Praying the Psalms

We're now nearly two weeks into the new year, and for those who are following the Read Scripture plan by The Bible Project that means we're approaching the end of Genesis, currently in the middle of the story about Joseph.

One exciting part of this programme is the prospect of praying through the book of Psalms two and a half times during 2016. If you've printed out the reading schedule the instructions for the Psalms state,

One Psalm is listed each day for you to slowly pray through, making its words your own. By the end you'll have prayed through the book of Psalms 2.5 times.

Someone asked me this week what it means to pray through the Psalms - how do you do it?

Already in these two weeks you will have noticed that there is a great variety in the Psalms. You may have also come across a few verses that you're not too sure about praying - for example 3:7 says, "Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked" - doesn't seem to be a very 'Christian' prayer to me.

One of the other things you've probably noticed about these first few Psalms is that they are not always written from a 'happy place'. Quite a few are clearly written from a very low point "why Lord do you stand far off, why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?" 10:1 and yet still hold on to the knowledge that "the Lord is King for ever and ever" 10:16. Or today's reading from Psalm 13, "How long Lord? Will you forget me for ever? ... But I trust in your unfailing love..."

(Psalms like today's do reassure us that when we pray God is able to cope with our honesty, he can cope with our questions and our doubts.)

At other times there are words of praise, "I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds... 9:1.

It may be that on a particular day you are able to identify with the emotions and thoughts of the Psalm you are reading, and therefore make the words your own, but on other days that may not be the case.

One approach to praying the Psalms is to read the Psalm through slowly a couple of times and then to think about:

• one thing the Psalm teaches about God that you want to give thanks for;
• one thing the Psalm reveals about yourself that you could repent of;
• one thing the Psalm shows you you could aspire to, ask for or act on,

and then allow these thoughts to shape our prayers.

Timothy Keller, author of 'My Rock, My Refuge: A year of daily devotions in the Psalms' also points out in this short audio interview that simply reading the Psalms on a daily basis will give us the language to pray.