WEEK 19

psalms this week
"Although we may struggle with some present distress and dread evils yet to come, we can trust that God will not hesitate to help us. God is irritated by our distrust.
     - John Calvin
​Psalms 55, 56, and 57

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 55
Read Psalm 55.  As you read the Psalm, stop after every 2 or 3 verses to reflect on how the Psalmist was feeling. Jot down what you perceive him to be feeling in those specific verses. 

After you have made a list of the feelings that you discerned in Psalm 55, reflect on how the Psalmist seemed to handle or respond to those feelings. What is noteworthy about how he expressed or managed what he was feeling?  What is exemplary about it? 

Reviewing the list of feelings that you observed in Psalm 55, talk to the Lord about those feelings. When have you felt similarly?  How have you responded to those feelings? What has been the relationship of your faith to your feelings? 

Verses 6-8 express the heart of a person who wishes he could run away, who longs to be able to escape from his present circumstance.  Talk to the Lord:
  • about other characters in the Bible who probably felt that way.
  • about how those characters responded to their situations.
  • about when you have felt that way.
  • about what role your faith and your relationship with Him played at that time.
  • about the variety of ways that people sometimes respond to the feeling of wanting to escape. 

Verses 12-15 suggest that the Psalmist experienced a significant betrayal by someone close to him. Make a list of the names of characters in Scripture who had a similar experience.  

Review the list of names you made, and jot down next to each one how that character responded to being betrayed by someone close to him or her. 

Talk to the Lord about experiences you have had of feeling betrayed by someone who was once close to you.  How did you feel?  How did you respond?  To what extent do you resonate with verses 12-15 in this Psalm?  To which of the biblical characters on your list do you especially relate? 

In his cherished hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus, Joseph Scriven wrote:
"Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He'll take and shield thee
Thou wilt find a solace there."
Talk to the Lord about the words of the hymn in light of the Psalmist's words and faith.  Talk to Him about the words of the hymn in light of your own experience. 

Read through the Psalm once more. As you read, ask yourself this question, and jot down your reflections: What does the Psalmist believe about the Lord's relationship to his troubles?

Review in prayer what you have written down.  Talk to Him about the ways in which the Psalmist's faith resonates with your own.  Talk to Him about what you believe about His relationship to your troubles. 
Psalm 56
Read Psalm 56. As you read, stop after every 2 or 3 verses to reflect on how the Psalmist was feeling. Jot down what you perceive him to be feeling in those specific verses. 

In verse 4, the Psalmist asks what mere human beings can do to him.  Read that verse is several translations.  What do you take to be his meaning in that line?  As it seems to be a rhetorical question, what do you suppose is the Psalmist's answer to that question? 

In verse 4, the Psalmist asks what mere human beings can do to him. Read Psalm 56 through that lens. Based on what the Psalmist himself writes, what is it that human beings can do (or have done or are doing) to him?  

Reflecting on the Psalmist's experience of what people could (or did) do to him, talk to the Lord about your own experiences in this regard.
  • What harm have human beings done to you along the way? 
  • Are there people in your life right now who wish you ill or seek to do you harm? 
  • Are there people of whom you are afraid? 

When the Psalmist asks in verse 4 what human beings can do to him, does that mean that he regards them as powerless?  Does it mean that he thinks they cannot harm him?  Does it mean that he believes they are not to be feared?   Talk to the Lord about your understanding from Psalm 56 of the threat posed by malevolent people. 

Think through the examples of other characters in the Bible.  Identify ten different men or women of God who faced antagonists that sought to harm them.  Next to each name, jot down the end result. What did the antagonists accomplish in the end? Talk to the Lord about each of those examples. 

​Thus far we have focused our attention on the Psalmist's opponents in Psalm 56.  Now we turn our attention to the Lord. Read through the Psalm again, this time answering each of these questions as you read:
  • What is the Lord's relationship or response to the Psalmist's foes?
  • What is the Lord's relationship or response to the Psalmist's feelings?
  • What does the Psalmist want the Lord to do?
  • What is the Psalmist's confidence about the Lord?  

We find in Psalm 56 both expressions of what the Psalmist is feeling and expressions of what he resolves to do. As you read the Psalm, make a two-column list.  In the one column, list what he says he is feeling.  In the other column, list what he resolves to do.

With the two lists before you, talk to the Lord about the dual reality portrayed in the Psalm. Talk to Him about the degree to which the feelings resonated with you and your experience.  Talk to Him about the degree to which the resolutions resonate with you and your experience.  And talk to Him about the example of the Psalmist's faith to resolve what he does when he is feeling what he is.
Psalm 57
Read Psalm 57. This Psalm is more complex in its structure than many, as the writer toggles between talking to the Lord, talking about the Lord, and making other kinds of statements, declarations, and observations.  As you read, therefore, write down after each verse your answers to these questions:
  • To whom does the Psalmist seem to be speaking in this verse?
  • How would you describe his mood or attitude in this verse?
  • What is the subject or theme of this verse? 

Read the Psalm again, this time being sensitive to what the Psalmist affirms about God -- whether in talking to Him or talking about Him.  Reflect on those affirmations. If you didn't know anything about the Lord other than what you learn from the author of Psalm 57, what would you know about Him? Talk to Him about your discoveries.  

Having read the Psalm carefully, talk to the Lord about the Psalmist's situation. What does his situation seem to have been?  To what extent does it resonate with your own experience at some point in your life? 

Read through the Psalm and make a list of all the things that the Psalmist hopes and/or prays for. Talk to the Lord about that list.  How much of it echoes your own heart?  In what ways might you take your cue from the Psalmist? 

There seems to be a rather jarring shift between verse 4 and verse 5. Verse 4 expresses the worst of the Psalmist's circumstances; verse 5 prays for the exaltation and glory of God. Talk to the Lord about that juxtaposition. What is the significance of it? What is the logic of it?  What do you learn from it? 

​Read verse 7 in multiple translations. What does the Psalmist seem to be saying about himself? Why is it important that he says it about himself to the Lord?  To what extent are you able to say the same thing about yourself to Him? 

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.

​In verse 9, the Psalmist says to the Lord that he will give Him thanks and praise. Based on the rest of the Psalm, what do you imagine might be the content of his thanks?  What do you imagine might be the content of his praise?

What is the content of your thanks this day?  What is the content of your praise this day?

In verse 9, the Psalmist says to the Lord that he will give Him thanks and praise. Yet it is clearly not a private or isolated thing.  This thanks and praise is not just between the Psalmist and God.  Talk to the Lord about the Psalmist's broader audience for his thanks and praise.  Talk to the Lord about the broader audience for your thanks and praise. 
* 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.”