An abridged
version.
Ben Patterson | posted 10/24/2008 08:12AM
1. Say Them Out Loud. Just read the Psalms slowly and thoughtfully,
assenting to what they say with as much understanding as you have, intellectually
and emotionally. Don't just read them, pray them; say them from the heart. The
Psalms contain both the Word God has to say to us about prayer and the words he
wants us to say to him in prayer. "This is pure grace," exclaimed
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, "that God tells us how we can speak with him and have
fellowship with him."
2. Festoon Them.
Think of a psalm as a Christmas tree. Read it and then festoon it with your own
prayers, as you would decorate a tree. Your prayers are answers to what God
says to you in the psalm. One way to understand a psalm's intent is to read it
through the lens of the "three Rs": Rejoice: What
do I find here that gives me cause to rejoice, to give praise and thanks? Repent:
What do I read here that brings to light sin in my life? Request: What
in this psalm can inform the way I pray for others and myself?
3. Paraphrase Them. Meditate on and study a psalm until you understand
it well enough to put it into your own words. Then paraphrase the psalm as you
have come to understand it, and pray your paraphrase. No one need read or hear
what you have written but you and the Lord, who delights in the prayers of his
people.
4. Learn Them by Heart. Memorize the Psalms—but not by rote. Rather, learn
them by heart; make their words your words. Come to understand them so well you
can recite them—by inflection and tone—as though you had written them yourself.
This is by far the best way I know to learn to pray the Psalms. I can think of
no more powerful way to allow the Word of God to change who you are and how you
think. Over the years, the prayers of the Psalms have offered incomparable
comfort and clarity in desperate, murky, and confusing situations, when I
didn't have a worthwhile word of my own to say—when I quite literally didn't
have a prayer.
5. Marinate in Them. Some people use the Bible like they use spice to
liven up the taste of food—a little Tabasco
here, some salt and pepper and oregano there; a particular psalm to read when
you are (check one) sad or glad or afraid or lonely or struggling with doubt.
But it's better to use the Psalms as you would a marinade. A spice touches only
the surface of the food; a marinade changes its character. The soul should
marinate in Scripture by repeated, thoughtful, slow, comprehensive, and Spirit-enlightened
reading.
— Abridged
from God's Prayer Book by Ben Patterson.
Here are several additional ways to pray the Psalms that I use:
6. Sing the Psalms
to the Lord. Make up spontaneous melodies to the Lord as you pray a
Psalm to Him. This helps you to vocalize and personalize your prayer.
“Sing to the Lord a new song.” (Ps. 96:1; 98:1; 149:1; Is. 42:10)
Isa 42:10-13 (NIV)
10 Sing to the Lord a new song,
his praise from the ends of the
earth,
you who go down to the sea, and
all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in
them.
11 Let the desert and its towns
raise their voices;
let the settlements where Kedar
lives rejoice.
Let the people of Sela sing for
joy;
let them shout from the
mountaintops.
12 Let them give glory to the
Lord
and proclaim his praise in the
islands.
13 The Lord will march out like
a mighty man,
like a warrior he will stir up
his zeal;
with a shout he will raise the
battle cry
and will triumph over his
enemies. (NIV)
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Isa 42:10-13 (CEV)
10 Tell the whole world to sing
a new song to the Lord!
Tell those who sail the ocean
and those who live far away
to join in the praise.
11 Tell the tribes of the desert
and everyone in the mountains
to celebrate and sing.
12 Let them announce
his
praises everywhere.
13 The Lord is marching out
like an
angry soldier,
shouting
with all his might
while attacking his enemies.
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7.
Write a melody. As you read the psalms out loud, feel the
rhythm of the words and turn that into a melody. The melody you make up is not always intended
for the public, but usually to assist you in learning and memorizing the
verse(s). Then, sing that verse to the
Lord as your prayer.
8. Learn
existing songs taken from the Psalms and sing them to the Lord. A variety of hymnals or Psalters: collections of
metrical Psalms. See: N.A. Woychuk, ed.
Isaac Watts: Songs from the Psalms. St. Louis: SMF Press, 1981. Many ‘Scripture Chorus” books are available.
* Pray the Psalms to the Lord. You can’t get more perfect prayers than to
pray God’s Word back to Him. (See #1
above)
For example, many Psalms are
prayers or praises already addressed to the Lord. If not, change the names of the Lord to
personal pronouns and make the whole Psalm a very personal prayer. These Psalms of David are already addressed
to the Lord.
Ps 57:9 I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations;
I will sing of you among the peoples.
10 For great is your love, reaching to the heavens; your
faithfulness reaches to the skies.
11 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over
all the earth. NIV
Ps 36:5 Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness
to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice
like the great deep.
O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
7 How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among
men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink
from your river of delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see
light. (NIV)
Pray Psalm 27
like this:
“You, Lord, are my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? You, Lord, are the stronghold of my life—of whom
shall I be afraid? ….One thing I ask of you Lord, this is what I seek; that I
may dwell in your house all the days of my life, to gaze upon Your beauty and
to seek you in Your temple. For in the
day of trouble, You will keep me safe in Your dwelling; You will hide me in the
shelter of Your tabernacle and set me high up on a rock.”
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