Project 119: Introduction to Praying Through the Psalms
| Project 119 | Amy Hirsch
ABOUT PROJECT 119
Project 119 is a Bible reading initiative of Mountain Brook Baptist Church. Our hope is that every member of our church family would be encouraged in his or her relationship with Jesus Christ through the regular reading of God’s Word.
This reading plan is a bit different from our normal reading plans, where passages and devotions are assigned to be read Monday through Friday and the weekends are for reading back over the assigned passages. Rather, this summer we will be looking at the book of Psalms together. Each week will begin with a devotional prayer based on Monday’s psalm, and each day, psalms will be assigned for morning and evening prayer. The devotional prayer written at the start of the week is meant to be a help or guide for you as you read and pray through the Psalms this summer.
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INTRODUCTION
The book of Psalms might be one of the most loved in the Bible; after all, even those unfamiliar with Christianity have probably heard Psalm 23. For over 3,000 years, God’s people have been using the book of Psalms for prayer and worship. As you read through the Psalms this summer, you’ll notice the themes, authors, and moods change from psalm to psalm - they aren’t grouped together by praises and laments, confessions and curses (yes, we’ll even be reading and praying through the imprecatory psalms this summer!). Rather, the Psalms are kind of like real life, aren’t they? One psalm gives praise, the next mourns, and in a few psalms, the psalmist will woefully confess his sins before God the Father.
Sometimes we don’t know what we ought to pray, do we? Praying Scripture can be helpful for this reason. God’s own Word directs us on how we ought to interact with Him. We are given a language to use to call out to Him, and the words of the psalmists help shape our prayers while challenging us to pray for and about things we may not have ever considered bringing before the Lord. As we pray through the psalms, we enter into the rich history of God’s people praying His own words back to Him.
And, we enter into a tradition that leaves room for expression of thought and feeling. The Psalms model honest prayer for us, reminding us that God is big enough to handle our feelings, that He knows the pain and brokenness of our hearts, and that He longs for us to bring our griefs to Him.
This summer, rather than giving you a devotion to read each day, we encourage you to pray through the assigned morning and evening psalms. As you meditate on these psalms, consider how these songs have been prayers for the church for thousands of years. Monday’s prayer will help guide you as you pray through the Psalms on your own throughout the week. Our hope is that your faith would be encouraged, challenged, and strengthened as you pray God’s Word back to him.
RESOURCES
There are many great resources to aid you in the reading of the Psalms this summer. Our church library has several Psalms commentaries available for your use. Another resource you might consider consulting is Dr. Allen Ross’s commentary series on the Psalms from the Kregel Exegetical Library. In addition, I have found it helpful to listen to the Psalms put to music. Sandra McCracken has an excellent album on the Psalms (Psalms 2015), as well as The Corner Room (Psalms vol. 1, 2015, and Psalms vol. 2, 2018).