Lent 2020 - praying the psalms

ASH WEDNESDAY

READ 

Psalm 51:1-17

51:1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; 

according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

51:2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

51:3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.

51:4 Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.

51:5 Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.

51:6 You desire truth in the inward being; therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.

51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

51:8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have crushed rejoice.

51:9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.

51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

51:11 Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.

51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit.

51:13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you.

51:14 Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, 

and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.

51:15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.

51:16 For you have no delight in sacrifice; 

if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.

51:17 The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; 

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

REFLECTION

As we reflect on our need for mercy,

We remember one of the names for God (in all the theistic religions) is Mercy or The Merciful One.

In what ways do we need mercy? In what ways are we called on the exercise mercy?

Mercy is associated with forgiveness and compassion. The Psalmist describes the longing for joy and restoration and the struggle to seek mercy and restoration through a broken spirit.

This period of Lent allows us to look into places of woundedness and healing, perhaps even examining our scars. We are able to consider what mercy continues to be needed.

We can also make personal commitments to become bearers of mercy for the sake of the world.

PRAYER

Merciful God, as you pour your compassion out on me, I ask that you remake my heart, mind and spirit in your reflection. May I become a creature of mercy. Amen 

WEEK 1

Psalm 32

32:1 Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

32:2 Happy are those to whom the LORD imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

32:3 While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.

32:4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

32:5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

32:6 Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.

32:7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

32:8 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

32:9 Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.

32:10 Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the LORD.

32:11 Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

REFLECTION

As we pray the psalms, we realise they are very human prayers. The psalmist is conscious of sin and brokenness. The need for healing and the experience of suffering (groaning) is named. Where do you see suffering – in your own life or in the lives of those close to you? How do you ask for relief from suffering? Do you want to hide, like the psalmist? When you are distressed, what comforts you?

How can we seek comfort as we pray? Others pray with com-passion… people are prepared to pray with each other, if we only ask. Could this be the week where the suggestion comes at morning tea or in a conversation: let us pray together? The steadfast love of the Lord is best expressed in being steadfast with others. What opportunities may arise this week to pray with and for others AND how are you prepared to be prayed for by others?

PRAYER TO PRAY WITH SOMEONE

Together we pray.

We pray for one another...

We pray for the world…

We pray for comfort in distress.

We pray our thanksgivings for one another.

We pray for blessing. AMEN

WEEK 2

Psalm 121

121:1 I lift up my eyes to the hills-- from where will my help come?

121:2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

121:3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.

121:4 He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

121:5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade at your right hand.

121:6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

121:7 The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.

121:8 The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time on and forevermore.

REFLECTION

Help! In a moment of panic, we may ask, where will help come from? We notice threat, danger or distress and wonder – who can help me? Help comes from beyond us and the cry for help is a recognition we are not sufficient unto ourselves. As we look around and see others also in need, we remember – God…. Could you possibly help? 

The psalmist reminds us to turn to God, to present our requests to God, to have faith that God cares.

When we think of God as a ‘keeper’ we imagine God tending to needs we might not even be aware of. God knows what is good for us and what threatens our wellbeing. Sometimes, we are not even aware ourselves of what is healthy and what diminishes us. Turning to God involves measuring our sense of right and wrong against God’s guidance for our lives, rather than simply choosing our own paths. We make the choice to be helped by one who promises to keep us well and whole.

PRAYER

Keep me in Your ways, O help of the ages.

Make me into a helper and teach me to keep your commands.

May I learn what it is to abide in You.

Amen

WEEK 3

Psalm 95

95:1 O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

95:3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

95:4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

95:5 The sea is his, for he made it, and the dry land, which his hands have formed.

95:6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

95:7 For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would listen to his voice!

95:8 Do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,

95:9 when your ancestors tested me, and put me to the proof, though they had seen my work.

95:10 For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they do not regard my ways."

95:11 Therefore in my anger I swore, "They shall not enter my rest."

REFLECTION 

Do you get ear-worms – songs that stick in your heard and just go around and around?

Sometimes the song might be a song or praise, repeating the glories of God. What is the song your could carry with you today – a song of life and delight in the one whose hands reach deep and high?

Do you long to throw yourself down and hug the earth that offers us nourishment and the place of our existence? We have a choice to make – to worship or to harden our hearts, but hardness of heart does not bring comfort or rest.

PRAYER

May my soul sing to you forever, O God!

May every breath be music and every thought be lyric.

May my footsteps dance for you.

My my hands be lifted in acknowledgement of you.

May my life be an act of praise.

WEEK 4

Psalm 23

23:1 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want.

23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters;

23:3 he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff-- they comfort me.

23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

23:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD my whole life long.

REFLECTION

Such a spiritually significant song for so many of us, 

but with so many practical hints for daily discipleship activity…

ACTS OF PRAYER

Lie down on the grass.

Walk by the water.

Take the paths on your wandering.

Come to God’s table.

Be anointed with oil. (Use olive oil if you don’t have anything else.)

Abide in God and let God abide in you.

WEEK 5

Psalm 130

130:1 Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.

130:2 Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!

130:3 If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

130:4 But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

130:6 my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.

130:7 O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.

130:8 It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

REFLECTION

When you are your lowest point, who is able to respond? While friends and relatives may want to help, perhaps it is the Spirit of God who is able to open us to comfort and hope. Sometimes we do not have anything – no energy nor imagination – to be able even contemplate seeking or receiving help. Sometimes help and cope break through the fog of despair to remind us that God is the source of goodness and healing.

PRAYER

In Silence, allow God to work inside you…

WEEK 6

Psalm 31:9-16

31:9 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am in distress; my eye wastes away from grief, my soul and body also.

31:10 For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my misery, and my bones waste away.

31:11 I am the scorn of all my adversaries, a horror to my neighbours, an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me in the street flee from me.

31:12 I have passed out of mind like one who is dead; I have become like a broken vessel.

31:13 For I hear the whispering of many-- terror all around!-- as they scheme together against me, as they plot to take my life.

31:14 But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, "You are my God.

31:15 My times are in your hand; deliver me from the hand of my enemies and persecutors.

31:16 Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.

REFLECTION

Grief takes over the cells of your being.

When it takes hold, grief disturbs sleep and controls the gasping desperate sobs of breath.

Sorrow pulls at the sense of being and destroys in the face of destruction already being experienced.

What whispering do we hear? Do we hear the terrors or do we intentionally listen for the whispers of comfort and promise from God? God longs to comfort us, yet it can be so hard to receive God’s embrace.

PRAYER

V.16 Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your steadfast love.