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Next week, we wrap up praying the Psalter together. Whether you prayed every day, prayed most of the Psalms, or struggled your way through it, I hope the spiritual discipline of praying God’s words back to Him has been formative for your soul. On September 1, I plan to pick right back up with Psalm 1, seeking to weave into my life a practice God’s people have carried on for centuries. I invite you to join me in exploring the many ways we can pray the Psalms.
Paul, in Ephesians 5:15–21, gives us another reason to become well acquainted with the words of the Psalter. The Psalms are not only words God gives us to pray back to Him, but they are also words He gives us to speak to one another. Listen to Paul:
Pay careful attention, then, to how you walk—not as unwise people but as wise—making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of Christ (CSB).
Living in the world of the Psalter through prayer expands our vocabulary for speaking with God. But it also enriches our vocabulary for speaking with one another—as we sing the Psalms or use them in conversation to encourage and edify. You may find yourself praying a psalm that the Lord uses as a life-giving word for a dear sister or brother! Paul says something similar in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
The word of Christ is not only what we read in the Gospels or hear through apostolic lips. The Psalter, too, is the word of Christ—not only because He Himself prayed these psalms, but also because they ultimately point us to Him (Luke 24:44).
So let’s keep praying the Psalter, Jubilee. Let’s continue to take God’s Word and pray it vertically to Him, while also encouraging one another horizontally in it.
Grateful,
Pastor Lew