WEEK 43

psalms this week
"More than any other book in the Bible, the Psalms teach us how to pray. They are the OT macrocosm of the Lord's Prayer. Said another way, they are the OT answer to the request, 'Lord, teach us to pray.'"
     - G. Hassell Bullock
​Psalms 121. 122. and 123

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 121
Psalm 122
Psalm 123
Read Psalm 121.  While the Psalm seems to begin with the Psalmist addressing himself, most of the rest of the Psalm seems to have a human addressee.  What is not immediately apparent in most English translations is that the second-person pronouns throughout the Psalm are all singular. Accordingly, you might read the Psalm as being addressed to you personally, to you individually.  To that end, as you read, read aloud, replacing each second-person pronoun with your name. 

Read the Psalm with special attention to eyes (seeing, looking, watching, etc.) In each case:
  • Whose eyes are involved?
  • What do the eyes reveal about the person?

The Psalmist begins by lifting up his eyes to the hills. To most of us, that imagery might be either sentimental or ​aesthetically appealing. For the ancient Psalmist, however, the association was probably quite different. The hills meant arduous travel, uncertainty about what might be around the next corner, difficulty finding needed resources, inconvenience, and danger. Perhaps the Psalmist was about to leave for a journey; perhaps "the hills" were in his future. With all of that in mind:
  • Make a list of what you imagine the Psalmist might have been feeling as he looked up to the hills.  
  • Talk to the Lord about when you have felt similarly. 
  • What are some "hills" in your life right now?

It is noteworthy that, while he begins by looking at the hills, that does not remain the Psalmist's focus. The hills of verse 1a prompt the natural question of verse 1b. The question leads him to the answer and affirmation of verse 2, and the rest of the Psalm demonstrates that the Psalmist focuses on the Lord rather than on the hills. 
  • Recalling the personal "hills" you identified earlier, what is your version of the question that the Psalmist asks in 1a?
  • To what extent is verse 2 also the answer to your question?
  • Talk to the Lord about verse 2 in relation to your "hills."
  • Talk to the Lord about when you have tended to focus on the "hills" rather than on Him.

In verse 2, the Psalmist affirms that his help comes from the Lord. But then he goes on to make an additional statement about the Lord. 
  • Why is it important to say some sort of additional word?
  • What is the significance of that particular additional word in the present context?
  • What might your additional word be in light of your "hills"? 

As noted above, the bulk of the Psalm focuses on the Lord.  As you reflect on what the Psalmist affirms about Him:
  • Make a list of the things that the Lord does.
  • To what extent does the Psalm's list of the Lord's deeds resonate with your own experience? 
  • Make a list of the attributes of God that are either explicit or implicit in the Psalm.
  • Thank and praise Him for His attributes.
  • Talk to Him about the extent to which the attributes affirmed in the Psalm resonate with your own experience. 

Verse 4 makes a specific reference to Israel.
  • What do you understand to be the meaning and significance of that reference for the Psalmist? 
  • What is the meaning and the significance of that reference for you?

​Read the first half of verse 5 in several different translations. Focus especially on the verb. Talk to the Lord about the meaning of that verse -- especially that verb -- for you.

Many of the affirmations of Psalm 121 are written as statements of what the Lord will do for you.  As you consider them individually, identify which one is especially important to you?  Talk to the Lord about that one and about why it is important to you.
​​
Read Psalm 91. Make a list of the similarities that you see between Psalm 91 and Psalm 121.​
Read Psalm 122. Read verse 1 in several different translations in order to get a full sense for its meaning. 
  • How would you explain to someone else what the Psalmist was feeling?
  • When or to what extent have you felt the same feelings as the Psalmist? 
  • Talk to the Lord about verse 1 and your own experience of it.

Psalm 122 may make an unusual contribution to one's prayer life inasmuch as it reads like an ode to a city; specifically, the city of Jerusalem. Focus just now on verses 3-5, in which the author offers some description of Jerusalem.
  • Consider what you might include if you were to briefly describe a city of which you were singing the praises.
  • Why do you suppose the Psalmist chose to include what he did in his brief description of Jerusalem? What do you perceive to be the meaning or significance of the those elements? 

Jerusalem is a profound subject and theme in Scripture, as well as a significant city in history. In order to appropriate the Psalm for ourselves, we will endeavor to relate to the heart of the Psalmist at several levels. 

Let us consider first places that are personally dear to us.  For all of the levels at which Jerusalem was and is important, there is no overstating the significance of one's personal attachment to the people, places, or things for which one prays. Accordingly, make a list of five places that are especially dear to you personally.  Talk to the Lord about why those places are so special to you. Talk to the Lord about your prayers and fondest wishes for those places. Then, with all of that in mind and heart, read Psalm 122 again.

