It is said that there is little understanding of eternal life in the Old Testament, but this is very mistaken. 46 Psalms of David speak of eternal glory, and here we survey ten to show that all the Bible is about everlasting salvation.

Contrary to what Bible critics ignorantly claim, the Old Testament is full of heaven and the eternal bliss of the redeemed. Here is a review of David's psalms that overwhelmingly prove so, including an explanation of the few places that suggest (wrongly understood) the contrary.

Israel's greatest king - David - was also a remarkable teacher, prophet and psalmist.  But it was as a youth that he found a personal relationship with the living God, and this psalm recalls the experience that changed his life and took him from shepherding to ruling. You May Be…

In this royal testimony of conversion David describes his previous ignorance, and how the wonder and majesty of the night sky stamped on his mind God's infinite being, and his own smallness, bringing him to seek the kindness that stoops, pardons and imparts spiritual life.

An insight into a most helpful approach to assurance, not here by reviewing our experience (legitimate as that is) but by reflecting (1) on God's attributes in creation (2) on the distinctive qualities of the Word, and (3) by avoidance of certain kinds of sin.

Just what we need for the day of intense trial, temptation, persecution, loss, illness or turmoil. Here is God's promise for prayer, the conditions for being heard, the part we must play, the duty of appreciation, the effect on assurance and avoiding fleshly solutions.

David's prophecy of Calvary, quoted by Christ as His own words, describes verse-by-verse the details and purpose of Calvary more deeply even than the Gospels. Then (from verse 23) David exhorts believers to love Him, and predicts eternal glory. (Good Friday service)

'The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.'

If we are boxed in to a material view of life, this psalm is like a camera drawing back and showing the real context of our earthly journey. We see ourselves passing through a ravine oblivious to the dangers and destination. Here is vital information for those seeking their Creator.

King David's best-known psalm reveals his view of life's journey. Claiming the Almighty God as his personal guide and Saviour, he points to all that we miss without this divine Shepherd, and the conversion experience that He gives to all who follow Him.

The 23rd psalm is the most famous of David's poetic compositions, but people often do not realise it is the king's brilliant summary of his view of life - of how he saw himself before his Creator - and how he came to find and know Him.

First it is shown that the main theme of this prayer – paths and ways – is about the course of life and its major decisions and crises. Then we see several prerequisites or conditions for discerning the Lord's guidance, all equally prayed for by the king.

Carefully structured, this great prayer provides a profound study of dedication, yet it also works as a quick checklist of the vital elements, such as one might keep in the back of one's Bible. Here are David's six 'departments' for regular recommitment.

Although hostility and war threaten the king, the running theme of this psalm is close communion with the Lord, his first and chief source of relief and perspective. Here we trace how the king went about it, his experience and its fruits.

Dependence is a central duty of the Christian life and vital to the blessing of churches. Here is the nature of dependent prayer in troubles, the avoiding of worldly solutions, the forms in which God gives strength, and some of the mistakes of today.

David's prayer in deep waters, but his chief concern is God's glory and the perpetuation of his witness. Here also are the answers to the seven questions we may ask in personal Bible study – Is there a doctrine here, a duty, a reproof, a promise? etc.

Wealth, fame, power, health, ability and pleasure all rank among the things most desired by men and women. But the Christian message ranks the forgiveness of God greater than them all. Here are the limits and costs of the former, and the eternal gains of free forgiveness.

Here are the aims and desires of all who live life without God, and their failure to gain what is desired.  Here also are the obstacles that keep us from God, the benefits that come with His forgiveness, and how He is to be approached. You May Be Also Interested…

King David sympathetically and appealingly spells out the terms and conditions of salvation. Speaking from his own experience, he shows what we must believe, what our attitude should be, and how we ought to ask for new life from God. He also describes God's response.

David shows praise is about the Lord and his work, and also about the believer's many recurring deliverances throughout this life of countless needs. These blessings cannot be experienced without concern for holiness and reverence. Here are inspired counsels for both personal and congregational praise.

King David's burden is to convey the very real experience he had of association with God. He spells out the tangible changes in his life through conversion, the evidences and scale of God's interventions and helps, then the terms on which one must approach Him.

David provides eight reasons why we commit personal sin, then sets out the magnitude of God's mercy, His promises of pardon and life, His soaring unchangeable standards, His provisions of help, and the precious thing He gives to those who trust Him.

This hymn with a refrain that recurs 11 times addresses a series of exhortations to believers, accompanied by strong divine promises, especially to see all of life in the light of eternity. Containing the famous four words – Trust, Delight, Commit, Rest, it constitutes a rich devotional feast.

Life can only be measured in terms of our value and significance before God. King David recalls that he had fallen into backsliding, but grasped afresh the brevity and futility of life without a living experience of God. Here are the thoughts that brought him to renew that experience.

King David, a man of immense ability naturally, tells from experience of the journey from self-confidence and self-satisfaction to being humbled to see his vital need of God, and going on to seek and find a life-changing relationship with Him.

