Faith Expressions
The book of Psalms, which is found in the Old Testament part of the Bible, is a book of prayers. It contains many and various types of prayers. There are prayers for help and guidance and there are prayers for protection and safety. There are songs of praise for God and there are shouts of joy and thanksgiving because of God’s blessings. There are individual prayers and there are communal prayers. There are vocal prayers, meditative prayers and contemplative prayers.
Originally, the psalms were poems of the religious type intended to be sung. There were 150 hymns written by different individuals over a period of time. The authors of these psalms included King David, Moses, Solomon, Heman, Ethan, the clan of Asaph and the clan of Korah. Seventy-three of the prayers were assigned to David, two to Solomon, one each to Moses, Heman and Ethan and twenty-three to the clans of Asaph and Korah. Forty-nine of the psalms were assigned to anonymous writers.
Psalms 23, 27 and 51 were among the psalms assigned to David. In Psalm 23, David declared that “The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul.” In Psalm 27, David was in a deep contemplative state and told the LORD: “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” In Psalm 51, David begged for forgiveness from God and confessed, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.” These were highly personal prayers by King David. Psalms 23 and 27 were prayers about God’s glory and majesty. They were, essentially, psalms of thanksgiving and trust in God. Psalm 51 was a prayer for mercy.
Psalm 90 was assigned to Moses, and the psalm had been labeled as the Moses prayer. It was a prayer for forgiveness and blessing. The contents of the prayer showed a man with a highly personal, very intimate relationship with God and completely engrossed with his conversation with the LORD. It was a prayer personal in nature, yet it was also a prayer of intercession for the Israelites; thus, it was a prayer for the collective good. In verse 1 of the psalm, Moses declared: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” In verses 13-14, Moses beseeched the LORD: “Relent, Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” In the last two verses, Moses asked for God’s blessing: “May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children. May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.”
The psalm which served as an introduction to the book of Psalms was Psalm 1, and in verses 1-3 of this prayer, the psalmist declared: “Blessed is the one… whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” This declaration provided the reason for praying: By meditating on the law of God, by thinking about God, one finds real joy in life. With this realization, the psalmists just kept on praying, composing hymns and writing prayers.
Psalms 8 and 19 are hymns about God’s glory as seen in creation. There is joy and a sense of wonder when looking at the beauty and awesomeness of the created universe. Psalms 9, 92, 100 and 103 are songs of thanksgiving and praise to God. There is joy when thanking and praising God for his love and faithfulness, which makes the trials and tribulations of life irrelevant. Psalms 23, 27 and 90 are prayers that reveal the psalmists’ longing for God and to gaze into the loveliness of the Lord. There is joy in the beauty of the Lord which King David and servant Moses had the opportunity to witness. Psalms 5, 61 and 64 are prayers for protection. There is joy and a sense of peace in the knowledge that God is your protector and defender. Psalms 12, 13, 57 and 108 are cries for help. There is joy when one starts to find solutions to a problem by asking God’s help first, knowing that whatever is the outcome, God is with you. There is real joy when praying to and conversing with God, a fact of life which the psalmists learned thousands of years ago. Truly, to pray is to allow God to love you.
And there are more psalms that one can use when praying in order to receive God’s love. There are prayers for safety and there are prayers for guidance. There are prayers for deliverance and there are prayers for justice. There are prayers for a particular individual and there are prayers for the people and the nation. There are prayers about the supremacy of God and there are prayers about God’s laws and commandments. There are no limits to what God will give you when praying. God will just pour his love on you.
Reference: NIV®: The Holy Bible – New International Version, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®
“Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” – An Angel in Luke’s Gospel of the Bible; Luke 2:10-11
“We should pray. That’s the first of all things.” – Mike Pompeo
“To pray is to allow God to love you.” – Alex Moises
“For me, there are a lot of things I celebrate, but it starts with the birth of Christ. That’s the reason for the season.” – Congressman Steve Scalise
“Dear Jesus, Hi God! How are you? I’m excited about your b-day on December 25. I enjoy making things using the computer…. I love you.” – Little Angel Gabby
“Merry Christmas. Your support and encouragement means the world for our family. May God bless you this Christmas holiday.” – Congressman James Comer
“I remember being deployed with the Navy over Christmas… I also remember how awesome it was to fly my helicopter from ship to ship in the battle group delivering presents and mail to everyone deployed in the Persian Gulf. I kind of understood how Santa must feel….” – Congresswoman Jen Kiggans
“The Christmas story – in the birth of a child, there is a new dawn with endless potential. It is this simplicity of the Christmas story that makes it so universally appealing, simple happenings that formed the starting point of the life of Jesus... His birth marked a new beginning.” – Queen Elizabeth II
Blogs, Education, Faith, Hobby and Interests
A Child’s Faith Expression - This is a faith expression of a child and it contains the faith expression artworks of my little angel Gabby.
Blog Expressions - This is the blog of the author on Expressions website, and it is one of the main sections of the site.
CAVPAC - This is the website of Champion American Values PAC which is led by Mike Pompeo. Its goal is “to promote conservative values upon which America was founded.” Mr. Pompeo is a Christian, husband and father, a Kansan and proud American, and the former CIA director and US secretary of state.
Expressions Art for God’s Sake - This is based on the idea that if there is art for art’s sake, then there must be expressions art for God’s sake.
Expressions Quotes - This sub-section deals with quotable and inspirational quotes.
General Psychology Reviewer - A reviewer for general psychology or introduction to psychology, it provides a test and quizzes and two study guides to general psychology,
God is Love - This is the main topic of several articles. The articles contain faith expressions about God who is love.
Hearts & Stars’ Timeline - This is author's social media site.
Hope and Prayers 2023 - It is made up of several articles which express the author’s wish and prayers for 2023.
Jesus - This part of the blog takes the name of Jesus, the God-made-man who saved the world from sin and destruction, and it contains a substantial number of articles and faith expression artworks about Jesus.
Mike Pompeo: Photos and Quotes - It has several articles with quotes from Mr. Pompeo. There are a substantial number of photos and quotes and a good amount of information about Mr. Pompeo.
Rizal Course Reviewer and Study Guide - A reviewer for Rizal course, it contains a test and quizzes and provides a study guide to the course subject.
The Cross of Christ and The Crucified Christ - Articles and faith expression artworks about the cross of Christ and the crucified Christ appear in this area of the blog.
Topical Stamp Collecting - This is a sub-section of Blog Expressions which contains articles with the tag “Topical Stamp Collecting” and it is a showcase of stamps and philatelic items for topical stamp collecting.
Philippines
Hearts Philippines & Then Some - This website contains information and photos about the Philippines. It also contains a stamp catalog written in Filipino and data on faith expressions, topical stamp collecting, general psychology and Rizal course. There are more items.
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