How’s praying the Psalms going for you? I hope that you are tasting and seeing why God’s people, for a very long time, have consistently, with great regularity, prayed the Psalter. In praying these precious words given to us by God to pray back to him, I find myself wanting to make this a lifestyle habit that stretches well beyond August 2025. I want to get to August 2050 and see what the last 25 years have been like as I prayed the Psalter—along with the church!
Have you noticed how often the categories of the righteous and the wicked come up? Right at the door that leads into the Psalter, in Psalms 1–2, we are introduced to these two primary categories. Have you felt uncomfortable praying the Psalms with these two categories? Have you thought, “Can I pray these? Can I take this stance as the righteous? I don’t feel righteous. Should I pray this for the wicked? What if I am the wicked?”
Praying all of the Psalms is so good for our souls because it forces us to deal with these categories. If we simply stick to the Psalms we like, we don’t give ourselves a chance to come to know these two categories. I recently read something that was helpful in describing the righteous and the wicked:
"To think of the human in these terms is difficult for many people because the words “righteous” and “wicked” have all but fallen out of the vocabulary of contemporary religious discourse in most communities of faith. This is no doubt due to the fact that these words are often associated with narrow, legalistic expressions of faith. But such associations are based on misunderstandings of the language. The term ṣaddîq (“righteous”) in the Psalms refers to those who depend on God for protection (34:7[6]), those who plead to God for forgiveness (38:19[18]), and those who worship God in humility (17:15). Such persons are not morally pure, nor do they consider themselves so; rather, they call on and align themselves with the righteousness of God (5:9[8]). It should be noted further that those called righteous in the Psalms do not so designate themselves. The label is always in the third person and essentially presents a divine perspective. The stance of the righteous before God sets them apart from the wicked."
Praying the Psalter as a Christian even deepens the plot. Thinking about Jesus, the only true righteous one, praying the Psalms creates a deeper resonance with the pleas we hear from the righteous in the Psalter. Thinking about how, in Christ, we are righteous (2 Cor. 5:21) gives a firm foundation to pray the Psalter, regardless of whether we feel righteous or not.
In Christ, by God’s kindness, we are. The words of the Psalms from the righteous are ours.
Haven’t started praying the Psalms yet? It is never too late. This is how we are doing it.
Here are three options:
1. Pray 5 Psalms a day. The 31 days in August work well—especially with a long psalm like Psalm 119 in the mix.
2. Use a 30-day morning and evening schedule.
3. Use a 30-day morning, midway, and evening schedule.
4. Create your own plan—whatever helps you stay in the Psalms consistently.
How Do We Pray the Psalms?
1. Pray the psalm as written — Read the psalm aloud, word for word, as your prayer to God. Let its words become your own.
2. Pray reflectively — Read a verse or phrase slowly. Pause. Then respond to God with your own short prayer or reflection.
3. Pray responsively — Pray with someone else or a group by taking turns—one person reads a verse, and others echo, respond, or pray a related request or praise.
4. Pray with a theme in mind — As you read, look for a specific theme: trust, repentance, joy, justice, etc. Let that theme guide your response to God.
Praying the Psalter with you,
Pastor Lew