![\"\"](\"http:\/\/upload.wikimedia.org\/wikipedia\/commons\/thumb\/9\/92\/Psalm_136_Initial_S.jpg\/182px-Psalm_136_Initial_S.jpg\" "\\"Psalm")
The best times and the worst times of our lives have one thing in common: it\u2019s hard to find words for them. Our hearts cry out to the Lord, but so often those cries are wordless. Our thoughts and emotions whirl, formless, and what we long for are the words to express what we\u2019re feeling and thinking.<\/p>
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<\/a><\/div>\nThe Psalms have long been the prayer book of the church, and praying them regularly, so that our hearts and minds are soaked in their rhythms and phrases, gives us the words that we desire when our hearts are full. When we pray the words of the psalms, we don\u2019t have to doubt whether our words are good and true and right. They are. They\u2019re the words the faithful have used for centuries to pour out their hearts to the Lord. <\/strong><\/p>\n Getting Started<\/strong><\/p>\n A few things to consider, if you\u2019re new to the practice of praying the Psalms:<\/p>\n 1) Revisit the familiar ones and go deeper with them. There\u2019s a reason Psalm 23 is so beloved. The ones you\u2019ve memorized are the ones that are already deep in your bones, and the more you pray them, the more meaningful they\u2019ll become. There\u2019s always further to go in prayer, because the Lord\u2019s goodness is infinite.<\/p>\n 2) Read new ones regularly. Some of the best are the Psalms of Ascent, from Psalm 120 through Psalm 134. These were sung on the way up to Jerusalem, and they\u2019re possibly the most beautiful and joyful and accessible psalms in the book, with many reminders of God\u2019s great faithfulness. Perfect for the Easter season.<\/p>\n 3) Try them set to music. There are many great hymns that are paraphrases of the Psalms (Isaac Watts wrote a vast number<\/a>) or you can try singing them to plainsong (use the Book of Common Prayer<\/a> and the 1984 Hymnal<\/a> to get started). They were written to be sung, and though we don\u2019t have the original tunes, singing them to the ones we have is a great joy.<\/p>\n 4) Remember that they\u2019re both poetry and <\/em>prophecy. Most Psalms can be read in several ways: as the words of the man who composed them, as prophecy about Christ, and as prophecy about Christ\u2019s church. And probably more that I\u2019m missing because I\u2019m still only a beginner myself! But it\u2019s clear there are layers of meaning in each psalm. You don\u2019t have to focus on each meaning every time you read a given psalm, but it\u2019s good to be aware, for example that the \u201cbeatus vir\u201d \u2013 \u201cblessed is the man\u201d \u2013 in psalm 1, is probably first about Jesus, the perfect man, and then about those who, by his grace, are sanctified by his Spirit, and then . . . well, like I said, I\u2019m a beginner and need to study them even more myself. (Patrick Reardon\u2019s excellent book, Christ in the Psalms<\/a><\/span>, is a great place to start.)<\/p>\n 5) \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 Mostly, just read them a lot. It was traditional to read the Psalms in the morning and the evening \u2013 more often than that if you happened to be a monk or a nun! In this case, familiarity doesn’t breed contempt; it breeds love.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Prayers for All Seasons<\/strong><\/p>\n In the hard times of my life, I find myself returning to the Psalms again and again. Frustration or fear or sorrow rises, and I find myself saying, \u201cHope, oh my soul, in the Lord, for I will yet praise him, who is the help of my countenance, and my God.\u201d Triumph and joy ride shouting in my soul, and I find myself declaring, \u201cHad it not been the Lord who was on our side, when men rose up against us, had it not been the Lord who was on our side, then they would have swallowed us alive . . . Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us to be torn by their teeth!\u201d<\/p>\n The words of the Psalms are words that God gave to his people, so that we would know how to pray, so that when our hearts were full, with joy or with sorrow, we would have the words to express ourselves to him. I am so grateful for this great gift.<\/p>\n Peace of Christ to you,<\/p>\n
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