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LIFE IN THE PSALMS: Reflections on the Greatest Devotional Book in the World
Peter Jeffery
"I wish someone had given me a book like LIFE IN THE PSLAMS when I was a young Christian in my twenties. With the simple clarity and straight-forward honesty that reminds me of the great J. C. Ryle, Peter Jeffrey's devotional introduction to many of the psalms is a tonic for the heart and a primer on how to get good out of the Scripture. Peter aims to help the new Christian of any age and he almost always succeeds. I plan to purchase a copy and make sure that I use it for my devotional reading in the psalms and as a pastor, I will use it in my sermon preparation to remind me how to make practical application. And I will keep copies on hand to give away to young Christians reading the psalms." - Pastor Steve Martin
Peter Jeffery has walked with God for more than 50 years, and he has found great personal help from the Book of Psalms. In recent years his failing health has caused him to spend much of his time in bed reflecting upon God's faithfulness to him all his days. These words come from a man who has seen God work in mighty ways throughout his life and who desires to share his joy with others as long as he has breath.
Peter opens his introduction with the following words:
"Christians love the psalms. These 150 gems are a delight to any believer because they are the joys and sorrows of God's people of the past that exactly mirror our present experiences. The psalmists were not theorising about God but recording their experiences for the enrichment of believers in all generations. The ups and downs of life are here and that is why Christians love them. We can identify with them and they may encourage or rebuke us but they never leave us empty.
The psalmists all demonstrate the reality of life with God. Sometimes this life is known in all its delights, but sometimes it is lost sight of and has to be sought again. Not that we ever lose it but we can lose the reality of it. There is nothing nominal or formal about the psalmist's religion. Everywhere it vibrates with life. It is this life in all its glorious hues that we look at in this book.
Life is not all plain sailing and spiritual life is no different. The essential mark of a Christian is that he has spiritual life. It is not natural to any of us and comes as a gift of God in regeneration. Spiritual life is to know and love God. It enables us to understand and respond to the word of God. Often it is a sheer delight but sometimes it is a battle. It can bring us into situations that are painful and would be avoided if we were not Christians, but as believers there is no avoiding some difficulties. Psalm 59 records such a situation. The problems were real but David is still able to end the psalm with confidence in God, 'O my strength. I will sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.'"
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Psalm 1 - A happy life
Psalm 3 - A troubled life
Psalm 16 - A safe life
Psalm 19 - A thrilling life
Psalm 22 - A Life in Christ
Psalm 23 - A life absorbed in Christ
Psalm 34 - A restored life
Psalm 49 - A life that transcends death
Psalm 51 - A repentant life
Psalm 59 - A difficult life
Psalm 62 - A stressful life
Psalm 63 - A life that finds rest
Psalm 66 - A joyful life
Psalm 73 - A life of problems
Psalm 81 - A life of worship
Psalm 96 - A practical life
Psalm 103 - A life in step with God
Psalm 119 - A life grounded in the word of God
Psalm 130 - A penitent life
Psalm 150 - A life of praise
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LIFE IN THE PSALMS: Reflections on the Greatest Devotional Book in the World by Peter Jeffery
ALL OF GRACE: Salvation is of the Lord by Charles H. Spurgeon
HOLINESS: It's Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots by J.C. Ryle (abridged edition)
*Counsels and Thoughts on the Spiritual Life of Believers by Thomas Moor
*LECTURES ON PILGRIM'S PROGRESS & THE LIFE AND TIMES OF JOHN BUNYAN by George Cheever
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PILGRIM'S PROGRESS by John Bunyan with Original Marginal Notes by Offor
Thoughts for Young Men by J.C. Ryle
CHAINS OF GRACE: Peter Jeffery's Story
GOLDEN HOURS: Heart-Hymns by Elizabeth Prentiss
HEROES OF THE EARLY CHURCH: Life-Changing Lessons for the Young by Richard Newton
WOMEN SPEAKING IN THE CHURCH: What Does the Scripture Say? by B.B. Warfield, R.L. Dabney & Geoff Thomas
SEEKING GOD: Do you Really Want to Know God? by Peter Jeffery
*BO MEETS A HERO: A Wounded Army Vet Joins with Bo, the Three-Legged Dog, to Teach Children Invaluable Lessons by Sharman Martin
PREACHING WITH BIBLICAL PASSION: A Scriptural and Historical Study by Gabriel Grossi
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Additional Information
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PSALM 1
A HAPPY LIFE
God wants his people to be happy, therefore the Bible has a lot to say about happiness. In the Psalms ‘blessed’ means happy, so Psalm 1 is telling us what is necessary to make a person happy.
