How Are You Feeling? There’s a Psalm for That.
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As the poems and prayers of God’s people, the Psalms have an important role for the life of faith. They cover the fullness of human life and emotion, ranging from ecstatic praise to gut-wrenching laments. Through the Psalms, Israel exalted God for God’s goodness, and questioned where God was in times of struggle.
The Psalms, however, are not just important to the Jewish people – they have an important role for Christians as well. Jesus himself quoted from the Psalms more than any other Old Testament book. In fact, in the darkest moment of his life, while hanging upon the cross with his life slowly ebbing away, it was Psalm 22 that was on Jesus’ lips. If Jesus turned to the Psalms to articulate his deepest prayer, then surely we can as well.
If we wish to pray in the manner of our Lord, then familiarity with the Psalms, and use of the Psalms, is key. The Psalms guide us into deeper prayer by helping us describe the deep movements of our soul. Whenever we pray a Psalm, we can be assured that we are crying out to God in the deepest, most effective way.
If you are looking to pray though a Psalm, but don’t know where to turn, here are a few suggestions, along with how you might pray the Psalm in a personal way.
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Psalm 100: A Psalm for Thanking God
There are times in our lives when we feel called to exalt the Lord with praise. We may wish to thank God for a particular instance of help or blessing. But does “thank you!” really cut it? What if you wish to have a deeper moment of thanksgiving, but don’t know where to start?
Psalm 100 helps us render our thanks to God by describing in detail God’s goodness and faithfulness. In doing this, the Psalm gives us the space to speak about how we have experienced these realities in our lives. Verses 4 and 5, for example, which reads:
“Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.”
may be prayed this way:
Lord, I come into your presence with a thankful heart.
I desire to praise you above everything else.
Thank you for the goodness you have shown me by ___________
I am overjoyed by the act of love towards me, in how you __________
I thank you that I can always trust in you.
Psalm 145: A Psalm of Love to God
Like the Psalms of thanksgiving, many of the Psalms articulate loving adoration. Such prayers are not based on any given situation, but are more general in focus. To pray a prayer of adoration, we focus less on our experience of God’s lovingkindness, and more on the loving character of God. God loves us, not because we deserve it, but because that is who God is. A prayer of love, therefore, seeks to articulate the qualities of God which render God worthy of adoration and praise.
Psalm 145 does just this. The Psalm heaps together a myriad of God’s loving qualities, creating a symphony of expressions all conveying our love for our Lord. If you were to use Psalm 145 as a basis for your prayers, how would you describe:
- God’s great and wondrous deeds (verses 5 and 6)
- God’s compassion and love (verse 8)
- God’s trustworthiness (verse 13)
- God’s providence (verses 18 – 20)
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Psalm 35: A Psalm When I Need Help
The Psalms give us the words to describe our deepest struggles or hurts. The fact is our lives aren’t always easy or straightforward; there are times when we are up against adversaries or enemies. Jesus disclosed this reality for his followers plainly. “In this world” Jesus says, “You will have trouble” (John 16:33). It is not uncommon for the followers of Jesus to find themselves on the receiving end of rebuke, torment, or hostility.
We do our faith a disservice if we deny this reality. We are to bring these times before the Lord in prayer. Psalm 35 is a perfect Psalm for these occasions. With the Psalmist we are invited to name our struggle, and the people with whom we are in adversity. The Psalm invites these prayers in the words, “Contend O Lord, with those who contend with me” (35:1). Similarly, we are encouraged to pray for God’s intervention, that “those who seek my life be disgraced” (35:4). The point is, such feelings are never disregarded; they are offered to God in honesty and humility.
How mighty you ask for God’s deliverance against those who rebuke you? How might you ask God to take a stand against those with whom you are in conflict? Such prayers may feel strange upon our lips. Praying for God to step into our situation and contend with our enemies, however, is a way to place our struggle into God’s mighty hand.
Psalm 51: A Psalm of Repentance
Akin to the times when we need to ask for help, there are times when we need forgiveness. None of us live perfectly Christian lives. As imperfect people living in an imperfect world, we succumb to temptation from time to time. Even Paul lamented “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do — this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19). Depending on the sin we are struggling with, we may find that we lack the sufficient words to fully articulate our deep repentance.
King David knew this reality well, and it is out of these feelings that he wrote the well-loved Psalm 51. It begins “Have mercy on me O God, according to your steadfast love, according to your compassion, blot out my transgressions” (Psalm 51:1). As we have seen in previous Psalms, praying this verse allows us to add our unique situation into the prayer. We may pray “Wash away all my iniquity” (verse 2), and then add, “especially the sin of _____.” When we name our sin, we strip it of its power over us.
The power of praying Psalm 51 is that the articulation of David’s sin is set against the sure promise of God’s mercy and love. As much as the Psalm is one of repentance, it is also a Psalm of forgiveness. When we pray this Psalm, honestly articulating our desire to return to Lord, we open ourselves to the cleansing power of the Spirit. We rise out of this prayer feeling forgiven and renewed in a right spirit.
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Psalm 88: A Psalm for When You Feel That Everything’s Fallen Apart
One of the hardest situations to pray through is when we cannot see the path ahead. Circumstance such as job loss, illness, or tragedies can rob us of our ability to see the Lord’s presence. Such times can leave us angry or embittered, discouraged to the point of not being able to pray adequately.
In an act of radical goodness and love, God invites us to into his presence amid such a times. Psalm 88 gives us a template for these occasions. This Psalm is unique in the Bible because it contains no resolution at the end. Where other lament Psalms conclude with a hopeful vision for the future, Psalm 88 ends with an articulation of despair. Hopefully we need not pray such a prayer often, but there are occasions where such a prayer is necessary. Even in the life of faith we may feel “overwhelmed in troubles” (88:3) with our eyes “dim with grief” (88:9). We should not deny that these times do occur.
God wants us to be honest in our prayers – brutally honest. We can trust that God’s love ensures that we can voice our deepest hurts and complaints. God will not reject us for our struggles or discouragements. Praying Psalm 88, therefore, isn’t about articulating a hope, or claiming a victory, it is simply a prayer to communicate our deepest hurts. It is a prayer of radical faith and true honesty.
Let the Psalms Guide Your Prayer Time
Praying a Psalm is quite easy. Simply read a line, and then repeat the line in your own words, tailoring it to your own situation. As you make your way through the Psalm in this way, you will undoubtedly find that your prayers have plunged to a new depth. You may even find yourself articulating prayers that you didn’t know you wanted, or needed, to pray.
The Psalms unlock the desires, questions, laments, and praises of our souls. The Psalms show us that God invites us to express our heart honestly and fully, we need not mask our emotions. And because the Psalms cover both the heights and depths of human emotion, we can be assured that, no matter what we face in our lives, there will be a Psalm to help us lift our voice in prayer.
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