Psalms Explained: A Bible Study

What does it mean that the Lord is your shepherd?

In Psalm 23, the most beloved psalm in the Bible, David calls the Lord “my shepherd.” In this study, Dr. Toby Holt unpacks why this short psalm has comforted God’s people for three thousand years.

To call the Lord “my shepherd” is a bold, personal claim — and it also admits that we are sheep: prone to wander and in need of care. Dr. Holt walks throu...

Is it okay to ask God “how long”?

In Psalm 13, David cries out “How long, O LORD?” four times in just six verses — and then ends in worship. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows that honest lament and real faith can go together.

David feels forgotten and overwhelmed, and he tells God so plainly. Dr. Holt notes that our struggle is often the duration of hardship, not only its severity. Yet David does not st...

Why do people rage against God?

In Psalm 2, the nations and their rulers conspire against the Lord — a rebellion as old as the human heart. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt unpacks this psalm’s picture of human defiance and God’s enthroned King.

The kings of the earth plot to throw off God’s rule, but God in heaven is unmoved. Dr. Holt explains that Psalm 2 is a Messianic psalm pointing to Christ, God’s appo...

How well does God know you?

In Psalm 139:1-6, David says God has “searched” and “known” him completely. In this study, part of a series on God’s attributes, Dr. Toby Holt explores the omniscience, or all-knowing, of God.

God knows our sitting down and our rising up, our thoughts, even our words before we speak them. Dr. Holt explains that God’s knowledge is not gained over time, the way we get to k...

Just how powerful is God?

In Psalm 2, the nations rage against God — and He simply laughs. In this study, the first in a short series on God’s attributes, Dr. Toby Holt explores the omnipotence, or all-power, of God.

Earthly rulers conspire against the Lord and His Anointed, but God, enthroned in heaven, is utterly unthreatened. Dr. Holt explains what “omnipotent” really means: God can do anything He wills, th...

How does a Christian grow up in the faith?

In Psalm 119:9-16, the psalmist asks, “How can a young man cleanse his way?” and answers: by God’s Word. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows what it means to take your faith seriously and grow up spiritually.

Spiritual maturity, Dr. Holt explains, means taking personal ownership of your faith through steady time in God’s Word — not growing godly “by osmosis...

How far does God remove our sins?

In Psalm 103:8-18, David celebrates a God who is merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in love. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt points to the unchanging promises that anchor a new start.

David says God does not treat us as our sins deserve, and that He removes our transgressions “as far as the east is from the west.” Dr. Holt explains that two things never change: God’s character and H...

Why is God’s name so majestic?

In Psalm 8, David looks up at the heavens and bursts out, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explores the greatness of God and the surprising dignity He gives to people.

David marvels at the vastness of creation — and then at an even greater wonder: that the God who made it all would care for small, sinful human beings. He...

Why does remembering matter so much?

In Psalm 78, Israel is called to remember and pass on what God has done. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows that forgetting our spiritual history dooms us to repeat its failures.

The psalm retells Israel’s story — God’s mighty rescue at the Exodus, and the people’s repeated forgetting and rebellion. Dr. Holt explains that when we forget what God has said and done, we drift ...

Where is God when you feel hopeless?

In Psalm 139, David finds comfort in two truths: God knows him completely, and God is always near. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt offers words of hope from this psalm for the discouraged and depressed.

David marvels that God knows his every thought and word, and that there is nowhere he can flee from God’s presence — even in the darkest places, “You are there.” Dr. Holt expla...

How do you let go of guilt?

In Psalm 32, David describes the heavy weight of hidden sin — and the relief of full forgiveness. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows how God forgives completely the moment we confess.

David says that while he stayed silent about his sin, it wore him down, even affecting his body. But when he confessed, God forgave him at once. Dr. Holt explains that this forgiveness rests not on our worthiness or goo...

Can you praise God even when life is hard?

In Psalm 100, God’s people are called to “make a joyful noise” and serve Him with gladness. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows that real joy rests not on our circumstances but on who God is.

The psalm calls for loud, glad worship — Dr. Holt notes that true praise is not the same as silence. Its center is verse 3: “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.&...

Does God still pay attention to your life?

In Psalm 113, the God who reigns high above the heavens stoops down to lift up the lowly. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows that God is never an absentee — and that, for His people, the story ends well.

The psalm calls God’s people to praise Him “from the rising of the sun to its going down.” God is exalted far above all nations, yet He humbles Himself to behold us, ...

Why did God make you the way you are?

In Psalm 139:13-16, David marvels that God personally formed him in the womb. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt explains why your design, identity, and purpose come from God — and why that is good news.

David says he was “fearfully and wonderfully made,” knit together by God Himself. Dr. Holt explains that because a personal Creator made us on purpose, our identity and even the numbe...

How can you fear no evil in life’s darkest valley?

In Psalm 23, David walks through “the valley of the shadow of death” — yet fears no evil. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt shows where real comfort is found when life turns dark.

David pictures God first as a shepherd who leads, feeds, and protects His sheep, and then as a gracious host who prepares a table and overflows the cup. Dr. Holt points out that the psalm...