King David looks back to his experiences of deep cynicism, describing how it gave way to a realisation of the futility of life without God. He saw life as a 'shadow', and provides us with a prayer for approaching and finding a forgiving God. You May Be Also Interested in……

Many only ever approach God over emergencies, but not to find Him or to have Him as their God. Others approach Him in a way He has already said in the Bible is unacceptable to Him. King David shows the way, and here is his effective approach.

As far as human beings are concerned, the multitude of God's tender mercies are the towering wonder of His divine attributes. Here are His mercies of salvation, their benefits, the great cost to God of their implementation, and the happiness of receiving them.

Despite the intellectual brilliance of the human race, we are capable of great foolishness in our dismissal of God, as King David points out. Here are the reasons why we suppose that God keeps no account of our lives, and all that we lose by this thinking.

Here are several troubling objections to Christian faith drummed into modern society, and why they are entirely wrong. Here also are the chief evidences for the being of God, the basis for finding and knowing Him, and the proving of His life-changing power.

David takes his terrifying predicament to the Lord, but not before affirming his trust in God's promises and power – a vital antidote to making self-pitying complaints rather than offering believing prayers. Here are the lessons of his great example in the conquest of fear or discontent.

Composed when David was at the height of his power, this looks back at Saul's disastrous reign and its cause to help people value their present blessings. To us, it says inversely - reviving past evangelical blessings means abandoning new methodology and trusting the Word alone.

Fleeing Saul in the wilderness of Ziph David's quest for communion is rewarded, this psalm revealing his steps under four discernible headings: 1. his longing for it (the means), 2. his commitment to praise (including the feast analogy), 3. his dependence, 4. the element of anticipation.

True atheism is rare. Everyone prays at some time, but how? Here are prayers that fall to the ground, and why, contrasted with the kind that God has promised to answer. To know these things is to know how to approach and find God in a true and personal way.

King David imparts his experience of prayer and lays out the key conditions for prayer to be heard and answered. So much prayer, we learn, is distasteful to God and disregarded. May the fundamental human instinct to pray lead to life and peace with God.

Millions pray to the one eternal, almighty God. Who may pray to Him, and how? On what basis may the Holy One be approached? What makes prayer acceptable or futile? What kind of request is heard, and what is the proof? Here are David's answers.

Unique psalms: here is the whole scene of redemptive warfare, lifting us above setbacks and discouragements. Here too is prophecy - the ascension of Christ and the New Testament age, with the harvest of the Gentiles and coming judgement, and with surprising assurances along the way.

Here is the most detailed prophecy - 900 years before the event - of Christ's work and of the way He would capture the hearts of billions until the final day of earth's history. This is the message of eternal life.

Probably David's last and most uplifting psalm containing standards for his successors but chiefly soaring into messianic prophecy. Here is spelled out the character, extent and fruits of Christ's reign using vivid pictures exclusively fulfilled by the One 'who only doeth wondrous things'.

King David's last words combine a history of time with a 'world view' from God's perspective. Here is the solution to the greatest problem of mankind - moral disorder and alienation from God - and how Christ saves countless souls out of every age of time.

David's last prayer is one of the most remarkable and detailed prophecies of the Old Testament, describing what the coming Messiah (Jesus Christ) would do for the world. Every major act of Christ is here, and what these mean for our eternal souls.

What happens when the dream of life is over and the reality of God's existence dawns? The Psalmist describes the futility of a life lived without God, and the inevitability of final judgement. Will we face Christ the Lord as our Saviour or as our Judge? 'As a dream, when…

The psalmist had stumbled into material desire, or into doubts, envying the apparent benefits of godless people. But surrounded by the symbols of divine mercy in the sanctuary, he recovered his sense of salvation, his exclamation of love yielding great lessons for us on how to express love to Christ.

A unique model prayer rich in counsel, including problems in prayer. Four evident sections cover (1) The petitioner's humble approach, (2) God's approachability and readiness to respond, (3) The petitioner's promise to God (a vital part of prayer), (4) The core petition itself, including the token for good.

A psalm vividly portraying the traps and snares life presents to the soul, and the vulnerability of unbelief. How these snares are baited, and minds are made entirely materialistic. Here also is how the mind may be woken to find and trust in God

A very remarkable presentation of the way to find God in which the psalmist uses ten illustrations in just five verses, to show (1) the human predicament - cut off from God; (2) the remedy - what God has done; (3) our response; and (4) the result.

Not blissful happiness or 'Christian hedonism', because in a world of sin there are countless griefs and trials, but the lifting up of the inner person. This psalm remarkably conducts us through an agenda for thanksgiving and reflection that greatly strengthens and gladdens the heart.

Whether or not we are thankful to God (the highest duty of the human heart) says more about our souls, our direction in life, and our eternal destiny than we realise. Here a range of attitudes to God are reviewed, showing our need to experience His power and love.

"Why be thankful to God?" we may ask. We grasp at attempts to explain away the evidence of design in our universe, and we do so, according to scripture, because of human pride. Here are the psalmist's steps for paying homage to God and finding Him. You May Be Also…

A unique and challenging psalm: David's ten vows for his reign, all to do with his moral rules for personal life and for his administration. Here is - (1) his dedication; (2) his plea for evident divine involvement; (3) his defence of the cause in the spiritual warfare.

