Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 25:3 (Fall 2021)
Article: A Sermon On Psalm 145: A Universal, Unending Song Of Praise To God The King
Author: Bradley L. Baugham

SBJT 25:3 (Fall 2021) p. 177

A Sermon On Psalm 145: A Universal, Unending Song Of Praise To God The King

Bradley L. Baugham

Bradley L. Baugham is senior pastor of Emmanuel Bible Church, Mauldin, South Carolina, which he planted sixteen years ago. He received his DMin from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he wrote on the implications of the canonical shape of the Psalter for hermeneutics. Dr. Baugham also serves on occasion as a small group facilitator for Charles Simeon Trust Preaching workshops.

Introduction To Psalm 1451

Today’s sermon comes as the final message of our series on the Psalter. One goal of this brief series has been to help us see that the Psalter is not a random collection of one-hit wonders from Israel’s history. The Psalter does not come to us as a cabinet of unorganized sheet music. Rather, the Psalter presents us with a well-tempered collection, a well-ordered oratorio singing the story of the Old Testament (OT). The Psalter celebrates one grand story across five books: The God Who Makes Us Sing and Trust in His King.

Another goal of our brief series has simply been to help us fall in love with the Psalms for the first time, or all over again. The psalmists sing God’s instructions (torah) to us for every mood and season of life. The one who learns the psalms well, learns to weep and rejoice well. I hope you will make reading the Psalms, even just one a day, a regular part of your Bible reading. The Psalter is the inspired prayer book and songbook of the Bible. In these 150 psalms, God gives us model prayers and model songs that should fill our quiet times and playlists.

As Calvin remarked in his commentary on the Psalms, the Psalter is “‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul’; for there is not an emotion of which

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anyone can be conscious that is not here represented.”2 As Anthony Gilby explained when writing a dedication for a work on the Psalter in the 1500s, “This book of Psalms is most necessary for every Christian … While all other Scripture teaches us what God says to us, these prayers of the saints teach us what we should say to God.”3 In every mood and moment, God teaches how to sing the blues or dance an ode to joy—all for his glory.

The Story Of The Psalter: The Context Of Psalm 145

The Psalter opens with a grand introduction of Psalms 1–2. The two psalms...