Over the summer weeks, our messages in worship have been focused on practices of faith. Over the weeks, we have focused on giving testimonies of faith, keeping sabbath, fasting, healing prayer, and committing to tithing. Today, we turn to prayer…and our guidebook for prayer in the Bible, the book of Psalms.
Scholars divide our Psalms into different types of Psalms: laments & complaints; praising God; thanksgiving to God; and Psalms expressing God’s wisdom and instruction. This morning, we are going to hear Psalm 86. It is considered to be a lament and is asking God for help….help for the individual who wrote the Psalm and help for the collective group of people who pray the words of the Psalm.
Listen now to the word of God as it is expressed in Psalm 86:
Scripture Psalm 86
A prayer of David.
1 Hear me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God;
3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Amen.
Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Let us pray….
Message Praying the Psalms
Song has always been a part of worship. In every world religion, music and singing are intricately linked to spirituality. Religious beliefs inspire songwriters and poets. The music they craft is then used in worship: to teach, inspire, praise and pray. For us, the book of Psalms is our oldest song book.
In ancient Judaism, as the scattered believers began to worship together at pilgrimage sites and shrines, they praised God with song. They sang, and they also used instruments….pipes, trumpets, tambourines, cymbals, harps, lyres, and other stringed instruments are mentioned in the Psalms. When I served my first congregation, people were very opposed to having drums in the sanctuary – yet, ancient believers in God made music with many instruments, including cymbals and tambourines!
The Psalms are both songs and prayers. This is also true today. Many of our modern hymns are not only songs…. They are also prayers.
Precious Lord, take my hand, Lead me on, let me stand, I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night, Lead me on to the light:Take my hand, precious Lord,
Lead me home.
…..or…..
I need thee every hour, most gracious Lord; No tender voice like Thine can peace afford; I need Thee, O I need Thee; Every hour I need Thee! O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.
We can sing these familiar hymns to ourselves or out- loud, and the familiar words guide us as we talk to God…they are sung prayers.
The book of Psalms has one hundred and fifty psalms….they are all prayers, but they aren’t all the same. Some are prayers of praise that say how wonderful God is. Some are prayers of lament with the speaker crying out to God. Some thank God for God’s instruction and teaching and wisdom. Some are just prayers of thanksgiving to God….period.
Whatever mood you are in, whatever need you have, you can find a reflection of how you feel in the book of Psalms.
I have had conversations with people who feel like they don’t know how to pray….especially when they are asked to pray out loud when other people can hear them. They fear they don’t know the words to say. They feel like their words should be poetic or use some kind of fancy theological language. They may have memorized prayers as children but feel that those no longer are enough – “Now I lay me down to sleep” may feel silly for a 47 year old to pray at night.
When I am feeling like I don’t know what to say when I pray, I turn to the book of Psalms. Psalm 86 is a helpful example of prayer…it starts with the request: “Hear me, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.” Through supplication, the one praying invites God to both hear their prayer and answer their prayer. We all go through times in our lives when we feel poor and needy, like things aren’t going the way we want – perhaps we or someone we love is ill, perhaps we are struggling with relationships, perhaps we are struggling with jobs or having enough of the things we depend on. We all are needy and need the comforting embrace of God. Psalm 86 puts to words our fears.
If we pray our way through the words of Psalm 86, it provides a template of how we can pray…
We should pray honestly and earnestly – we should be real with God “I am poor and needy” is a very honest statement.
God knows our hearts. God knows our fears. God knows our insecurities. We don’t have to pretend to have everything under control when we talk to God. We can express our rawest emotions.
In verse 3, it says: “I call to you all day long.” We can pray all day long – not just before bed, not just before meals, not just when it is expected. We can talk to God whenever we need to talk to God, and God hears us all the time. Whenever we are troubled, we can pray. Whenever we encounter a situation that concerns us, we can pray. Whenever we meet someone who is in need, we can pray. There are no rules about when we should pray or how we should pray or what we should pray about.
Verse 12 says: “I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” This line reminds us to be thankful and to appreciate God. When we pray, we are encouraged to tell God we are grateful for all God has done and does right now. It is a good exercise for us to notice the things God has done – God provides the beauty of the natural world. God provides delicious food to cook and eat. God provides our pets and our families and our friends. God showers us with Grace and forgives us when we fail. God loves us. It is important for us to appreciate God.
The author of Psalm 86 is believed to be King David. David was a great king. He led armies to victories. He was anointed by God to serve his country and on behalf of God. He was apparently beautiful, and played the harp like a virtuoso, and was strong, and brave, and smart. Yet, humility permeates this Psalm. We also should be humble when we pray…The psalmist asks God to be gracious to him. He refers to himself as God’s servant. He admits he is afflicted and needy. He admits his weakness and asks God to give him strength. These are humble requests. We should also be humble.
In the second verse of the Psalm, the author says: “I put my trust in you” O God. We are also encouraged to put our trust in God. We all face painful situations. We all struggle with grief and despair and loneliness. We all have experienced broken relationships, and threats of violence, and fear. Yet, in the midst of all that we have experienced, God has been with us. Psalm 86 talks about how great God’s love is for us and that God has delivered the Psalmist from the depths. Many of us have similar stories of deliverance – we have overcome trials and terrible times…we have lived through adversity and change…we have endured hard times. Throughout them all, God is the constant presence with us, to help us, guide us and encourage us. God is with us, therefore we are never alone. We are called to trust in God.
Sometimes, we hit roadblocks in our prayer life. We don’t know what to say. We may not feel creative. We may feel too sad to put to words our thoughts. We may have writer’s block with our words.
Whenever that happens, I suggest turning to the book of Psalms. There, we will find the words already written that express our thoughts. There, we will find comforting words of assurance of God’s presence and good will for us. There, we will find words of guidance and support.
My prayer is that we will all pray more often, more freely, and take everything in our hearts to the Lord in prayer. Amen
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