Psalm 46 is known as a Song of Zion. This psalm, along with a handful of others, is different because instead of celebrating God’s character, the Songs of Zion highlight and rejoice in God’s special relationship to Mt. Zion/Jerusalem, where His temple is located, and to His chosen people who worship Him there.

This morning we’re going to press on in our Psalms of Summer series by camping out in Psalm 40 where we learn that the people of God are marked by trust and obedience.

Psalm 34 is broken up into two sections. Verses 1-10 are recorded praises and verses 11-22 are David’s teaching. Let’s go ahead and start with what I believe to be the main subject to what David is writing on: The fear of the Lord.

Psalm 33 tells us that corporate worship is imperative. These first three verses contain six imperatives and use six different Hebrew words for worship. David is not suggesting but telling all who have been made righteous because of God’s forgiveness that the only appropriate response is worship.

This psalm is all over the map structurally. It is a mixture of wisdom literature and songs of thanksgiving. It is classified as a psalm of penitence with 6 other psalms, and yet it is also full of rejoicing and thanksgiving. There is reflection, declarations of praise, words given by God, words of wisdom and calls to worship and praise. It’s kind of a hard psalm to nail down, though the message is very clear. The big idea of the Psalm comes down to this: We are happiest in life when we walk in God’s forgiveness.

Today we are going to be looking at David’s Psalm of celebration recorded in Psalm 30. In order to fully appreciate why David is exalting God in his Psalm, we have to know the backstory that prompted it. It’s a story of David’s mess and God’s mercy.

David wrote Psalm 27, which he would use for his meditation, but it was also a liturgy that Israel used during the coronation of kings and even before a king left for battle. The psalm contains three sections.  Part #1 and #2, as we will see, is a statement of confidence in which the worshiper (The King) publicly declares his faith to the congregation and intends to offer his sacrifices and praise to God. In part three, the king's ceremony shifts to a prayer not given to the congregation but directly to God for the congregation to observe. As we unpack this Psalms, we will see not only the truths that are apparent in this ceremonial psalm but also be encouraged to incorporate this psalm into our personal life.

Our text for today gives us solid wisdom on the way to ensure that your life is satisfying. It literally tells us how to ensure that our lives are meaningful and significant and how we can experience that deep sense of satisfaction in our lives. It tells us how we can prosper in life.

Today is a different kind of Sunday morning service. Today is our Annual Ministry Celebration. Once a year at this time we stop and take a few moments to look back and celebrate what God has done, and then we glance at the year ahead and highlight a few of our hopes and dreams. If you’re visiting today, perfect. It’s the perfect day for you to get a taste and an overview of our church.

Today marks the end of our series in Proverbs. All along the way Proverbs has recognized that in reality you and I are making choices about the kind of people we are going to be. When you stop to think about it, every moment of every day we are faced with choices about the paths we are going to walk in life…the words we’re going to speak…the actions we’re going take, and the attitudes we’re going to display. Recognizing that reality, Proverbs attempts to coach us towards God’s path. Proverbs has tried to offer us wisdom, insight, knowledge, Holy Spirit led common sense and discernment that will enable us to walk according to God’s ways and God’s paths. And when we walk along God’s path through life we enjoy his direction, guidance, and watch-care over our lives…and we enjoy all the fruitfulness of that way of life.