Praying the Psalms
The Books -Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer by Eugene Peterson and Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible by Dietrich Bonhoeffer
In the fall of 2020, I was cutting a tomato for lunch and sliced my thumb open. It bled like crazy until my sister and I finally found an open urgent care (COVID made everything interesting). When they took me back to see the nurse, they took my blood pressure and remarked that it was a little high. I didn’t say anything at the time, but I was thinking, “Yeah, no kidding. My thumb has been bleeding everywhere for the last hour and a half and hurts like crazy.” It was obvious that something was wrong. They stitched me up, and I was back to normal within a couple of weeks.
I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. I sought the Lord in my day of trouble… (Psalm 77:1-2a)
In the fall of 2016, I was hiding in my parents’ bedroom when we were all at their house for dinner during Thanksgiving break. I was randomly yelling at my sister (sorry, Kenzie) and crying over ‘nothing.’ Well…not quite nothing. You just couldn’t see that anything was wrong. My brain felt like it was turned inside out. Nothing made sense. It felt like I was being smothered by a weighted blanket. Something was wrong, but it wasn’t something that could be stitched up and fixed within a few weeks.
How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long will I store up anxious concerns within me, agony in my mind every day? How long will my enemy dominate me? (Psalm 13:1-2)
This was 10 years ago. It was the result of living in a broken world and working with broken people. The situation I was in was toxic in ways that I am still discovering. I had finally reached a point where I couldn’t continue with life as it was. Something had to change. So I talked to my counselor, talked to my doctor, went on medication, changed jobs, sold my house, and moved. Thus began an incredibly long journey of healing, one that I am still experiencing today.
But my enemies are vigorous and powerful; many hate me for no reason. Those who repay evil for good attack me for pursuing good. (Psalm 38:19-20)
By the grace of God, where I am today is not where I was then. But quite recently, I was triggered. I spiraled. What came to the surface were things I find hard to face. They are things that hold me back, attack my self-worth, and bring my insecurities and fears to light. But they are not visible. At times they surprise even me because I have sought to bury them or do not realize the extent of my brokenness.
The course of my life is in your power; rescue me from the power of my enemies and from my persecutors. Make your face shine on your servant; save me by your faithful love. LORD, do not let me be disgraced when I call on you. Let the wicked be disgraced; let them be quiet in Sheol. (Psalm 31:16-18)
It was in all of these moments of pain, seen and unseen, that I cried out to God. Quite literally, at times. I told Him about my confusion. I cried in frustration. I screamed (usually in my head…I don’t recommend, it gave me headaches). I pleaded for it all to go away.
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest. (Psalm 22:1-2)
It didn’t all go away. But there were small graces that helped me take the next breath, so I could take the next step. The coworker who gave me a Hershey’s kiss and encouraging note one day. The random days when I got to talk to both my brother and my sister before work (this was rare since we lived in different states and all had very different schedules). The literal sunlight breaking through the clouds after several days of unrelenting fog. There were God-moments everywhere in the everyday slices of life, if I had the eyes to see.
I will bless the LORD who counsels me – even at night when my thoughts trouble me. I always let the LORD guide me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. (Psalm 16:8)
So, moment-by-moment, day-by-day, and finally, year-by-year, I grew and healed. God spoke through His Word, brought the right people in my life at the right times, orchestrated situations that I would not have considered otherwise, and gave me grace I could never earn.
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge. (Psalm 62:8)
There were times I relapsed, but there began to be times where I felt like I was seeing sunlight for the first time after a long, dark winter. God, the Master Gardener, continued growing things in me. He grew my faith in Him. He let me be angry. He let me doubt. And then He let me know that He was always there.
For you, God, tested us; you refined us as silver is refined. You lured us into a trap; you placed burdens on our backs. You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us out to abundance. (Psalm 67:10-12)
God continued working in me. He replaced experiences of pain and deception with truth and goodness. I continued to struggle, but I also began to see God’s fingerprints in the midst of hardships. Slowly, He began growing joy.
