A psalm a week
Our worship time on Sunday mornings starts with praise songs and the reading of a psalm. We read the psalms in order and the reader can choose to read the whole thing or only a portion (they usually skip over the “dashing the babies against the rocks” and the “breaking of teeth” parts). Then we take prayer subjects, written down in a book, which we add to each week.
So this Sunday we’ll be back at Psalm 1, reading them through a second time. What I’ve learned is this:
- The psalms don’t always say what you want them to say;
- They’re not all about praise;
- There are a few that leave you sadder after reading them than you were before;
- If the reader didn’t prepare the psalm, it’s interesting to watch their expression as they discover it for the first time right up in front of everyone;
- Psalms remind us that believers prayed about stuff, and asked for stuff, that we don’t (hardly) ever ask for or pray for.
Are you a psalm prayer? Does your church family pray through them from time to time? Let us know what you think.
posted by Brady @ 6:15 PM
2 comments
2 Comments:
I love that idea. I especially like the fact that we would read the psalms that we usually skip over because they disturb us. The writers were sometimes MAD at God. Yet it seems that He went right on loving them anyway. It's almost as though He knew He was right and gave them time to figure it out.
I recently studied the 7 psalms of penitence. How amazing to see examples of true sorrow and repentence before God. I like to try to imagine His answers to these prayers. How patient and kind and merciful...how loving He is to His children.
With a few exceptions our scripture readings are always excerpts from the Psalms. This, as I see now, is giving the congregants and skewed view of the psalms. Our people need to know the psalms are more than just about praise.
I, too, plan on stealing (borrowing) your idea for our own reading. It will be an interesting change. Thanks for the idea.
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