WEEK 20 |
psalms this week |
"Much of the time, we struggle between prayer and disturbing thoughts. Our emotions get in the way of our prayers. Keep trying. If we knock on the door hard enough it will be opened." |
Psalms 58, 59, and 60
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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 58
Read Psalm 58. In order to read this week's Psalms and appropriate them for yourself, you will need to think in terms of enemies. The goal is not to cultivate a combative attitude within yourself, but simply to recognize a reality. To that end, y0u may want to think not only of human beings who may oppose you or wish you harm, but also think of other things that fit that description -- sickness, temptation, discouragement, and the devil. Take a few moments now to list your enemies.
Verses 1-5 are descriptive of those whom the Psalmist regards as his enemies in this Psalm. Distill those verses into a simple list: bullet points that summarize the characteristics of those enemies. Set your two lists side-by-side: your own list of enemies and the list of the characteristics of the Psalmist's enemies. Which of the people or things on your first list are described by points on the second list? Talk to the Lord about those enemies, and about the elements in verses 1-5 that ring true. One risk for the man or woman of God is to presume that one's own enemies are also God's enemies. To mitigate against that risk, reflect again on the characteristics summarized on your second list. Talk to the Lord about the extent to which people (or things) described by such a list make themselves His enemies -- or invite His opposition. Now reflect on your first list -- the people or things in your life that qualify as enemies. Talk candidly with the Lord about them. Ask Him to what extent they are or have made themselves His enemies. Ask Him to what extent He does oppose them, or to what extent it is right for you to ask Him to oppose them. Verses 6-9 express what the Psalmist prays that God will do to the enemies -- or even what he is confident that God will do to them. Reflect on those verses. What is surprising about them? What is exemplary about them? Answer these questions, and talk to the Lord about your answers:
The final verses of the Psalm anticipate a time of vindication -- a time when justice will be done and the wicked will be defeated. With your own list of enemies before you, read verses 10 and 11 as personal expressions. With respect to which people or things on your list are you able to speak these verses as the Psalmist did? What is impressive or exemplary about the faith of the Psalmist as expressed in verses 10 and 11? |
Psalm 59
Read Psalm 59. In order to read this week's Psalms and apply them to our lives, we need to think about our own enemies. They may be people, but we should not limit ourselves to thinking about people. Other things also endeavor to oppose or harm us. Make a list of the things or the people that qualify as enemies in your life experience right now, and keep that list before you as you read and reflect on Psalm 59.
Read Psalm 59 with an eye for the enemies. Who are they? What are they like? What do they do? Jot down a summary description. Read Psalm 59 with an eye for the Psalmist. What is he feeling? What is he experiencing? What does he say about himself? Write down a summary description. Read Psalm 59 with an eye for the Lord. What are His attributes? What are His actions? What does the Psalmist ask of Him? What does the Psalmist expect of Him? Write out a summary description. Review your summary description of the enemies as they are portrayed in Psalm 59. Make a list of other examples from Scriptures of antagonists who resemble the enemies from Psalm 59. Review the list of antagonists from other stories in Scripture. In each case, identify what the Lord did to or about those enemies. Read Psalm 59 with an eye for the "for." When the Psalmist asks the Lord to intervene, there is almost always an explicit or implicit reason why the Lord should do what the Psalmist asks Him to do. Make a list of each explicit and implicit "for" in how the Psalmist beseeches the Lord. Review your list of the explicit and implicit reasons that the Psalmist employs as he prays. Talk to the Lord about each "for." What is the purpose of a human being using such reasons with God? What is exemplary about it? To what extent do your prayer life include the use of "for"? What do you learn from the Psalmist in this part of prayer? Review your evaluation of the way that enemies are portrayed in Psalm 59, along with how the Lord dealt with other such enemies in Scripture. In light of those discoveries, talk to the Lord about the list of your own enemies that you made at the outset.
The Psalmist begins with a prayer for rescue and ends with an affirmation of faith and with praise. We have, in other settings, suggested a distinction between "facts" and "truths." "Facts" are real, but temporary; "truths," by contrast, are eternal. We might say, therefore, that the Psalmist begins with facts and ends with truths. Rewrite verses 1, 2, 16, and 17 in your own words and reflecting your own experience and your own faith. Then talk to the Lord about the facts of your life situation and the truths of His character and nature. |
Psalm 60
Read Psalm 60. We are acquainted with the theme in Psalms of recalling and meditating on God's deeds. This Psalm is very much devoted to things God has done, yet they are not the sort of things we might naturally think of. As you read, make a bulleted list of the things that the Psalmist says God has done.
Review the list you have made item by item. In each case, ask yourself these questions:
Now talk to the Lord about the list, about your reflections on it, about whatever you have learned, and about whatever questions you have. Verses 6-8 are highly geographical. Nine specific place names are mentioned -- places that would have been very familiar to the Psalmist and his original audience, but which may be entirely foreign to you. Accordingly, we want to bring these verses to life for ourselves by inserting different place names. First, we acknowledge that each of the places mentioned would have been within perhaps one or two hundred miles of the Psalmist. Accordingly:
While all of the places mentioned in verses 6-8 were all relatively nearby, some of them were Israelite locales, while others were foreign. In order to try to capture some of the original feel of the passage:
Much of Psalm 60 expresses hard realities about the Lord punishing and sending hardships on His own people. As you read the Psalm, does it strike you as entirely despairing? If not, why not? Does the Psalmist see or say anything positive? Does the Psalmist express any hope? If so, what is his hope and what is his reason for hope? Write a brief paragraph summarizing what you perceive to be the Psalmist's (a) circumstances and (b) feelings. Then talk to the Lord about the example of the Psalmist's faith in the midst of such circumstances and such feelings. |
* 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.”