Happiness is a very flimsy thing. For most folk it depends upon circumstances. If a man wins the lottery happiness is guaranteed, but if he loses his job or his health declines then happiness will not be possible. By this standard, happiness is a fleeting allusion, always dancing in and out of our lives and never constant or permanent. In contrast, the Bible tells us that God’s way is a truly happy one. This happiness is not an end in itself; rather it is a by-product of something more basic and more important.
The first psalm tells us clearly what makes a man happy. The psalmist says that happiness depends upon our relationship to God.
The wrong way The happy man is someone who does not do certain things. The world does not like negatives especially in the area of moral behaviour and thinking. It finds them restrictive. The negative is frowned upon as being a miserable way to live. But the Bible is always using negatives to make its point. For instance, in the Ten Commandments God could easily have said that we must be honest. Instead he said, ‘You shall not steal.’ He could have said that we must respect our marriage vows, but instead he said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ By using the negative the truth is emphasized and no one can misunderstand. The happy man ‘does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers’ (Psalm 1:1). Not walking in the counsel of the wicked means that he does not take his standards and behavioural pattern from the current whim of the world. Trendy TV producers and godless newspaper editors are not allowed to mould his thinking. This being true he does not stand or sit, make himself at home, with the godless attitudes of the broad way. The person consumed with admiration for the broad way will never be happy because the happiness it offers is one massive delusion. The world will never know real happiness simply because it is preoccupied with it. Its so-called happiness is therefore always shallow and artificial, always dependent upon circumstances. It is not difficult to prove this. Just consider the sort of people the TV and newspapers always hold up to us as ones to be admired and if possible to be imitated. The so called stars are so happy that they cannot exist without drugs, excessive drinking and three or four marriages. That’s the type of happiness we are better off without The right way What is it that makes a man happy? It is to experience God’s way of salvation and live to please God. Psalm 1 puts it like this: ‘his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night’ (v. 2). To many people nothing could be more dreary and boring than this. To a man on the broad way such a conclusion is inevitable. Such concepts are foreign to him but at one time they were foreign to us all. No one naturally lives like this. This pattern of behavior is found only on the other side of the narrow gate. Here is a man who takes his standards, thinking and attitudes from the revealed will of God. This means he has a standard that does not change. This is exactly the opposite of the world whose standards are changing all the time. Also he has a standard outside of himself and therefore not dictated by his own weaknesses and prejudices. This gives an authority and purpose to his life. Such a man takes God seriously. He does not play at religion. Christianity is not a hobby to him but the centre of his life. It is possible to be in church every Sunday and still take your standards from the world. It is also possible to call yourself a Christian and not delight in the law of the Lord. These things are possible if a man has no real relationship with God. His religion is as empty as another man’s life of drink and sex. Happiness is...
1. Having your greatest problem dealt with. Life is full of problems and no one avoids them. But the greatest problem by far is the one of our own personal sin and guilt. Unless this is dealt with it will take us to hell for eternity. All people are by nature great optimists when it comes to God. They think that in the end everything will be all right. They know they are not as good as they should be, but there are plenty of people far worse than them so, they think, God is bound to accept them. It is only when a man begins to listen to what God says in the Bible that this false optimism disappears. He sees there how seriously God takes sin and this shakes him. What use is it being as good as the next man if that man is going to hell? A veneer of happiness can be maintained by ignoring what God says. After all, judgement and hell are considered to be old-fashioned and outdated beliefs. But the trouble is that death is not old-fashioned and it is coming to us all. Death, no matter what men may say, makes judgement and hell very real. The happy man is the one who knows that death holds no terror for him because his sin has been dealt with once and for all by the Lord Jesus Christ. 2. Having a peace that no one can take away. The peace God gives us is not dependent upon circumstances but upon the eternal worth of what Christ has done for us. It is the peace that does not disappear when life gets rough. Jesus promised us that what he gives us, thieves will never be able to steal and moth and rust never be able to destroy. God’s way is the way of life more abundant. This does not mean that it is littered with gadgets and material possessions but filled with the reality of God. No wonder the man who knows this is happy. 3. Having a guaranteed future. For most people the future means from now until the grave. For the Christian it means from now and for all eternity. Guarantees are notoriously unreliable things. We are urged to read the small print to be sure of the terms. Very few things are guaranteed for life and when things do go wrong it is not always easy to claim on your guarantee. Perhaps it has run out or the particular part you need is not covered. We have all known this. But God’s guarantee has no small print, there is no time limit and everything is covered. It depends upon the unfailing love of God in Christ. Those on God’s way are saved for eternity. Heaven is guaranteed them and there are no catches. It is true happiness to know this. Some people want to dismiss Christianity as ‘pie in the sky when you die’, and choose instead to live out the false illusion and flimsy happiness of being in this world without God. But being without God is also to be without hope and that is the most terrible of all situations. The Christian’s happiness is not obtained only when he reaches heaven but the moment he steps through the narrow gate onto God’s way.
