The Psalms as tools for prayer

The Psalms as tools for prayer

Ephesians 5:18-20 Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God.

Psalm 116:12-13; 18-19 What shall I return to the LORD for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD..... I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the LORD s house, in the midst of you, O Jerusalem.

Psalm 95:1-7 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed. O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 150:1-4 Praise the LORD! (Hallelujah) Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament! Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness! Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe

Psalm 139:1-2, 7-10 O LORD, you have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from far away. Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Of 150 psalms, 116 have titles/superscriptions. 73 of those are le-david le-david - preposition + David ; could mean to, for, of David. To, for, of Davidic king. Psalm 72:20 - The psalms of David son of Jesse are ended. Yet, le-david appears later. Probably originally end of a book.

Psalm 51:1-3 To the leader. A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

13 psalms linked to events in David s life Examples: Ps. 18 When David was saved from Saul. Ps. 34 When David feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out. However, the Psalms themselves don t mention any specifics. So the superscriptions were likely added later. And the Psalms can be used in many situations.

Psalm 137:5-6 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither! Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy. Psalm 122:1-2 I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD! Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem.

Psalm 122:6-9 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. Peace be within your walls, and security within your towers. For the sake of my relatives and friends I will say, "Peace be within you. For the sake of the house of the LORD our God, I will seek your good. Psalm 128:5 The LORD bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.

Psalm 48:1-2 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised in the city of our God. His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation, is the joy of all the earth, Mount Zion, in the far north, the city of the great King. Psalm 48:12-14 Walk about Zion, go all around it, count its towers, consider well its ramparts; go through its citadels, that you may tell the next generation that this is God, our God forever and ever. He will be our guide forever.

Book I - Psalms 1-41 Book II - Psalms 42-72 Book III - Psalms 73-89 Book IV - Psalms 90-106 Book V Psalms 107-150 41:13 - Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen. 89:52 - Blessed be the LORD forever. Amen and Amen. 150:6 - Let everything that breathes praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

hesed Translated various ways: steadfast love, mercy, covenant love, faithfulness, love, lovingkindness, grace, favor, kindness. Occurs 245 times in the OT. Of those, 127 are in the Psalter.

You have given great victories to your king, and shown kindness to your anointed, to David and his posterity forever. (Psalm 18:51 NAB) Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long. (Psalm 23:6 NRS) Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. (Psalm 51:1 NRS)

Your love for me is great; you have rescued me from the depths of Sheol. (Psalm 86:13 NAB) For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations. (Psalm 100:5 NRS) Merciful and gracious is the LORD, slow to anger, abounding in kindness. (Psalm 103:8 NAB) O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. (Psalm 136:1 NRS)

Associated with relationship, covenant, Can also designate something unexpected, above and beyond what is required of a relationship. Examples: Ruth, Rahab, Jacob s prayer (Gen 32:10) Shown by God to humanity (most often in Psalms) Shown by human beings to each other and (less often) to God Both an attitude and action love in action Often combined with emet faithfulness The hesed of the Lord endures forever. (Ps. 136)

Language and Poetry of the Psalms Walter Brueggemann: The language of the Psalms is not so much descriptive as evocative, bringing something into being that is not yet present The LORD is king!

Ps. 139:7-10 Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Psalm 22:12-14 Many bulls encircle me, strong bulls of Bashan surround me; they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint Psalm 6:6 Every night I flood my bed with tears. I drench my couch with my weeping.

Psalm 97:1-5 The LORD is king! Let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. Fire goes before him, and consumes his adversaries on every side. His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

Psalms as Tools for Prayer Ellen Davis: The Psalms teach us that profound change happens always in the presence of God. Over and over they attest to the reality that when we open our minds and hearts fully to the God who made them, then we open ourselves, whether we know it or not, to the possibility of being transformed beyond our imagining.

What Can We Learn about Prayer from the Psalms? Be honest! Bring the whole breadth of your feelings and experience before God. Don t be afraid to lament or be angry, but also know that there is a time to praise. Prayer is proper at anytime. Speak TO God, not just about God (Ps. 13).

One can learn from and draw on one s history and the history of one s people (Ps. 22:3-5). Ancient faith gives power of resistance against the tyranny of our own immediate experience. (Ellen Davis) One can draw on creation s witness about God (Ps. 104). In praying the Psalms, one participates in the communion of saints. God hears prayer (Ps. 30).

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the teaching of the LORD, and on his teaching he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

Psalm 2:1-6 Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and his anointed, saying, "Let us burst their bonds asunder, and cast their cords from us." He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD has them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath, and terrify them in his fury, saying, "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."