Let us consider next sacred places. Specifically, make a list of places that you associate with the worship of God, with the presence of God, and that have been important in your relationship with Him.  Talk to the Lord about the specialness of those places to you.  Thank Him for those places. Talk to Him about your fondest wishes and prayers for those places.  Then, with all of that in mind and heart, read Psalm 122 again. 

Next, let us turn our attention to capitals. In addition to being the site of God's Temple, and therefore the epicenter of Israel's experience of worship and the presence of God, Jerusalem was also a national capital. Accordingly, give some thought to your experience of capital cities. Talk to the Lord about their importance to you. Think about how you would feel if they were vulnerable or subject to being attacked.  Talk to the Lord about your prayers and fondest wishes for your capital cities. Then, with all of that in mind and heart, read Psalm 122 again. 

​We have endeavored to build some personal points of connection to the author of Psalm 122 by thinking of places that are for us comparable to what Jerusalem was for him.  Now, however, we turn to ways in which Jerusalem is incomparable, ways in which it is not like any other place.
  • Read Isaiah 2:3
  • Read Isaiah 65:17-25
  • Read Micah 4:1-8
  • Read Zechariah 8:20-22
  • Read Revelation 21
  • Talk to the Lord about His ultimate will and plan for the city of Jerusalem. 

In verse 6, the Psalmist famously urges the reader to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem."  It's crucial to know what precisely we are to pray for.  Here, then, is a summary of how the underlying Hebrew word for peace is used in the Old Testament:* 
  • completeness (in number)
  • safety, soundness (in body)
  • welfare, health, prosperity
  • peace, quiet, tranquility, contentment
  • peace, friendship in human relationships and with God
  • peace (from war)
  • peace (as adjective)

With all of these matters in heart and mind, pray for and about Jerusalem. 
  • Talk to the Lord about your fondest wishes for Jerusalem. 
  • Talk to Him about His perfect will for Jerusalem.
  • Make Psalm 122 your own prayer.  ​

*With gratitude to BlueLetterBible.com
Read Psalm 123. Eyes are a prominent theme in this brief Psalm. Identify each instance where seeing, looking, or eyes are referenced. Then, for each:
  • Whose eyes are being described?
  • To what do those eyes look or on what are they focused?
  • What is the meaning or implication of that looking or that focus?
  • What does the Psalmist's reference to eyes or looking have to do with you? 

Compare Psalm 121:1 with Psalm 123:1. The verses are quite similar, but not identical, and the difference between them is significant.
  • What is the difference between the eyes of the author of Psalm 121 and the eyes of the author of Psalm 123?
  • What is the difference between what the two authors are looking at?
  • What is the difference in the impact on each person?
  • Talk to the Lord about when you have been like the author of Psalm 121, and what the effect has been on you.
  • Talk to the Lord about when you have been like the author of Psalm 123, and what the effect has been on you.

Read verse 1 in a variety of translations in order to gain a full sense of the Psalmist's meaning.

The first half of verse 1 is a prayer in which the Psalmist tells the Lord that he is looking to Him.  The second half of verse 1 is a brief acknowledgement of who the Lord is.  Think of five other ways that the second half of verse 1 might have been written.  In other words, what other meaningful images might a praying person use to describe the Lord?  (For example, "To You, I lift up my eyes; You, who are the Shepherd that watches over your flock.")

The image of servants and their masters or of  maidservants and their mistresses is not naturally appealing to us. We feel far removed from -- and are generally uncomfortable with -- a culture of servants and masters. Yet that was not only the culture in which the people of Bible times lived; it has been standard operating procedure throughout most human cultures across history. Given that economic reality, and understanding that it was not necessarily characterized by the sort of cruelty that we associate with 19th-century American slavery, use your imagination to remove yourself from 21st-century America and climb into a world where being a servant and having a master was the stuff or ordinary daily life. In light of that, then:
  • What would a good master have been like?
  • What would it have been like to belong to and serve a good master? 
  • What were the benefits of belonging to and serving a good master? 
  • What do you understand to be the Psalmist's intended tone and meaning in verse 2?
  • How might you rewrite verse 2 in order to convey that same meaning to a 21st-century American audience? 
​​
The end of verse 2 seems to suggest a posture of waiting -- patiently, trustingly, hopefully waiting. 
  • What characters in the Bible epitomize that posture of patiently, trustingly waiting? 
  • Talk to the Lord about what attributes of His should make it easy for one of His servants to wait trustingly for Him to act? 
  • Talk to the Lord about times when you have waited in the way that seems to be the attitude of the Psalmist.
  • Talk to the Lord about times when you have not. 

Verses 3 and 4 ask the Lord to have mercy, and they give reasons for the request, articulating the need.
  • What are the reasons that the ones praying need the Lord's mercy?
  • What characters in the Bible might have prayed verses 3 and 4?
  • When have you had similar experiences or have felt similarly?
  • If you were to pray for the Lord to have mercy on you today, what reasons would you give? How would you complete verses 3 and 4?
* 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.”