of how to interpret and apply them to our lives.

Worship can be defined a couple of ways. It can be a church service. It can also be a showing of reverence and devotion for a deity. Paul says that whatever we do should be done to the glory of God. The 2nd commandment tells us that God will show steadfast love to those who love Him and keep His commandments. Our working definition of worship is that it is 'a lifestyle of loving God and keeping His commandments'. The rest of our classes will be given to exploring what this means for us as individuals and as a church.

What does it mean for the church to be a worshipping community?

God is merciful, but he is more—his mercy does not negate his justice, but must sweetly comply with it.

God’s just character requires that he punish sin—both in this life and in the next.

Because man is responsible for his own slavery to sin, God is still just to require perfect obedience from him.

Each of us inherits a corrupted nature from Adam that affects each of the aspects of the image of God.

Each of us inherits a corrupted nature from Adam that affects each of the aspects of the image of God.