Psalms DAY 16

DAY 16 - Let Me Think About It
Psalm 1

We’re looking at the Psalms to help us pray with wisdom and honesty. We’re calling this unique book of the Bible “a prayer soundtrack” for two reasons. First, the Psalms are prayers written as songs. Second, as we pray the Psalms again and again, they become the soundtrack of our lives. 

Whether you’re listening to John Williams’ Star Wars score or Taylor Swift’s latest album, soundtracks have a variety of songs: happy, sad, energetic, slow. Just like the Psalms! There are different kinds of Psalms that teach us different ways to pray. So far, praise psalms have taught us how to say, “I love you, Lord!” Lament psalms have taught us to pray, “Why, God?” Thanksgiving psalms help us to pray, “Thank you, God!” 

This week we look at an unusual kind of prayer-song, the wisdom psalms. Psalms of wisdom help us to say, I'm thinking. In the library called the Bible, books like Proverbs, Song of Songs, Job, and James are wisdom literature. Wisdom literature aims to help us live well by going back and forth between the practical and the philosophical. Wisdom books make us think, just like wisdom psalms make us think. 

As you read Psalm 1, you’ll notice something odd, something we also saw last week in Psalm 107. Psalm 1 doesn’t talk TO God, it talks ABOUT God. That’s not how we’re used to thinking about prayer! But there it is in our prayer-songs: a prayer talking about God, not to God. 

How does talking ABOUT God help us talk TO God? That’s our question this week, but rest assured: thinking is essential to praying!

REFLECT
How have you experienced the different prayers modeled by the Psalms? For example, praise, lament, thanksgiving.

PRAY
Teach me to pray, Lord. Teach me this week how talking about you helps me talk to you. Amen.