There can be no greater unifying “Family Bible Project” than that the whole family of God throughout the world  daily reads the word of their Father together. Let us remember our brethren and sisters worldwide, and as each day  we commence our readings with prayer let us seek a blessing upon them likewise as they read the sections for the day.

As a New Year opens we again commence that most pleasurable and necessary daily  task of turning to the Word of our God to  receive instruction and encouragement from Him. Our prayer is that this year our journey through His  Word will he cut short by the return of our Lord  Jesus Christ. However, until that day comes, we  must dutifully open our Bibles daily. As we do this  do we contemplate our brethren and sisters scattered  throughout the world who will likewise be reading  His Word? They may be in high-rise apartments in  large cities, urban dwellings, basic huts, prisons,  hospitals, rest-homes, scattered from Fiji in the East around the globe, in continent and island, to Hawaii  in the North Pacific. Their circumstances and conditions  will differ greatly but they will all be reading  the same chapters and meditating upon them. What a pleasure it must be for our Father to see His children  doing this. Therefore let us ensure that this daily reading is a part of our life in 2001.

To assist in discussion and meditation we include  some thoughts that you may like to note in  your Bible or extend further. The following notes  are on the Psalms.

The Psalms in the New Testament

It is worth considering the way that both Christ and  the Apostles commented on the Psalms, viewing  them as inspired. You may like to note some of  these comments at the commencement of Psalms.

  • “This scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas” (Acts 1:16).  Thus the Psalms are Scripture and given by the  Holy Spirit, as all Scripture was (Heb 3:7; Matt  21:42; 22:43; cp 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Peter 1:19–21;  see also 2 Sam 23:1,2).
  • Christ saw the Psalms as of equal importance as the Law and the Prophets (Luke 24:44–46).
  • The Psalms were often prophetic (Acts 2:30; John 19:23,24).

Considering Quotations from the Psalms

A very enriching exercise is to consider the sections  of the Psalms that are quoted by Christ and  the New Testament writers. To gain the most from  this exercise is not just to observe the fact that a  particular psalm is actually quoted, but to examine  why it is quoted. This will usually entail a deeper consideration of the psalm first, and then the reason  why this particular psalm fits the occasion where it  is quoted. It will also become apparent that many  of the psalms were prophetic of a specific incident  being fulfilled at a specific time (eg. Psalm 22 and the crucifixion—a point that confirms the inspiration of the Scriptures).

Each day you read the section from the Psalms  look at the list to see if that day’s psalm is quoted  in the New Testament. Not all references are direct quotations and this may not be the complete list, so  search for other references. The wording may differ slightly in the quotations as they may be made from  the Septuagint, as has been explained in the series Things New and Old (20), p165–168.