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Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 7: God Is My Rock

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(For those keeping track of the days, I know Monday is supposed to be our Springboard for Your Spiritual Life. I spent half of yesterday at the tire store getting tires and alignment on the Suburban. Despite being told I was on the network, I couldn’t access the internet. Then, just when I was going to get to make it to the office and put up my posts, Ryan, my seven-year-old, had a bike accident and I had to get him to the ER for stitches. He’s fine, just scraped up, thanks for asking. So, I’m putting up yesterday’s post now and will add in today’s Springboard for Your Family Life later today.)

Praying Like the Psalmists

If you are stumbling across this for the first time, you may want to start at the beginning of the series and work your way through the links at the end of each post.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts. We’ve learned so much about the psalmists and their relationship with God. I hope today’s is no exception.

Believing in the God of the Psalmists: God Is My Rock

Psalm 18:1-3 portrays it perfectly:

I love you, O LORD, my strength.
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
and I am saved from my enemies.

This is, perhaps, the most important aspect of the Psalmists’ belief in God. God was not simply an ethereal being out in the obscure heavens. He was a very real presence.

They viewed life as a battle. They were at war. The enemy pressed around on all sides. But they had a refuge, a place where they could find comfort, protection, strength. That place was God. They did not rely on their own strength. They did not rely on the strength of men. They relied on God.

The heading of Psalm 18 claims it was written on the day when David was delivered from his enemies, including Saul. What a great story that was. David refused to lift a finger against Saul because he was God’s anointed. Yet, God brought David the victory. David may have fled to other kingdoms. He may have hidden in caves. He may have gathered soldiers. But he knew none of this was his real strength and protection, God was. Without God, the kings, caves, and soldiers would have done him on good.

Letting God be Our Rock

If God is our rock, we trust Him. We do what He says just because He said it, even when we don’t understand why. If He is our protection, we just rely on Him. 

If we will ever pray as the psalmists did, we must surrender ourselves to God as they did. When David refused to strike Saul, he did so against what seemed wise. He did so against the advice of his friends and supporters. They even tried to get David to see it was a sign from God to strike down Saul. But David surrendered to God’s word. He would not strike God’s anointed. That meant his enemy would live and hunt him longer. What great faith David demonstrated there.

Who is your enemy? What is your oppression? Take your eyes off of those things and focus them on God. What is God’s will for you today? What has He said in His word about your life? Do that. Just do that. Trust God to protect you. He is the your rock, your redeemer, your deliverer, your strong and mighty tower. 

Certainly, to the world you will look foolish. Certainly, they will mock you and claim what you are doing is useless. In the end, God’s way works, even if it doesn’t work the way we expected. Let God be your protector. Quit relying on your own strength and start relying on God’s. Let go in faith and put your hand in His. He will take care of you.

Our Rock and Our Prayer

Whoever we rely on is who we’ll pray to. If we simply rely on ourselves, prayer will always be a struggle. It will never be anything more than a checklist to-do item that we intend to get to but keep putting off. If we rely on parents, we will constantly be appealing to them. If we rely on government, they will receive our constant requests. If we rely on friends, we will latch ourselves on to them and not let go. However, when we see God as the source of our protection, comfort, and victory, prayer will just happen.

How can we not pray when we believe God is the only way we’ll make it through the day victorious? As long as we think we’ve got our lives under control or could if we just tried harder, we’ll struggle with prayer. The days we see God as our only hope, we’ll pray like the psalmists.

Maybe you’re struggling with that. Then let me give you the one piece of advice that has really helped me–“Act as if.” If you can’t quite say it is completely true that you can only truly survive if you rely on God today, then act as if you believed that. How would you pray then? How would you act? How would you treat others? Do that and see if the real faith doesn’t start growing.

If we want to pray like the psalmists, we have to believe in their God. Their God was their rock. He must be ours as well.

(Don’t forget to come back next week when we talk about the psalmists view of God as the shepherd.)

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 6: God is King

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Mondays have just been tough for the past two months. One thing and another have kept the Spiritual Springboard from being published, but I’m back in the saddle with our look at Praying Like the Psalmists. 

 Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.

As we examine the psalms with prayer in mind, we’ll analyze, categorize, and subdivide the psalms. We’ll look at words and phrases. We’ll examine figures, pictures, and illustrations. We’ll learn a great deal. However, the first step to praying like the psalmists has little to do with their forms and figures. It has to do with their relationship with God. If we want to pray as they did, we need to believe in the God they did.

