WEEK 22

psalms this week
"Start every day in the presence of God. Be strict about this and you will soon see its value. Don't rush through your prayers. The Lord's Prayer said once with comprehension is better than many prayers said in haste."
     - Francis de Sales
​Psalms 64, 65, and 66

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 64
Read Psalm 64. Review the first half of verse 1 in a variety of translations. 
  • What is it that the Psalmist is asking God to do at the beginning of the Psalm?
  • What is it that the Psalmist says he has or is expressing at the beginning of the Psalm?

As to the first point:
  • Why do you suppose it was important for the Psalmist to begin the Psalm asking God to do what he does? 
  • Was the request necessary for God? 
  • Was the request necessary for the Psalmist? 
  • How would you describe what you imagine the Psalmist was feeling when he prayed what he did in verse 1?
  • When have you felt similarly?
  • How would you rewrite that request in your own words?

As to the second point, make a list of a half-dozen words used in other translations (e.g., concerns, complaint, petition, etc.).  Then, next to each word, write down what comes to your mind from your own life in response to that word.  (For example, what would you say is your complaint this day?)

Put together now the two pieces of your work on verse 1. Use your own personally rewritten version of what the Psalmist was asking God to do, and then say that to God, followed by sharing with Him the list of situations and circumstances that you just generated. 

Psalm 64 is a relatively short Psalm, and an analysis of it reveals that a significant percentage of the Psalm is devoted to describing what the Psalmist's adversaries do or are like.  What is the merit in such an approach to prayer?  What is the benefit or purpose in telling God what He clearly already knows? 

Review carefully the things that the Psalmist says about his adversaries in verses 3-6.  Which characters in Scripture might have said those things about their adversaries along the way? 

In our contemporary vernacular, and in the context of a conversation with a friend, we might regard verses 3-6 as "venting."  Do you believe it is appropriate to "vent" to the Lord?  To what extent is "venting" a part of your prayer life?  Are there things you have complained about candidly to a friend or spouse that you have not spoken so candidly about with God?  If so, why not?  

Given the behavior and threat of his adversaries, we might expect the Psalmist to pray for God's saving intervention.  Yet verses 7-10 are not so much a request for what the Psalmist wants God to do as they are an affirmation of what God does.
  • What do those verses reveal about God?
  • What do those verses reveal about the faith of the Psalmist?
  • How are those verses exemplary to you in terms of your own prayer life? 

Return to your reflections on the beginning of Psalm 64 and how you perceived the Psalmist to be feeling in verse 1.  Now read verse 10, and express what you perceive the Psalmist to be feeling in that final verse of the Psalm.  If there is a significant difference between what the Psalmist seems to be feeling in at the beginning and what he seems to be feeling at the end, to what do you attribute the change?
Psalm 65
Read Psalm 65.  As you read, make a list of the things that the Psalmist says God has done or does. 

Review the list that you have made in prayer. Talk to the Lord about that list. 
  • To what extent is each item on that list familiar to you and a part of your own experience with the Lord?
  • For each item that resonates with you, jot down some specific examples or illustrations from your own life.  Thank and praise Him for those.
  • What else would you add to that list as a part of your praise, as a part of your testimony?

Actions are a function of attributes. That is to say, what a person does is a reflection of what a person is. Review again the list you made of the things that the Lord did or does according to the Psalmist, and generate from that list a deeds a list of attributes. Based on what He does, what do you surmise He is like?

Building on the reflecting that you have already done, embark again on the kind of exercise we have employed with some previous Psalms. Imagine that you come into this Psalm knowing nothing about the Lord.  All that you know about Him is what you read/hear in Psalm 65.  Based on that:
  • What do you know about Him?
  • What more do you want to know about Him?
  • What is your response to Him?

Note the grammar of Psalm 65 -- in particular, observe the pronouns that are used.  While it is all about the Lord, it is not written in the third-person about Him, but is is written in the second-person as addressed to Him. And, too, it is not written  in the first-person singular (I, me, my) but in the first-person plural (we, us, our).  To what extent is "plural" a part of your prayer life?  That is to say, how often do you express things to the Lord as part of a group or speaking for a group?

Psalm 65 is largely a Psalm of praise. Following the same basic outline and flow of thought, and employing some of the writing and the observations you have already made above, write your own Psalm of praise based on your own experience with the Lord.

Pray your Psalm of praise.  Speak it to the Lord personally and meaningfully.

As implied above, there is a relationship between a person's praise and his or her testimony: the content of the one is naturally the content of the other.  Talk to the Lord about the content of your praise and how it is or ought to be your testimony. 

As noted above, Psalm 65 is a psalm of praise that is written in the first-person plural. Who in your life might be for you a partner in praise?  That is to say, with whom could you join in saying "we," "us," and "our" to the Lord in thanking and praising Him? 

Talk to the Lord about that person or those people. Pray for them.  Thank Him for their roles in your life.

Tell that person (or those people) that they were brought to your mind and explain why.  Thank them for their roles in your life.
Psalm 66
Read Psalm 66. In this Psalm, the writer toggles between addressing a human audience (vss. 1-9), speaking personally to the Lord (vss. 10-15), and once again addressing a human audience (vss. 16-20). Reflect on each of those three sections in terms of tone. How would you describe the tone of the Psalmist in each case?

Focusing now on the first section (1-9):
  • To whom is the Psalmist speaking?
  • What does he want his audience to know?
  • What does he want his audience to do?
  • What is the "why" behind what he wants his audience to do?

Make a list of different persons or things that might qualify as the Lord's enemies. 

In verse 3, the Psalmist envisions how the Lord's enemies do or will respond to Him. Plug the different items from your list above into what the Psalmist says, and try to imagine what the Psalmist is envisioning. 

In verse 5, the Psalmist invites his audience to see and to recall the things that the Lord has done. He then makes a brief list. Put yourself in his shoes in these ways:
  • Identify three different groups of people (e.g., fellow believers at church, unbelieving family members, neighbors, co-workers, people in some other part of the world, etc.).
  • For each group of people, imagine yourself imploring them to see and recall the things that the Lord has done.  
  • For each group, write down what specific things the Lord has done that you would recite to them. 

Focusing now on the second section (10-15):
  • Make a list of the things that the Psalmist says the Lord has done?
  • Talk to the Lord about that list. To what extent do you recognize it personally?  Which elements on the Psalmist's list resonate in some way with your experience?
  • Make a list of the things that the Psalmist says he will do.
  • To what extent are the things that the Psalmist says he'll do relevant to you? What are your versions of the things that the Psalmist says he will do?

Focusing now on the third section (16-20):
  • To whom is the Psalmist speaking?
  • What does he want his audience to know?
  • What does he want his audience to do?
  • What is the "why" behind what he wants his audience to do? 

Read verse 18 in an assortment of translations. Choose three that offer meaningfully different senses of what the Psalmist is saying.  Then, for each of the three, talk to the Lord about what is being said. Is it familiar to you?  When have you done similarly?  What has been your experience? 

In the end, the Psalmist has celebrated the works of the Lord. 
  • Identify the various ways that the Psalmist responded to the Lord.
  • What is exemplary about the ways that the Psalmist responds?
  • What is your personal takeaway from the Psalmist's example?
* 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.”