WEEK 11 |
psalms this week |
"It is no use to ask God with factitious earnestness for A when our whole mind is in reality filled with the desire for B. We must lay before Him what is in us, not what ought to be in us." |
Psalms 31, 32, and 33.
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introduction to the Series
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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
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Psalm 31
Read Psalm 31. As you read, make a note at each verse of how you believe the Psalmist was feeling when he wrote that verse. Talk to the Lord about when you have felt that same way.
Reflect on your perception of what things the Psalmist was feeling. Now, with those feelings in mind, read through the Psalm again and watch for what the Psalmist affirms or believes. Talk to the Lord about the relationship between what the Psalmist is feeling and what he is affirming or choosing to believe. Once again in Psalm 31, we hear the Psalmist using highly picturesque language for God. As you read the Psalm, make a list of the different images that are used to describe something about the Lord. Now return to that list of images and jot down next to each a description of that particular image in your own word. Now reread your descriptions in prayer. To what extent do you find that these are descriptions of the Lord? What do they reveal to you about Him? We want now to learn how to pray from the Psalmist by employing some picturesque language of our own. Identify what your feelings or circumstances are in the present moment. Think about what it means to have faith in God in the midst of those feelings or circumstances. Then write a brief prayer, making a point of using imagery that evokes truths about the Lord in relation to what you are feeling or experiencing. In verse 7, the Psalmist rejoices, but not because his circumstances are favorable. Talk to the Lord about what it is that makes the Psalmist rejoice at that moment. Most of Psalm 31 is a prayer in the sense of words being addressed to God. Not all of the Psalm is addressed to Him, however. Identify the verses that seem to be addressed to someone besides the Lord. To whom is the Psalmist speaking? What does he want that other audience to hear and to know? When Jesus was tempted by the devil, He quoted three passages of Scripture: all from the Book of Deuteronomy. And when Jesus was dying on the cross, He quoted two passages of Scripture: both from the Book of Psalms. We encountered one in Psalm 22:1, and we find the other here in Psalm 31:5. Read the Psalm again, this time with the cross in view. Talk to the Lord about how this Psalm offers insight into Jesus' experience while on the cross. Reflect on what it means about Jesus that He turned twice to the Book of Psalms while on the cross. Reflect on what it means about the Psalms that Jesus turned twice to them while on the cross. Reflect on what it means about suffering that Jesus turned twice to the Book of Psalms while on the cross. |
Psalm 32
Read Psalm 32. As you read, be sensitive to the changing speakers and audiences. Generate a written outline of the Psalm based on who seems to be speaking and who is being addressed.
The word that the Psalmist uses at the beginning of verse 1 and verse 2 is usually translated as either "blessed" or "happy." Look up either word in an English dictionary. Then insert the definition you find into verse 1 and verse 2. Make that an affirmation. Talk to the Lord about the meaning and impact of it. Read Psalm 1:1, 32:1-2, 34:8, 40:4, 94:12, and 112:1. Make a written list of the various things that the Psalmist says characterize a blessed or happy person. Review the list in prayer, and talk to the Lord about the relationship between the various items. Verses 3 through 5 express the personal testimony of the Psalmist's own experience. To what extent is his experience familiar to you? Talk to the Lord about your own experiences of verses 3 through 5. Reflect further on verse 5 in light of various characters in Scripture. Who are some positive examples of the truth expressed in verse 5? Who are some negative examples (i.e., people who were characterized more by verses 3 and 4 than by verse 5)? Verses 8 and 9 certainly seem to be written as from the Lord to a human audience. If so, what is the significance of what He says in light of the earlier verses? Talk to Him about what you understand to be the flow of thought and message from verse 8 to verse 9. Continuing to reflect on verses 8 and 9, what is the value of building into one's prayers an understanding of what it is that the Lord says to us? Have you done that in your prayer life? During upcoming prayer times, make a conscious effort to remind yourself of what the Lord says to you. What may not be apparent in your translation (because of a limitation of modern English) is that verse 8 is addressed to a second-person-singular audience while verse 9 to a second-person-plural audience. What is the importance of the former? What is the importance of the latter? Verse 10 makes a blanket statement about the way things are. What stories or examples from Scripture confirm the Psalmist's claim? What examples from your own life or from other situations you know about confirm the Psalmist's claim? Talk to the Lord about what the Psalmist says and your reflections on it. Read Luke 18:10-14. Talk to the Lord about the relationship between Jesus' teaching and Psalm 32. |
Psalm 33
Read Psalm 33. Psalm 33 is a Psalm of praise. As you read it, make a list of the persons who are called upon or urged to praise the Lord. As you reflect on it, think of what that list would mean for today. Who would the Psalmist say should be engaged in praising the Lord? Don't settle for being general -- think specifically about the implications. Talk to the Lord about His will that those people would praise Him.
Psalm 33 is a Psalm of praise. As you read it, make a list of the ways and means by which people should praise Him. To what extent do you think that list still applies today? To what extent does your prayer life follow the Psalm's prescription? Psalm 33 is a Psalm of praise. As you read it, make a list of the reasons why people should praise the Lord. Reflect on the Psalmist's list of reasons to praise the Lord. Meditate on those reasons. Let them become for you a call to praise. Meditate on the Lord -- who He is and what He has done -- and add to the Psalmist's list your own additional reasons for praise. The Psalmist is very conscious of the Lord's things and their impact. Review the Psalm and make a list of the things that are identified as "of the Lord" or "the Lord's" or "His." Then, next to the list, jot down what is said about each thing. Turn the annotated list created just above into a new Psalm of your own. Write a Psalm of praise to the Lord that is focused on His things and what is true about them. A prominent theme in Psalm 33 is the Lord's word -- what He has spoken or said. Identify each of the references or allusions to His word. What does His word do? What happens when He speaks? What are the characteristics of His word? Take your discoveries about the Lord's word and turn them into a new Psalm of your own. Write a Psalm of praise to the Lord that is focused entirely on His word -- what it is like and what it accomplishes. Verses 16 and 17 directly contradict what would have been conventional wisdom in that day. Rewrite them as you think the Psalmist might have expressed the same truths in this day. While the images of verses 16 and 17 seem to suggest military strength and the kinds of "salvation" that provides, we think of other kinds of things when we think of "salvation." And in that case, too, there are alternate sources and dependencies. Talk to the Lord about the various things we human beings tend to depend upon for salvation, as well as where real salvation is found. Rewrite verses 20 through 22 in your own words. Speak your rewritten version of verses 20 through 22 aloud and to the Lord. |
* 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.”