We have already seen that they believed God is, God is the creator, God is my creator, God is the source, and God is the judge. In addition to all this, God was the king of the psalmists. 

This is especially impressive considering one of the main psalmists was King David. While the psalmists recognized their earthly king and even wrote psalms about him and his place before God (e.g. Psalm 18:50; Psalm 20:9 et al), they still understood that the true and ultimate King was God. 

Psalm 2 demonstrates this. The king of Israel was on the throne only because God on His throne in the heavens placed him there. Go set the king on the holy hill of Zion.

However, God was not simply king of Israel. He is the king of the universe and everything in it. Psalm 95:3 demonstrates this absolute superiority and sovereignty, saying, “For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.” Why pray to Jehovah when their neighbors prayed to their pantheon of gods? Because Jehovah is the king. Even if those other gods actually existed, Jehovah is the absolute ruler of all things. Why settle for minions. Go straight to the source, the ruler, the king.

Don’t misunderstand. The psalmists were absolutely anchored in their belief that those other gods didn’t actually exist. Psalm 86:10 addresses the Lord, “For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.” There are no others. 

Finally, God was not simply the king out there in the heavens with some kind of ethereal rule over the universe. God was king of the psalmists. 

“Give attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you do I pray.” – Psalm 5:2

“Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God.” – Psalm 84:3

“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever.” – Psalm 145:1

As King, God had the right to tell the psalmists what to do. He was an integral part of their lives. At the same time, as King, He was their protector, their deliverer, their guide. God was not just out their in the heavens; He was part of their life. He was their King.

If we want to pray like the psalmists, we must let God be King in our lives.

(Come back next Monday to learn more about the psalmists’ relationships with God. Learn to pray to God the rock, fortress, and mighty tower.)

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 5: God is Judge

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(If you want to learn more about prayer from the psalms, start at the beginning of the series and follow the successive links.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

We’ve been looking at the God of the psalmists for several weeks. We probably need a quick reminder of what this is all about. For centuries, Christians have turned to the Psalms to learn to pray and to improve in prayer. Filled with prayers of all kinds, it is a natural place to turn. We have learned if we want to pray more like the psalmists, we must begin by believing in the God the psalmists believed in. Last week, we learned that they saw God as the source of all things. This week, we note they prayed because they viewed God as the judge.

God, the Awesome Judge, Worthy of Praise

Psalm 96 really nails home the connection between God as creator and judge. It is a natural connection. If God made the heavens, the earth, and all that is in them, then God gets to hold all that is in them to account. The psalmist saw idols made by men and realized they are worthless. However, our God made the heavens. Our God made us. That leads to the following conclusion:

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns!
Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved;
he will judge the peoples with equity.
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
let the field exult, and everything in it!
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the LORD, for he comes,
for he comes to judge the earth
He will judge the world in righteousness,
and the peoples in his faithfulness.
–Psalm 96:10-13

Interestingly, unlike modern feeling, the psalmists did not view God as judge as a negative thing. When we hear “judge” today, we think of awful connotations. Not so the psalmists. They were glad to sing of God as the judge. They knew God would judge in righteousness and with faithfulness. Who else could they possibly want as judge but God?

God is not just a judge. He is the judge. Therefore, He is worthy of great praise and honor. How could they not pray to Him?

We Can Turn to the Judge To Avenge the Wicked

Psalm 94 demonstrates another reason the psalmist turned to God since He is judge. 

O LORD, God of vengeance,
O God of vengeance, shine forth!
Rise up, O judge of the earth;
repay the proud what they deserve!
–Psalm 94:1-2

There is a lot of evil in the world. Sinners abound who try to overthrow those who lean on God. When we finally become rigorously honest, we realize we cannot defeat these enemies. We have only one place to turn. God. He is the creator. He is the ruler. He is the source. He is the judge. Despite the despair the psalmists often had because they didn’t believe God was acting quickly enough, they still maintained the faith that in the end, God would rise up and vindicate those who relied on Him, judging and punishing those who mistreated His people.

Perhaps this helps us with some of those pesky imprecatory psalms (the psalms in which curses are called down on enemies). The psalmists themselves did not take their own vengeance. They did not judge in that final sense. However, they knew to whom they could turn. They could turn to God. Let God know what was going on in their heart and trust God to do what was right. It was not their place to take vengeance. It was God’s. He is the judge, not us. Therefore, instead of seeking personal vengeance, they turned to God. They trusted God to do what was right.

