Praying the psalms- an example
Psalm 54
The heading for the psalm is:
Prayer for Vindication
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘David is in hiding among us.’
The psalmist is in trouble and looking for the time he will look in triumph on enemies. David’s hiding place has been revealed to King Saul who was likely to come and kill him. It is a cry of anguish and anger: “Save me!”
The first three verses are a cry of disorientation but the remainder is a psalm of re-orientation.
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
Lord I/we need Your help - I pray for … [various needs]
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
Lord, I know You hear me, not because I shout and scream but because of Jesus - thank You Jesus for the Cross and being the way to Father; thank You Holy Spirit for inspiring my words, giving me words and deep sighs when I have no words, for causing me to encounter the Living God - I need Your presence Lord. I am worried and concerned but when You say “Don’t be afraid” then I can rest in Your peace.
3 For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them. Selah
Lord - this is a mess [various needs]
4 But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Thank You for revealing Yourself in scripture, in Jesus’ life and death and resurrection, and in my experience now - thank You that You give life, natural and supernatural life! I trust You Lord - I cannot trust myself or anyone else but I trust You … help me in my concerns and unbelief to act in trust.
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
Lord please clear away those demonic spirits causing trouble in [any situations that I have discerned have spiritual opposition] - please set me [or …] free because of the Cross.
Lord I trust You, the judge of all the Earth, to do what is right. I hate what is happening but I choose to leave it in Your hands. You are God - I refuse to judge because Jesus forbids me to judge - I refuse to be kept in a prison of my own resentment or bitterness - I leave all these feelings of hurt and anger with You Lord. Please heal the emotional hurts and put right what is wronging this situation.
6 With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
Even before seeing Your answers I praise You - it is not make-believe or trying to reptant all is well when it is not well, but it is because You are worthy of all praise and You are love, so I trust You Lord.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
I don’t yet see this in the situation but I trust You Lord - come Lord and change things - may Your Kingdom come! Help me to be more concerned with Your glory and Your Kingdom coming on Earth than with my own situation an difficulties - You are trustworthy - thank You - I love You!
David knows God is trustworthy and just. So he is asking for justice and therefore seeking judgment on the wicked in verse 5. We can apply this spiritually, in New Testament terms, as praying for God to dismiss and remove the demonic forces standing against us and trusting Him to judge wicked people. But we must make sure we have forgiven them first, so that we do not cut ourselves off from God’s forgiveness: Matthew 6:14-15.
It looks bloodthirsty but there is a legitimate longing for judgment on the part of those who suffer … but leaving it in God’s hands, because “God is my helper” (v4).
In verse 7 we read a declaration of truth that looks forward: it is true that God “has” done it because Jesus has achieved freedom and justice at the Cross as well as forgiveness and reconciliation. But we do not yet live in the fulness of that truth. So it is a declaration of what will surely happen, in a way that we can pray as “Your Kingdom Come” or “Lord, please make it happen soon.”
- Chris Horton
The heading for the psalm is:
Prayer for Vindication
To the leader: with stringed instruments. A Maskil of David, when the Ziphites went and told Saul, ‘David is in hiding among us.’
The psalmist is in trouble and looking for the time he will look in triumph on enemies. David’s hiding place has been revealed to King Saul who was likely to come and kill him. It is a cry of anguish and anger: “Save me!”
The first three verses are a cry of disorientation but the remainder is a psalm of re-orientation.
1 Save me, O God, by your name,
and vindicate me by your might.
Lord I/we need Your help - I pray for … [various needs]
2 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
Lord, I know You hear me, not because I shout and scream but because of Jesus - thank You Jesus for the Cross and being the way to Father; thank You Holy Spirit for inspiring my words, giving me words and deep sighs when I have no words, for causing me to encounter the Living God - I need Your presence Lord. I am worried and concerned but when You say “Don’t be afraid” then I can rest in Your peace.
3 For the insolent have risen against me,
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not set God before them. Selah
Lord - this is a mess [various needs]
4 But surely, God is my helper;
the Lord is the upholder of my life.
Thank You for revealing Yourself in scripture, in Jesus’ life and death and resurrection, and in my experience now - thank You that You give life, natural and supernatural life! I trust You Lord - I cannot trust myself or anyone else but I trust You … help me in my concerns and unbelief to act in trust.
5 He will repay my enemies for their evil.
In your faithfulness, put an end to them.
Lord please clear away those demonic spirits causing trouble in [any situations that I have discerned have spiritual opposition] - please set me [or …] free because of the Cross.
Lord I trust You, the judge of all the Earth, to do what is right. I hate what is happening but I choose to leave it in Your hands. You are God - I refuse to judge because Jesus forbids me to judge - I refuse to be kept in a prison of my own resentment or bitterness - I leave all these feelings of hurt and anger with You Lord. Please heal the emotional hurts and put right what is wronging this situation.
6 With a freewill-offering I will sacrifice to you;
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
Even before seeing Your answers I praise You - it is not make-believe or trying to reptant all is well when it is not well, but it is because You are worthy of all praise and You are love, so I trust You Lord.
7 For he has delivered me from every trouble,
and my eye has looked in triumph on my enemies.
I don’t yet see this in the situation but I trust You Lord - come Lord and change things - may Your Kingdom come! Help me to be more concerned with Your glory and Your Kingdom coming on Earth than with my own situation an difficulties - You are trustworthy - thank You - I love You!
David knows God is trustworthy and just. So he is asking for justice and therefore seeking judgment on the wicked in verse 5. We can apply this spiritually, in New Testament terms, as praying for God to dismiss and remove the demonic forces standing against us and trusting Him to judge wicked people. But we must make sure we have forgiven them first, so that we do not cut ourselves off from God’s forgiveness: Matthew 6:14-15.
It looks bloodthirsty but there is a legitimate longing for judgment on the part of those who suffer … but leaving it in God’s hands, because “God is my helper” (v4).
In verse 7 we read a declaration of truth that looks forward: it is true that God “has” done it because Jesus has achieved freedom and justice at the Cross as well as forgiveness and reconciliation. But we do not yet live in the fulness of that truth. So it is a declaration of what will surely happen, in a way that we can pray as “Your Kingdom Come” or “Lord, please make it happen soon.”
- Chris Horton
Tagged with Chris Horton
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