circumstances, David talked to God, pouring forth his heart, his thoughts, his feelings to his Maker David’s utterances to God at these times are recorded in the psalms, and, as the psalms are inspired by the Holy Spirit, they show us what kind of talking to God and what kind of heart attitude is acceptable to Him when we, too, pass through similar experiences B NAMES OF GOD God Himself is the key Person of the Psalms, for without Him there could be no song at all In studying the di erent psalms, it is always interesting to observe how God is identi ed, whether by name, attribute, or action ascribed to Him Four names of God are prominent in Psalms: El, Adonai, Jehovah, and Shaddal The meanings of the names, and the frequency of each in the ve books of the Psalms, are tabulated in Chart 69.11 1213 C WORSHIP AND PRAISE Many of the psalms are about Mount Zion, its sanctuary, and worship by God’s people Beginning at Psalm 90, most of the hymns are of a liturgical nature, associated with public worship It is not di cult to see why Psalms is sometimes called the hymnbook of Scripture Praise is the dominant note of these psalms The last ve psalms (Psalms 146-50) are the climactic group, and are appropriately called “The Great Hallel,” or “The Hallelujah Chorus.” This is what C.H Spurgeon writes of Psalm 150: We have now reached the last summit of the mountain chain of Psalms It rises high into the clear azure, and its brow is bathed in the sunlight of the eternal world of worship It is a rapture The poet-prophet is full of inspiration and enthusiasm He stays not to argue, to teach, to explain; but cries with burning words, “Praise him, Praise him, Praise ye the Lord.”14 D SIN AND RIGHTEOUSNESS Since man’s worship of God is a prominent theme in the Psalms, the spiritual conditions for such access to a holy God are referred to throughout the book Psalm 1, which in many ways introduces the whole book of Psalms, clearly distinguishes between the righteous man and the wicked man The righteous man fellowships with God; sin is a wall that separates sinful man from God Scroggie compares this subject with just one part of the New Testament when he says, “Scarcely less distinct in the Psalms than in the Johannine Writings is the clean-cut distinction between sin and righteousness, the wicked and the righteous.”15 The prominence of this subject in Psalms is supported by the repetition of such words as these: “righteous” and “righteousness”—over 130 times “sin” and “iniquity”—at least 65 times16 “good” and “evil”—about 40 times each “judgment” and its cognates—more than 100 times E PROPHECIES OF CHRIST As noted earlier, the Messianic psalms prophesy about the person and work of Christ In many ways the prophecies supplement what the New Testament ... writes of Psalm 150: We have now reached the last summit of the mountain chain of Psalms It rises high into the clear azure, and its brow is bathed in the sunlight of the eternal world of worship... called the hymnbook of Scripture Praise is the dominant note of these psalms The last ve psalms (Psalms 146-50) are the climactic group, and are appropriately called ? ?The Great Hallel,” or ? ?The. .. worship of God is a prominent theme in the Psalms, the spiritual conditions for such access to a holy God are referred to throughout the book Psalm 1, which in many ways introduces the whole book of