WEEK 18 |
psalms this week |
"Make frequent, short little prayers to God. Express your appreciation for His beauty. Ask Him to help you. Fall at the foot of the cross. Love His goodness. Give your soul to Him a thousand times a day. Stretch out your hand to Him like a child... Many little prayers like this...are essential. Without them, rest is mere idleness and labor is pure drudgery. |
Psalms 52, 53, and 54
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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 52
Read Psalm 52. This Psalm is not a prayer in the sense of being entirely addressed to God (though it does conclude with a prayer, which we shall consider later). Instead, the bulk of the Psalm is devoted to considering the differences between the righteous and the wicked. As you read the Psalm, make a list of what seems to characterize the wicked.
Review that list in prayer. Which of the items on that list continue to be relevant and problematic in our day? Reread the Psalm, this time focusing on God's response(s) to the wicked. What does God do about the wicked? How would you characterize His response? What other stories from Scripture resonate with Psalm 52 in terms of illustrating God's response to the wicked? Talk to the Lord about His response to the wicked and to wickedness in Scripture. Talk to Him about His response today. Review again the list of things that characterize the wicked. Rewrite each item on that list in terms of its opposite. (For example, if the wicked speak lies, then the opposite would be that the righteous speak the truth.) Review the list of opposites. To what extent does that rewritten list seem like an appropriate and accurate description of the righteous? To what extent does the rewritten list describe you? This Psalm's description of the wicked places a heavy emphasis on the tongue and on words. Talk to the Lord about the Psalmist's emphasis. Talk to Him about the extent to which, when you think of wickedness in the world, you think of words. If not words, what do you tend to think of when you think of wickedness in the world today? Read the following verses:
Talk to the Lord about the significance of words -- the importance of what comes out of our mouths. Talk to Him about why a person's words are so revealing. Talk to Him about why words are so important to Him. Psalm 52 begins and ends (i.e., verses 1 and 8) with references to God's love. Talk to the Lord about the relationship between His love and the rest of the content and theme of this Psalm. Why, in the midst of the rest of this Psalm, do you believe the Psalmist makes the affirmations he does about God's love? As noted above, most of Psalm 52 is not explicitly addressed to God, yet the concluding verse is. What do you see as the relationship between verse 9 and the rest of the Psalm? To what extent does verse 9 suggest that the rest of the Psalm is spoken consciously in God's presence? What can you learn from the Psalmist about things a person says or affirms, which are not spoken to Him, but which can be followed immediately by a prayer? |
Psalm 53
Read Psalm 53. As you read, stop after each verse and answer these questions:
The Psalmist writes, "The fool says in his heart..." rather than just, "The fool says..." Talk to the Lord about how the Psalmist chooses to express verse 1. What is the significance of a person 'saying in their heart'? Read the following verses, and reflect on each one in light of Psalm 53:
Having read and reflected on the above verses and Psalm 53, talk to the Lord about the broad truths you see in these Scriptures. Read and reflect on verse 2 in light of each of the following verses:
Parallelism is the chief characteristic of Hebrew poetry. According, it is typical for the different parts of a line or verse of poetry to have some relationship to each other. Reflect on verse 4. Identify the different parts. Talk to the Lord about how those parts are related to each other. Of the six verses in this Psalm, only in one verse (verse 5) does the Psalmist address someone in the second person. Read that verse in several versions. To whom is the Psalmist speaking? What is the relationship of that addressee to the rest of the Psalm? Psalm 53 is not a prayer addressed to God. Talk to the Lord about:
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Psalm 54
Read Psalm 54. As you read, at the end of each verse, think about and jot down your answers to these questions:
After finishing the verse-by-verse consideration above, talk to the Lord about what you have written down. Talk to Him about when you have been in comparable circumstances. Talk to Him about when you have felt similar feelings. Talk to Him about the Psalmist's faith and yours. Most of Psalm 54 is addressed to God, but not all of it. Identify which verses seem to be addressed to someone else. To whom is the Psalmist speaking in those verses? What is the nature of the tone and content of those verses? What is the relationship between the verses that are addressed to God and the verses that are not addressed to Him? Is there discontinuity or continuity between those sections? What can you learn from the Psalmist about prayer by his example of interrupting his speaking to God by speaking not to God? Verse 1 features two petitions for God to help. They are not necessarily two distinct requests, but they are different expressions of the same plea. Review verse 1 in multiple translations to see what verbs are used to translate what it is that the Psalmist is asking God to do. (This webpage might be helpful.) Make a list of those verbs. Then talk to the Lord about each of those verbs. What do they say about Him? When have you needed those verbs from God? Verse 1 features two petitions for God to help. In each case, the Psalmist appeals to something about God as the means or cause of that help. Review verse 1 in multiple translations. What is it about God to which the Psalmist appeals? Talk to the Lord about those things about Him. How does the Psalmist expand or deepen your prayers by how he expresses his cry for help in verse 1? Psalm 54 concludes with a testimony. Review verse 7 in a variety of translations. Then talk to the Lord about the Psalmist's testimony. To what extent does it resonate with your own testimony and experience? Psalm 54 begins with a cry for God to help and ends with a testimony about how He has helped in the past. Talk to the Lord about that approach to prayer. To what extent has it been your practice to conclude your prayers for God's help with an affirmation of how He has helped? Identify some area of life or concern where you want to cry out to God for help. Following the example of the Psalmist in Psalm 54, write your own prayer. Having done thoughtful work on elements of Psalm 54, read it one more time.
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* 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.”