LORD, you are my portion and my cup of blessing; you hold my future. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. (Psalm 16:5-6)
One day, I hope to come before God, healed and whole, assured of my worth and my position as His beloved daughter. Until that day, I will rely on God to be with me. I will trust Him to be my Refuge and Savior. I will trust Him to be my comfort and that my pain is not ignored or forgotten. I will trust Him to continue growing fruit like love, joy, and peace. My feelings and emotions are not always trustworthy, but I can always turn to the One who is.
Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant’s life, because I appeal to you, Lord. (Psalms 86:3-4)
A Practice - Praying the Psalms
The Psalms are honest.
They form the prayer book of Israel. They are the collected songs, hymns, and prayers of the people. Many of the psalms are attributed to King David. You’ll often see the author listed below the psalm’s title, and sometimes you’ll find a description of the context of the psalm as well.
For example, under Psalm 63, my Bible says, “A psalm of David. When he was in the Wilderness of Judah.” The Wilderness of Judah tells the reader to think of when David was fleeing from King Saul (1 Sam 23:14) or fleeing from his son Absalom (2 Sam 15:23). According to Bible Hub, “This setting underscores themes of isolation and reliance on God amidst adversity. The wilderness symbolizes spiritual desolation, a place where one is stripped of distractions and forced to confront their dependence on God.” David’s psalm helps him express his deepest emotions.
David begins Psalm 63 by describing his longing for God. He uses the imagery of the dry setting to illustrate his thirst for God. David continues by lavishly praising God and saying things like, “...your faithful love is better than life” (63:3b). Whether from Saul or Absalom, David is fleeing for his life, but he recognizes God’s sovereignty, power, and love. David describes sleepless nights (understandable given the circumstances), but rather than worrying and fearing the worst, he chooses to “meditate on [God] during the night watches” (63:6b). David recognizes that in God alone will he find help. Then, David asks for his enemies to be defeated and reaffirms his trust and confidence in God.
To repeat, the psalms are honest. They are intensely personal. I like how Eugene Peterson describes them as poetry, saying, “Poets use words to drag us into the depth of reality itself” (12). They resist talking about God; instead, they “train us in responding to him.” The psalms expose our humanity at its worst while simultaneously revealing God in all His glory. Peterson goes on to say, “The prayer requires that we deal with God – this God who is determined on nothing less than the total renovation of our lives.” Every psalm makes God the center – not us, not our emotions, and not our circumstances. None of those matter when we realize God is everything.
The psalms teach us how to respond to the God who first reached out to us. They train us to see and focus on God, not ourselves, in the midst of life. Praying the psalms gives us a language to respond to God in the midst of the heavy emotions and dark times while drawing us up to the light of God’s presence.
My blog today was structured a little differently than the rest of this prayer series. However, I wanted to give you a chance to see a story from my life and how the psalms have impacted my faith. Life is hard and can feel overwhelming and painful, but our God is near and loves us beyond all measure. He delights in us and longs for us to respond to Him. The psalms provide an avenue for us to speak to God.
Do we have to use the psalms to pray? No, but I would argue that we miss out on a great deal by ignoring them. The psalms remind me to focus on God when my prayers can tend to focus more on me. They encourage me to be honest in my thoughts and words. They teach me not to be afraid of coming before God in all the mess because He is right there with me and greater than it all.
Psalm 146 - The God of Compassion
Hallelujah!
My soul, praise the Lord.
I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I live.Do not trust in nobles,
in a son of man, who cannot save.
When his breath leaves him,
he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans die.Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.
He remains faithful forever,
executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.
The Lord frees prisoners.
The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.
The Lord loves the righteous.
The Lord protects resident aliens
and helps the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.The Lord reigns forever;
Zion, your God reigns for all generations.
Hallelujah!
