WEEK 6 |
psalms this week |
"Prayer is a longing, a desire of the spirit toward God. It is like someone who is sick longing for health." |
Psalms 16, 17, and 18.
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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 16
Read Psalm 16. The words of the Psalmist might be categorized in terms of a timeline. Some things are expressions of the Psalmist's past experience with the Lord. Other things are expressions of the Psalmist's trust and resolve in the present and for the future. As you read through the Psalm, identify what is past experience, what is present trust, and what is future resolve.
What do you sense is the relationship between past experience, on the one hand, and present trust and future resolve on the other? Talk to the Lord about the relationship in your own life between your past experiences with Him and your present trust or future resolve. Separate out verses 2, 5, and 6 from the rest of the Psalm. Read them together, apart from what comes before, between, or after. Rewrite those verses in your own words. Talk to the Lord about the ways in which the Psalmist's experience and testimony are also yours. Hebrew poetry is based on parallelism, and in the Psalms we generally find that the second part of a sentence or statement is meaningfully related to the first part. Contemplate verse 7, and write down what you understand to be the relationship between the two parts of that verse. Each of these verses -- 2, 3, 4, and 5 -- could be read as completely independent sentences. That is to say, you could excerpt any one of them, and it could stand alone as an independent statement with its own meaning and message. Yet they are not independent statements: they are put together and ordered a certain way. What do you understand to be the relationship of verse 2 to verse 3? What is the connection between verse 3 and verse 4? What is the nature of the movement from verse 4 to verse 5? Taken all together, how would you summarize the flow of thought from verse 2 through verse 5? Verses 9-11 express great confidence and peace. What is the key to the Psalmist's confidence and peace? To what extent do you share his sense of security? Talk to the Lord about what the Psalmist says and feels with respect to what you might say or do feel. |
Psalm 17
Read Psalm 17. In this prayer, the Psalmist is confident of his innocence. Walk through the Psalm and identify the specific claims he makes about his innocence. For what purpose or reason does he insist on his innocence?
When have you wanted to protest your innocence before God? Have you made that part of your prayer? Or, if you have not been as confident of your own complete innocence as the Psalmist seems to be, when have you felt that you were suffering something that you did not deserve? How did you express that in prayer? What is the merit of how the Psalmist prays in Psalm 17? Psalm 17 is full of requests. Make a list of the specific things that the Psalmist asks the Lord to do. Review the list you've made of the Psalmist's requests to see how many of them sound familiar to you from your own experience and prayer life. Which of those requests expresses something that you feel and want to pray today? Borrow the following phrases from Psalm 17 (TEV), and fill in the incomplete sentences with your own prayer from your own situation today:
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Psalm 18
Read Psalm 18. In verse 2, the Psalmist uses a series of images to describe the Lord and what the Lord is to him. Make a list in a column of those images or titles for God. Then, next to each one, write a sentence explaining what that image or title reveals about God.
Review the list of images you made from verse 2, as well as your sentences that elaborate on each. Talk to the Lord about to what extent you have known or experienced Him in those ways. One of the ways that we can learn how to pray from the Psalmist is to use picturesque language of our own for God. Rather than limiting ourselves to whatever may be our standard or usual title for God, follow the Psalmist's example from verse 2 and write a series of statements using images that help to express what the Lord has been and is to you. In verse 17, the Psalmist acknowledges that his enemies were too strong for him. We may not deal with the same ferocity of human enemies as the ancient Psalmist, but we know what it is to face challenges that often seem bigger and stronger than we are. List some of the "stronger than me" enemies you have faced in the past. What has been your experience with the Lord during those times. What "stronger than me" enemies do you face today? What from Psalm 18 do you want to say to the Lord because of those enemies? In verses 20-27, the Psalmist reflects on how the Lord deals with and responds to different sorts of people. What does this section reveal to you about Him? Where else do you see evidence of these truths in Scripture? How have you seen these evidenced in your own life and experience? What place might these kinds of affirmation have in your prayer life? Verses 35-50 reflect that the Psalmist has survived threats, won victories, and defeated enemies. He credits all of this to the Lord. While your personal experience may not have the military or violent quality of the Psalmist's, reflect before the Lord on what threats He has helped you to survive, what victories He has helped you to win, and what enemies He has helped you to defeat. Finally, reflecting on the Psalmist's testimony, talk candidly with the Lord about what threats or battles or enemies you may be facing today. Call out to Him for help. Trust Him for the victory. |
* 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.”