The psalmist predicts the destruction of Zion and its restoration after exile; also its spiritual revival in the Christian age. Here is Christ's blueprint for individual churches (rather than denominations, societies and private ministries), their superior qualities, their end-time oppression, and final triumph.

Unique psalms: here David shows us how to summon ourselves to praise. The main subjects are God's forgiveness of, and compassionate acts toward, His people, both flowing from His character, and infinitely exceeding our guilt and inadequacy. The pinnacle of praise then lifts to Heaven.

An idol is any object or idea that substitutes for the true God. The Bible shows that idolatry is rampant in every life. Today the worship of self claims that individuals have the right to be themselves and have their desires - we become 'God'.

- Especially if God is set aside. The limitation of idols listed in this Psalm apply to the idol of today - materialistic atheism. Lacking voice, vision and hearing it has no explanation of life's purpose, no help and no power. The Gospel of Christ is the opposite.

Present-day Western 'idolatry' is the worship of a god invented by us, or of earthly objects and goals which we substitute for God. Here are the massive differences between the true and living God and all substitutes.

How can the invisible, unfelt God be loved? It is not possible without some unmistakable experience of His intervention in our life. Here is how that may happen, so that we exclaim with the Psalm, 'I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice.'

Many wonder how any person could love God. Is not love an affection we have for people, or beauty or a cause? Here is an insight into how countless people, great and small, have stumbled into an experience of great love of God.

This study refutes a new book attacking the credibility of the Bible (The Bible for Grown-Ups), denying all Bible history before 900BC and claiming endless errors along with the absence of any spiritual message or consistent morality in the OT period. (We hear of teachers indoctrinating classes with it.)

The mountains of Jerusalem, especially the Temple Mount, remind the psalmist of the Creator, and of his own human smallness, and need of spiritual life. Here is how this powerful metaphor persuades us to reach out to God for life and purpose.

When pilgrimages to Jerusalem reached the last stage of the journey, and the mountains of the city were in sight, this psalm was sung and explained - a call to look to God for reconciliation with Himself, pardon, life, and His power and guidance to eternity. You May Be Also…

Unique Psalms – David reflecting on the church, especially Messiah's, using the picture of the Temple.  Here are the riches and benefits of God's provision of gatherings of his people. We too should reflect on the meaning of its structure, purposes, 'walls', 'palaces', and peace.

Most modern 'study Bibles' limit Psalms 123-6 to the release from Babylonian captivity. But older works are right to relate them to all Zion's trials, including spiritual opposition. Never underestimate, says David, the war against the saints, its periodical peaks, and remarkable deliverances.

A king's devotions - these three memorable verses enable believers to maintain humility, dependence and trust in all circumstances. Firstly, a regular confession, secondly, the deportment or stance to be worked at, thirdly, the patience and waiting factor. All these sustained a great ruler's trust.

Extraordinary psalms – here the riches of fellowship are unfolded: first the ideal; secondly, the fragrance or pleasantness of Christian warmth; thirdly, its power and productiveness; fourthly, its eternal character. In these exquisitely structured verses two feelingful illustrations speak to our hearts.

An incomparable psalm for understanding the riches of thankfulness. Here are unexpected seams of thought from God's acts of creation, deliverance, guidance and provision. Here also is how the psalmist anticipates conversion and the Christian life, and shows the spiritual benefits of thankfulness.

All things come from God, but the greatest and most significant benefits in life come by application to Him. Here are the 'deep things' of God - His mercy and benevolence, and what the promises (in the Scriptures) do for all who ask.

A soul-searching psalm that presents all the things in life provided exclusively by God, together with things we cannot possess or experience unless we apply to Jesus Christ the Saviour for forgiveness and eternal life. Then only do substantial and eternal things become ours. O give thanks unto the LORD;…

David’s rhapsodic review of all the ways by which he knew the mighty hand of God in every condition of life. Both deeply searching and powerfully comforting, here are the details of the Lord’s love toward his own in action, and the gratitude we owe.

A truly extraordinary psalm with numerous illuminating metaphors. Here we see 13 of them under the headings (1) the place of prayer (2) the priority of guarding lips and heart (3) the heeding of correction (4) coping with the world's contempt (5) Satan's snares.

David in despair and hounded by Saul controls his feelings and (1) articulates his needs in prayer (2) affirming that God knows what He will do (3) that he has a higher, better life (4) that God alone can help and (5) yielding his life afresh.

David, pursued by 3000 military men of Saul, has taken refuge in a mountain cave. Bereft of all help, he turns to God, and is delivered. Here he recalls his sense of helplessness in order to illustrate the realisation of spiritual isolation and loss that usually precedes conversion to God.

King David shows that no ruler or society or relation or loved one can help an individual person concerning the soul. This central, vital core of our being can only be enlivened and protected by God, and David's message is about God's way of saving the soul.