Encouragement from the Psalms

It is amazing that you could read Psalms any number of times and in any number of periods of your life, and there is so much in there that just seems to suddenly show up, as if the verses where hidden before or were added in some mysterious way. Starting on Psalm 150 and going back, there are any number of ideas that could be derived from the Psalms to help with our personal prayers..

Psalm 150 verse 2 " praise him for his surpassing greatness"

One of the things to reflect on in prayer is God's greatness which surpasses anything else you could possibly think of. For example, you could pray, thank you God that your help on this matter surpasses the power of the sun, or the pull of the moon on the ocean. Thank you that your sight for me on this surpasses the best views on the earth.

Any type of help you seek from the Lord would be a surpassing type of help. We are okay with outright seeking God's surpassing greatness in our rather minute personal requests.

Psalm 149 verse 5" Let the faithful exult in glory, let them sing for joy on their couches." It is more a private banquent, my little private palace. Within this psalm, the Lord is looking for communion not only in the public praise and worship but in the private moments, whether it be personal praise, prayer or song that according to the messages of this Psalm is pleasing to the Lord. You could sing a song walking alone on a beach as well as in a crowded assembly of the faithful. This verse again points to the powerful experience of the individual with the Lord, it's like that John Denver song, " What one man can do".

Psalm 148 verses 11 and 12. " Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, Young men and women alike, old and young together!

I run some road races including the NY Marathon and it is just like this, everybody together in one pursuit, various ages, men and women, younger and older. Something the Lord is looking for, which is specifically togetherness on prayer.

This psalm in the earlier verses speaks of the praises from the heights and angels and it is said that the later verses show how human prayer mirrors prayer and praise in the heavens.

There is a degree of parity between human worship and heavingly worship as this psalm as a whole shows.

Psalm 147 is a very powerful psalm for prayer. It reminds us that the Lords understanding is beyond measure in verse 5. Which means it includes anything we could measure as well. The previous verses right before this refer to the stars, something that is also beyond measure and is something that we can see in the night sky that is telling of the Lord's abundant power also referred to in verse 5. In verse 10 it says he does not delight in the speed of a runner. This would in part contradict the theme of the movie Chariots of Fire, but what it really means is that although these things could be great, they are only pleasing to the Lord if the attention is turned towards him in these endeavors. In verse 13 refers to Him strengthening the bars within your gates. This is yet another verse where it is outright saying that the Lord is our keeper. He keeps things going for us, preserves us and is our lifeguard on the shores of life's troubles. Verse 14, in speaking of peace and or prosperity within borders, is showing that God might be literally doing this as a favor for one individual. In the last verses, the word of God is juxtaposed as being in nature and declared both to Jacob as an individual and Israel as a nation. It is the same word that we see in nature that the Lord speaks to us as individuals and it in any event is given as a gift. The last verse of the Psalm shows how God's dealings may differ and all this great things mentioned throughout the Psalm should be greatly appreciated in that not everybody has been dealt this hand. At the same time, the Psalm as a whole seems to show that the individual who has been dealt the hand of God's blessing seems to benefit in vast and innumerable ways, and the references to nature in the later verses mean that all this will not appear in the abstract to this person, but will be seen in practical ways, in nature, in where this person lives and in the happenings of his or her life. Yes, He is gracious and his understanding is beyond measure, but this is something through his dealings with you are actually going to be able to see and experience.

In Psalm 146 it talks about your trust in man, in that their plans depart with them, while God is offering help from an imperishable source and discussing plans with Him might be a better idea. This is something to actually be happy about,the help and hope that is from the Lord and has an eternal or everlasting nature rather than a perishable nature. It is the Lord who keeps the earth and the sea running, spinning the globe so to speak. He watches over the strangers, basically the little guy, more than a king might have done in ancient eras, and basically when no one is watching, the Lord is still there on His personal watch.

Psalm 145 In verse 3 it says" Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, his greatness is unsearchable." Maybe we can just accept how great God is rather than trying to find out how and why, its unfathomable, unsearchable, and we just aren't capable of figuring it out, but we are still within the capacity of being able to recognize that all of this is great. Verse 8 says, " The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love." There is a whole lot of love out there for your problems and your life as you go to seek the Lord. In verse 18, his nearness is to all who call him sincerely, and besides fulfilling the desire of those who fear him, he also hears them which is being with them on a step by step basis and in that very moment, even as he works for the fulfillment of their desires, which may be hidden more deeply in the far recesses of the heart, only partially or little seen by the person themselves or just not easily expressed in words.