WEEK 10 |
psalms this week |
"Sugar sweetens green fruit. Devotion is spiritual sugar. It takes discontent away from the poor, and worry from the rich. It removes sorrow from the oppressed, and pride from the exalted. It destroys melancholy in the person alone, and fatigue from those living in society. It acts as fire in winter and dew in summer. Devotion makes both honor and contempt useful to us." |
Psalms 28, 29, and 30.
|
introduction to the Series
|
Most of what we learn how to do, we learn from other people. Sometimes it is the learning that comes from specific and deliberate instruction. At other times it is the learning that comes by way of example and imitation. During 2023, our endeavor is to learn how to pray from the Psalmist.*
The Book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, and it is mostly a book of prayers. We will spend the year going through the book, beginning to end, and letting the Psalmist teach us by example how to pray. |
In this endeavor, we cannot benefit from his deliberate instruction, of course. What we can do, however, is take full advantage of his example. We will observe how he prays, and we will learn to imitate him.
Our approach will be week by week. The recommended practices and exercises are not daily, but rather suggestions for an individual to implement throughout the whole week. |
Exercises for this week
|
Psalm 28
Read Psalm 28. The Psalmist uses highly picturesque language for God in this Psalm. As you read through the Psalm, make a list of the different images that the Psalmist employs to describe something about the Lord.
Return to the list you made above. For each image, write a description. For example, the Psalmist calls the Lord his "rock." Write down what attributes of a rock the Psalmist probably has in mind. Do that for each of the images that the Psalm employs to describe the Lord. Now go back and walk through the list of descriptions that you yourself have written. Talk to the Lord about each of them. To what extent do those descriptions describe Him? What do they reveal to you about Him? As you reflect on these matters, for what do you want to thank Him? For what do you need to praise Him? In verses 1 and 2, the Psalmist asks the Lord to listen to him, to hear him. Have you said that to God? Have you felt it? What is the benefit of saying it to Him? Verses 4 and 5 juxtapose the "deeds" and the "hands" of certain people and of the Lord. What is the relation between them? To what extent is the same juxtaposition appropriate today? Make a list of the things that the Psalmist asks the Lord to do to or for him. What is the Psalmist's "because" in these requests? In other words, does he express a reason why the Lord should do this or that? What are his reasons? Talk to the Lord about the reasons identified above. Do those reasons factor into your own praying, your own asking of the Lord? Which ones do or do not? Why or why not? Talk to the Lord about the whole concept of giving Him a reason for doing what you are asking Him to do. When do you do that? What are some of the "because" elements of your prayers? Make a list of the things that the Psalmist asks the Lord to do to or for other people. What is the Psalmist's "because"? Talk to the Lord about these requests and these reasons. |
Psalm 29
Read Psalm 29. As you read, pretend that you know nothing about the God who is the subject of the Psalmist's praise. What would you infer about Him based on this Psalm alone?
The beginning of the Psalm indicates that it is a Psalm of praise. Let us assume, therefore, that the verses that follow constitute "praise." Based on this Psalm, what do you understand to be the content of praise? What do you understand to be the purpose of praise? Elements of nature are a prominent part of this Psalm of praise. Talk to the Lord about the role of nature in the human experience of praising Him. Verses 5 through 9 reflect the very particular geography of the Psalmist. He is referencing specific places in his region of the world. Try to translate that part of the Psalm into a meaningful expression of praise for yourself. Rewrite those verses of the Psalm in your own words, and make a point of choosing specific places which (a) are familiar to you, and (b) communicate the same truths that the Psalmist is communicating. After you have finished rewriting verses 5 through 9, read your version aloud before the Lord as an affirmation and an expression of praise. Unlike so many Psalms we have read up until this point, Psalm 29 does not seem to depend at all upon the personal circumstances of the Psalmist. As such, it seems that what the Psalmist prays here does not require a specific mood or a particular sort of situation in life. What he prays could be prayed by any one at any time in any place. With that in mind, make it your prayer just now. Read through Psalm 29 again, and as you do, make a list of God's attributes as expressed or implied by the Psalmist. Now take the list of attributes generated above and make them the basis for your own praise. Praise the Lord for each of those things that He is. If you were writing a Psalm of praise to the Lord, perhaps you would write one that is different from Psalm 29. Indeed, even if you were adoring the very same attributes as the ancient Psalmist, you might express it differently. Accordingly, use the above list of attributes one more time: this time as the basis for writing your own Psalm of praise. If you were endeavoring to give expression to praising God for those very same characteristics of His, what prayer would you write? |
Psalm 30
Read Psalm 30. Like Psalm 29, Psalm 30 also begins as a Psalm of praise. Unlike Psalm 29, however, this Psalm is intimately tied to the Psalmist's own personal experiences. As you read each section of the Psalm, jot down a note about what you surmise the Psalmist's circumstances to have been.
Talk to the Lord about the list made above. Which parts of the Psalmist's circumstances feel close to home for you? What elements of his experience resonate with your own experience? Talk with the Lord about those areas of overlap. Read through the Psalm again, this time making a note of all the things that the Psalmist attributes to the Lord -- that is, things that the Lord did or ways that He is. Now review that most recent list in prayer. Once again, talk to the Lord about your resonance and sense of overlap with the Psalmist's experience. In verse 4, the Psalmist calls upon people to remember. In a sense, the entire Psalm models that call, for the Psalmist is doing a lot of remembering. He specifically urges God's people to remember what He has done. Take several minutes now to follow the Psalmist's advice. Putting all distractions aside, sit (or kneel or stand or walk) and deliberately remember the things that the Lord has done -- and specifically what He has done in your life. Let that remembering give rise to your own thanks and praise. Several times, the Psalmist juxtaposes opposite experiences -- tears and joy, mourning and dancing, sorrow and gladness. The Psalm acknowledges the former in each case as part of his own life experience, yet it is always followed by the latter. What has been your experience of that pattern? When has the Lord turned your tears into joy, your mourning into dancing? Talk with Him about those times. Think about that pattern of tears-to-joy in terms of the stories of Scripture. Make a list of examples of biblical characters who experienced that same pattern of God's work in their lives. Think about that pattern of tears-to-joy in terms of the bigger picture of the condition of the world and humankind. Read Revelation 21. Talk to the Lord about His "macro" plan of tears-to-joy for the whole creation. Perhaps today you are in the first phase of the tears-to-joy pattern. Perhaps it is hard for you to join in the Psalmist's effervescence. Talk to the Lord about your circumstance and about the meaning of the Psalm for you and your life. |
* We will refer to the author as “the Psalmist,” though of course not all of the Psalms were written by the same person. A significant number are attributed to David. Others are associated with Asaph, the sons of Korah, and an assortment of other individuals. Also, several dozen Psalms have no name attached to them. For the sake of ease and uniformity, we will simply refer to “the Psalmist.”