WEEK 39

psalms this week
"There is no need to struggle. Let it go. Go on to some good work and resolve to pray better next time."
     - Walter Hilton
​Psalms 115, 116, and 117

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 115
Read Psalm 115.  Though not an especially long one, this Psalm features a variety of elements and themes. As a starting place, make note of all of the personal pronouns in the Psalm.
  • Make a list of them. 
  • Identify in each case who is the "they," "we," "you," and such.

While most of Psalm 115 is not a prayer in the sense of being directly addressed to God, it remains very much an expression of faith in Him.
  • What deeds of the Lord are explicit in the Psalm?
  • What deeds of the Lord are implicit in the Psalm?
  • What attributes of the Lord are explicit in the Psalm?
  • What attributes of the Lord are implicit in the Psalm? 

​This Psalm clearly comes out of the context in which Israel was surrounded by polytheistic and idolatrous nations. Within that context, the people of Israel were conspicuous -- perhaps ridiculed -- for their image-less monotheism.  As a way of climbing into the Psalmist's experience:
  • How is Christian faith different from the beliefs and practices that surround it?
  • How is Christian faith misunderstood by others?
  • How is Christian faith ridiculed by others?

The Psalmist spends some time reflecting on the folly of the nations' idols.
  • Talk to the Lord about what the appeal of idols and idolatry might have been that made them so prevalent.
  • Talk to the Lord about what things in our day have similar appeal.

If you have identified what may be contemporary counterparts to ancient idolatry, write out your own version of verses 4-7. How would you express the folly of contemporary idolatry?

Read verse 8 in a variety of translations. 
  • In what ways do you suppose that the people who worshipped idols became like them?
  • To what extent -- and in what ways -- do you suppose people today "become like" what they worship? 

Read Jeremiah 5:20-23 and Ezekiel 12:1-2.  Reflect on those verses in light of Psalm 115:8.  Talk to the Lord about your reflections. 

Read Mark 14-18, Matthew 11:5, and Revelation 2:29. How do you understand these words of Jesus in light of your reflections on the passages from Jeremiah 5, Ezekiel 12, and Psalm 115?

Read verses 9-11. 
  • What do you understand to be the point conveyed by the recurring imagery in the second half of each verse?
  • Why does that recurring imagery give reason for trusting the Lord?
  • What does the Psalm mean to you in terms of trusting the Lord in your own life?

Verse 1 is the only verse in Psalm 115 that is, strictly speaking, a prayer. And it is an exemplary prayer! Read that verse in multiple translations in order to enhance your understanding of what the Psalmist is praying. Rewrite the verse in your own words, endeavoring to capture the spirt and meaning of what the Psalmist is saying. Then talk to the Lord about the ways in which verse 1 is or should be your prayer.
Psalm 116
Read Psalm 116. This Psalm is wide-ranging in its elements. In order to get a sense of the whole, begin with a verse-by-verse analysis along the following lines:
  • Who is the speaker?
  • To whom is he speaking?
  • What is the tone of the verse?
  • What is the purpose or message of the verse?

Review your analysis of Psalm 116 in light of your own prayer life. 
  • To what extent do you feel the same freedom of movement in your praying as the author of Psalm 116?
  • What can you learn about prayer from the author of Psalm 116?

Turn your attention next to the activity of the Psalmist.  Make a list of the things that he says he did, does, or will do

Review the list just made. Which items on it especially resonate with you?

Focus now on the activity and attributes of the Lord in the Psalm.
  • What has He done?
  • What does He do?
  • What do the Lord's actions suggest about His attributes?
  • What does the Psalmist say explicitly about the Lord's attributes?

Now reflect on the Psalm in light of your own experience with the Lord?
  • To what extent do His deeds, as revealed in Psalm 116, resonate with your own experience?
  • To what extent do His attributes, as revealed in Psalm 116, resonate with your own experience?
  • Let the areas of resonance turn Psalm 116 into your own testimony of Psalm of praise and thanksgiving.

​Focus especially on verses 1 and 2.  Talk to the Lord about them. Talk to Him about what you imagine to have been the Psalmist's experience, and about what has been your own.

Read verse 12 in a variety of translations as a way of helping yourself to meditate on it. Ponder the rhetorical question that the Psalmist asks and what feeling and experience lay behind it.  Then ask the question yourself before the Lord, and contemplate your answer.

Now focus on verse 7. Read it, too, in a variety of translations to assist in meditating on it.
  • What do you understand the Psalmist to be saying?
  • What is the application for your own life?
  • To what extent does your prayer life include words spoken to your own soul, as the Psalmist does in verse 7? 
  • What is the value in speaking to one's own soul?
  • What do you need to say to yours?

In verses 14 and 18, the Psalmist makes a point of specifying that he will do certain things in the presence of other people, among the Lord's people.
  • Read those two verses both with and without those references to the presence of other people.
  • What difference does it make?
  • What is the purpose of that additional element?
  • What is the takeaway for you?​
Psalm 117
Read Psalm 117.  This Psalm is the shortest in the entire Book of Psalms. Its brevity affords us the opportunity to reflect in more detail and depth than is perhaps possible with a longer Psalm.

Read verse 1 in several different translations in order to get a sense for the underlying vocabulary. Then:
  • How would you define the verbs of verse 1? That is to say, what is it that people are being encouraged to do in response to the Lord?  (Do not settle for a single word, but aim instead for a definition or explanation.)
  • How would you define the nouns of verse 1? That is to say, who are the people being addressed and exhorted by the Psalmist?

Set aside the Psalm for a moment to make a few lists:
  • Make a list of the first 10 countries or nations that come to your mind.
  • Make a list of the first 10 family members and friends that come to your mind.
  • Make a list of the first 10 past or present co-workers that come to your mind.
  • Make a list of the first 10 historical figures that come to your mind.
  • Make a list of the first 10 political leaders that come to your mind.
  • Make a list of the first 10 celebrities that come to your mind. 

There is an unmistakably comprehensive quality to verse 1. One senses that no one is left out of the urging expressed by the Psalmist.  Accordingly, every individual and group on the lists you have just made is called upon to praise the Lord. 
  • To what extent do you believe that the Psalmist would include those peoples?
  • Reflect on your definition from the verbs of verse 1, and apply that definition to the peoples on your lists. 
  • Talk to the Lord about your reactions.
  • What claim can the Lord make on the praises of people who may not know Him or believe in Him? 

In the ESV, verse 2 reads: "For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!"  Now read that verse in a variety of translations in order to gain a sense for the underlying vocabulary.

Based on what the Psalmist is saying in verse 2, how would you describe or explain the love of the Lord to someone who didn't know Him or anything about Him?

In what ways does the Psalmist's testimony or affirmations in verse 2 resonate with your own experience? 
  • Talk to the Lord about your experience of His "steadfast love."
  • Talk to the Lord about your experience of "His faithfulness."
​
What does the author of Psalm 117 teach you:
  • about the Lord?
  • about prayer?
  • about 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.”