Bible in 90 Days - Day 39 (Psalms 1-24)

Open our eyes, O God:

that we may behold wondrous things out of your law.

Open our ears, O God:

that we may hear what you will speak

to those who turn to you in their hearts.

Open our minds, O God:

that we may understand what it means

to revere you and to learn of your ways.

Open our hearts, O God:

that we may grasp the treasures of wisdom and knowledge

hidden in Christ.

Open our mouths, O God:

that we may proclaim the mystery of the gospel

and speak of it boldly.

The Psalms are the songbook of God’s people. Here’s a little history for you. Many Reformed churches, ours included, trace many of their important traditions back to the Synod of Dort in 1618-1619. It was made official there that only Psalms should be sung in worship. That was true in the Christian Reformed Church until 1934, when hymns were added. Until then we only had a Psalter (a Psalm book), and since then we have had a Psalter Hymnal. One advantage in only having 150 songs for generation after generation is that you really know those songs by heart! (I’m not advocating for a return, though.) Some churches in the Reformed tradition still hold to that.

When I was younger the Psalms were not my favorite part of the Bible. I think they were too poetic for me. That changed for me when I began to pray the Psalms (recognizing that not all of them are prayers). The Psalms are words we can put on our tongues for prayer, worship and instruction.

Some of the Psalms are laments. They cry out in the face of suffering or injustice. When you read these Psalms, hear the anguish. But after you hear the anguish, look for a note of trust and a promise to praise. The laments are powerful because they cry out to a covenant-keeping God. Psalm 12, for example, starts on what seems like a hopeless note, but by verse 7 there is a declaration of trust. Psalm 13 is another great example. It begins with a cry out, and it ends with a claim of trust in verse 5 and a promise to praise in verse 6. This is not an effort to rush through the pain; rather it gives pain a meaningful context.

There is a school of thought that says when Jewish teachers quoted the beginning of a passage, they expected that their hearers would recall the entire passage. In light of that, consider what it would mean for Jesus to pray the entire Psalm 22 from the cross. Lament begins with a sense of forsakenness, but it doesn’t end there.