WEEK 33

psalms this week
"It is of 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."
     - C.S. Lewis
​Psalms 97, 98, and 99

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 97
Read Psalm 97.  As you read and reflect on this Psalm of praise, it may be helpful to identify the various addressees of the Psalm. For each verse:
  • Who seems to be the Psalmist's audience? To whom is he speaking?
  • What does the Psalmist want that audience or addressee to know?
  • What does the Psalmist want that audience to do?

Inasmuch as it is a Psalm of praise, Psalm 97 is focused on the Lord. According to the Psalmist:
  • What are the Lord's deeds?
  • What are the Lord's attributes?
  • What are the reasons to praise the Lord? 

To what extent are the Psalmist's reasons for praising the Lord also your reasons for praising Him? Talk to Him about the Psalmist's reasons and yours.

The author of Psalm 97 is very conscious of God's relationship to nature. How would you summarize the Psalmist's view of that relationship?  How does the Psalmist's view compare with your own?

Interestingly, this Psalm of praising the Lord is quite conscious of other gods.
  • Why would a Psalm of praise about the Lord include reference to other gods? 
  • What seems to be the relationship between the Lord and other gods?
  • What seems to be the relationship between the Lord and those who worship other gods?
  • Talk to the Lord about what relevance, if any, this theme in Psalm 97 has still today. 

In verse 6, the Psalmist declares that all people see the glory of the Lord.
  • To what extent do you believe that is true?
  • The affirmation that all people see the Lord's glory is followed immediately by a reference to those who worship idols. How would you explain the seeming disconnect: namely, that all people see the Lord's glory, but some of them still worship idols?

​The first part of verse 10 sets up a juxtaposition of loving and hating. If one loves the Lord, one ought also to hate evil. 
  • What does it mean to love the Lord?
  • What does it mean to hate evil?
  • ​Inasmuch as we, in English, regard "love" and "hate" as antonyms, to what extent do you sense there is a kind of symmetry in the look of loving the Lord and hating evil? 
  • How well do you love the Lord?
  • How well do you hate evil? 

Strictly speaking, only a small portion of Psalm 97 (verse 9) qualifies as a "prayer" in the sense of being addressed to God. What do you understand to be the relationship between that one verse and the rest of the Psalm?

Having reflected a good deal on Psalm 97, what are your personal takeaways?  What do you learn about prayer from the author of Psalm 97?
Psalm 98
Read Psalm 98.  This Psalm is filled with potent and meaningful vocabulary. Jot down a list numbered from 1 through 9, representing the nine verses of this Psalm. Next to each number:
  • Write down what you believe is the most important word in that particular verse.
  • Write down a brief explanation of why that word is so important or significant.  

Focus your attention on the deeds of the Lord: what the Psalmist says He has done, what He does, and what He will do. Make a list.

What does each item on that list reveal about Him?

As you did last week with Psalm 96, summarize your reflections on Psalm 98 in journalistic terms. Based on your reading of this Psalm, briefly answer these interrogatives about praise:
  • Who?
  • What?
  • When?
  • Where?
  • How?
  • Why? 

Reflect now more specifically on the "who" of praise in Psalm 98. 
  • What does your answer to "who" reveal about Him? 
  • To what extent would the "who" of Psalm 98 still be the "who" of praise today? 
  • What are the personal implications of "who" for you?

Turn your attention now to the "how" of praise in Psalm 98. 
  • What does the "how" reveal about Him?
  • What does the "how" reveal about praise?
  • What elements of "how" especially resonate with you personally?  What elements do not? Talk to the Lord about your answers.
  • What are the personal implications of "how" for you?

​Now focus your thinking on the "why" of praise in Psalm 98.
  • What does the "why" reveal about Him?
  • What does the "why" indicate about praise?
  • What elements of "why" especially resonate with you personally?  What elements do not? Talk with the Lord about your answers.
  • What are the personal implications of "why" for you?

Use the Psalmist's "whys" as the starting place for your own prayer of praise. 

While Psalm 98 exudes praise, it is not at any point directly addressed to God.  He is consistently referred to in the third person. 
  • What is the significance of the implication that praising God can be addressed to other people. 
  • Talk to the Lord about that significance.
  • To what extent should your praise of God be addressed to other people? 
  • What would be the content of that praise?
  • Who would be the audience for that praise? 
Psalm 99
Read Psalm 99.  In this Psalm, the author toggles between audiences. As you read, therefore, make a note of the audience to whom the Psalmist addresses himself in each verse.  Specifically:
  • To whom is he speaking in each verse?
  • What is the thrust of his message to his audience in that verse?

A recurring motif in Psalm 99 is the image of the Lord as King. While most of our contemporary associations with "king" are negative -- i.e., an antiquated system, an unrepresentative approach to government, empty figureheads, oppressive monarchs, etc. -- clearly the image of "king" was a positive one for the Psalmist. Accordingly, make a list of the attributes that you believe the Psalmist had in mind when he employed king imagery for the Lord.

In addition to the perhaps unexpressed attributes that the Psalmist assumed, what other attributes of God are mentioned in Psalm 99.  Make a list of them.

Go back through that list of the Lord's attributes that are mentioned in Psalm 99 and write your own, brief definition of each.

Now reflect on that list of attributes -- and on your definitions of them -- in prayer and in praise. Talk to the Lord about what Psalm 99 reveals and reminds about Him.
​
​Chief among God's attributes in Psalm 99 -- and in Scripture, in general -- is His holiness. 
  • What are some examples from Scripture of how different people respond to His holiness?
  • What is your response to His holiness? 

Read Psalm 99 with an eye on the theme of nations and peoples.
  • What is the Lord's relationship to nations and peoples?
  • What is (or should be) their response to Him?
  • To what extent does your answer to those two questions still apply today?

Along the way, the Psalmist makes specific reference to three characters from Israel's past -- Moses, Aaron and Samuel. Write those three names; then, next to each name, jot down a quick summary of what you know about each and what is your impression of each.
  • What role do you think these three men played in the Psalmist's thinking and praying?
  • To what extent do you use characters from the Bible (or other examples from church history or your own experience) in your prayers?
  • What might we learn from the Psalmist at this point?
​
Read verse 8 in a variety of different translations. Once you have gotten a sense for the nuances of the words and the meaning of the verse:
  • Think of examples from the Bible that illustrate both parts of the verse.
  • Think about examples from your own life and experience that illustrate both parts of the verse.
  • Talk to the Lord about His relationship to human sin and wrongdoing.
* 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.”