Our Father - praying the psalms

The psalms have been the prayer book of the church from their inception. Every Tuesday through Thanksgiving we will have a psalm to include in our prayers. I encourage you to not simply read them, but rather to pray them. As you pray Psalm 103, pray it to our heavenly Father, and ask him to kindle in your heart and in your imagination a greater understanding of God as Father.

Psalm 103 Of David.

¹ Praise the Lord, my soul;

all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

² Praise the Lord, my soul,

and forget not all his benefits—

³ who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

⁴ who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

⁶ The Lord works righteousness

and justice for all the oppressed.

⁷ He made known his ways to Moses,

his deeds to the people of Israel:

⁸ The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

slow to anger, abounding in love.

⁹ He will not always accuse,

nor will he harbor his anger forever;

¹⁰ he does not treat us as our sins deserve

or repay us according to our iniquities.

¹¹ For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is his love for those who fear him;

¹² as far as the east is from the west,

so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

¹³ As a father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;

¹⁴ for he knows how we are formed,

he remembers that we are dust.

¹⁵ The life of mortals is like grass,

they flourish like a flower of the field;

¹⁶ the wind blows over it and it is gone,

and its place remembers it no more.

¹⁷ But from everlasting to everlasting

the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,

and his righteousness with their children’s children—

¹⁸ with those who keep his covenant

and remember to obey his precepts.

¹⁹ The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

²⁰ Praise the Lord, you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding,

who obey his word.

²¹ Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,

you his servants who do his will.

²² Praise the Lord, all his works

everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.