WEEK 4 |
psalms this week |
"I said these and other things to God. The Lord puts up with it. May so good a King be praised! We wouldn't dare say these things to earthly kings! |
Psalms 10, 11, and 12.
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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 10
Read Psalm 10. The Psalmist begins by asking two bold questions of God -- questions that sound rather like accusations. Write a brief paragraph describing how you imagine the Psalmist was feeling when he wrote the Psalm. Recall a moment or period in your life when you perhaps felt similarly. Talk to the Lord about that time, those feelings, and the questions.
Reflecting again on the questions of verse 1, as well as the paragraph you wrote about them, make a list of characters in the Bible who might have felt those feelings and asked those questions. Then, knowing what you do about those characters' stories, talk with the Lord about the feeling vs. the reality. Much of Psalm 10 is devoted to a highly critical description of the wicked. Have you ever prayed like that? Do you believe there are still people in the world who are wicked? Talk candidly to the Lord about them. Focusing again on the verses that describe the wicked, distill the poetry down to a simple list of adjectives: what are the characteristics of the wicked according to the Psalmist? Ask yourself again: Do you believe there are still people in the world who fit those descriptions? Talk candidly to the Lord about them, focusing especially on how He responds to each of those attributes. As we have seen in earlier Psalms, in Psalm 10 the Psalmist makes a point of articulating certain affirmations about God: who He is, what He is like, and what He does. Make a list of the affirmations you find in Psalm 10. Meditate on them. |
Psalm 11
Read Psalm 11. Human beings go to different places for safety in different situations. A tornado sends you to the basement. A flood prompts you to seek higher ground. People run inside when there is lightening, but they run outside when there is a fire. Spend a few moments in prayer recalling times when you were in danger and hurried to some appropriate places. Make a list of the qualities that made those places the right places to go.
Continuing to reflect on the experiences above and the list that you generated, talk to the Lord about what it means for you to find your safety in Him. Verses 2 and 3 of this Psalm paint a picture of a dangerous and chaotic world where it seems that unhappy forces prevail. If you were to write either a personal or a contemporary version of those two verses today, what would you say? Verses 4 and 5 seem to offer a counter to verses 2 and 3. While the earlier verses suggest a world out of control, verses 4 and 5 remind that God is in control. As a follow-up to your current version of verses 2 and 3, write your own for-today version of verses 4 and 5. Reread Psalm 11 while making a list of how it says the Lord feels about the wicked and what He does to them. Once your list is complete, reflect on it within the larger context of Scripture. Do you see other scriptural evidence that what the Psalmist says is true. Talk to the Lord about those truths: what they say about the wicked, what they reveal about the Lord, and what they mean for you today. |
Psalm 12
Read Psalm 12. Throughout this Psalm, the Psalmist is overwhelmed by the prevalence of the wicked. Like Elijah (see 1 Kings 19:14-18), the Psalmist may have overstated the reality of the situation. Still, how one feels is how one feels. That there may be so many righteous or honest or good people can be small comfort when it feels like there are none. Talk to the Lord about a time when you have felt overwhelmed by the prevalence of evil. What does the Psalmist say that resonates with how you feel or have felt?
Feeling overwhelmed can prompt one to despair. What does it prompt the Psalmist to do? In what ways is the Psalmist a helpful role model to you in this regard? What does the Psalmist beseech the Lord to do in response to the prevalence of evil? What is your typical response to evil in the world or in people? How do you pray about evil and wickedness? Read verses 1 and 2 and summarize how you imagine the Psalmist was feeling. Read verses 3 and 4 and summarize how you imagine the Psalmist was feeling. Read verses 6-8 and summarize how you imagine the Psalmist was feeling. What do you discern to be the movement of emotion from the beginning to the end of the Psalm? Verses 5 and 6 form the centerpiece of Psalm 12. Verse 5 articulates a promise from God, and verse 6 expresses an affirmation about God's promises. Contemplate what promises of God speak to your life, your situation, or your world right now. Jot them down. Then write down what you affirm about the promises of God. |
* 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.”