The Psalms is a very hard book for us to read because in our reading of it we can easily be seduced to care for things such as godliness and comfort. Christians read the Psalms mainly for godliness and comfort. They appreciate this book because, in their view, it teaches them how to be godly and it offers them comfort concerning the sufferings in human life. We all need comfort, and in the Psalms there are many verses that are words of divine comfort. This may be the reason that Bible societies often print the New Testament together with the Psalms. In our reading of the Psalms, it is difficult for us to stay away from the godliness and the comfort that we see in this book. This was my situation when I was young. I wanted to be godly, but I did not know how to be godly. I wanted to be comforted, but I did know where to find comfort. Thus, I passed through the experience of regarding the Psalms as a book concerned with godliness and comfort.
If we read the Psalms in the way of seeking godliness and comfort, our reading of this book will not consummate in hallelujahs. Can you tell me of anyone who read the Psalms for godliness and comfort whose reading consummated in hallelujahs? I doubt that there has ever been such a person. The Psalms consummates in hallelujahs because this is a book with the highest revelation concerning Christ. In Luke 24:44 the Lord Jesus said, "These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms concerning Me must be fulfilled."
We should not think that the Psalms is a book of godliness or a book of comfort. Yes, there are many verses in the Psalms concerning godliness, and there are many verses through which we may find comfort. But we should not seek godliness and comfort apart from Christ. Without Christ we cannot have genuine godliness, and without Christ there is no real comfort. If we care only for godliness and comfort but not for Christ, we will have nothing. But if we have Christ, even though we do not think about godliness and comfort, we will enjoy godliness and we will participate in much comfort. I can testify that whenever I care for Christ, I am filled with godliness, holiness, comfort, and happiness.
There are two ways to study the Bible: the natural, human way and the divine, spiritual way. To study the Psalms in the natural way is to gain godliness and comfort. To study the Psalms in the spiritual way is to gain Christ with the house, that is, the church, and with the city, that is, the kingdom, to bring in the restoration to the whole earth.