 The Great Comfort of God the Judge

The great comfort we can take from God being the judge is revealed in Psalm 75:2. “At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.” Our God is impartial. He judges with equity. The great judge of all the earth will do what is right. We can trust that. He will not judge improperly. We can entrust our souls to Him. Further, we don’t have to worry that He will offer some special status to other differently from us. He will judge rightly. The same could not be said for the rest of us.

Frankly, I’m glad God is the judge and you’re not. In like manner, you should be glad God is the judge and I’m not.

God is judge. Let us praise Him today.

(Come back for our next installment to learn that the psalmists prayed to God because He is King.)

Believing in the God of the Psalmist, Part 4: God is the Source

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(If you want to learn more about prayer from the Psalms, start at the beginning of the study and follow the links to each successive entry.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

Last week we learned that to the Psalmists, God was not just the creator in general, but God is my creator. This week we look at what I believe is one of the most shocking points of learning to pray like the psalmists. they prayed to God not simply because they saw Him as their creator. They prayed to Him because they saw Him as the source. 

God is the source of all good things. God is the source of life (Psalm 36:9). He is the source of blessing (Psalm 24:5). He is the source of truth (Psalm 43:3). I’m really comfortable with this. After all, James 1:17 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” 

But the psalmists didn’t stop with good things. They went on to view God as the source of the bad things that happened to them as well. He was the source of illness (Psalm 102:3-11), enemies (Psalm 13:2), financial ruin (Psalm 62:9-10), struggles (Psalm 88:3-7). Sometimes they saw God as the source because they viewed the bad things as retribution (Psalm 6:1-3). Sometimes they saw God as the source because if He had acted on their behalf it wouldn’t have happened, but He didn’t (Psalm 31:1-2).

Hermann Gunkel saw this is as on of the profoundest differences between the Hebrew psalms and the psalms of the culture’s surrounding the ancient Hebrews. 

A profound manner of thought stands alongside this immediate and apparently primitive manner of thought. It seeks connection between YHWH and the illness, which is very different from Babylonian prayer where illness and distress are generally traced back to evil demons and magicians. Even at this point one can see how Israelite religions sought to trace everything that happens in the world back to YHWH, and to understand everything in relationship to YHWH (Introduction to Psalms, Mercer University Press, Macon, GA, 1998, p 136). 

I hate to admit it, but I’m much more like the Babylonian’s on this. I am quick to see God as the source of the good, but want to add in all kinds of buffers between God and the bad. I am happy to attribute bad things to Satan or to time and chance. Why? Because I am afraid if we treat God as the source of the bad things that happen to us, people will start getting mad at God and start turning their backs on Him.

However, I can’t help but notice for the psalmists, seeing God as the source of these negative occurrences didn’t weaken their faith. Rather it strengthened it. These psalms, even when they blame God for bad things (see Psalm 88), are amazing attestations of faith. They believed God was there. They believed God was listening. They believed God should act. They didn’t turn from God when they saw Him as the source, rather, they cried out all the more.

I certainly don’t think this means God micromanages the world. I don’t think this means God is the direct cause of everything in the world. I don’t think this denies the free will of the men, women, and sinners involved in so many bad things that happen. I know that when the enemies attack I can attribute it to their free will. I know I can attribute it to Satan trying to tempt me. At the same time, when the psalmist started tracing the bad things back to their ultimate source, they couldn’t help but see God as the sovereign ruler of the universe. If God had acted, as they expected Him too, they wouldn’t suffer the bad thing. Therefore, He was the ultimate source. Even if it made them mad at God, they still just took it to Him. 

I’m beginning to wonder if I haven’t made a mistake in the past. In order to protect God from the anger of His children, I’ve told those who’ve suffered illness, financial struggles, family turmoil, and even the loss of loved ones not to blame God. I’ve told them to turn their ire at the devil. With some, they did and they moved on. Others, however, couldn’t just stuff their feelings of anger toward God. Rather, they simply grew in bitterness and learned that I wasn’t a safe one to talk to about these things. Perhaps if I had simply taken them to some psalms and said, “I get it. You blame God. You’re mad at Him. I understand that. Look at this psalmist. He was right where you are. You know what he did? He prayed to God about it. Why don’t you read his psalm and pray with him?” God doesn’t need me to run interference for Him. Rather, He wants me to send His children to Him when they are upset at Him.

The long and short of it for me is this. One reason the psalmists prayed so amazingly is because they saw God as the source. Therefore, whether times were good or bad, they knew where to turn. Whether they needed to offer praise or lament, they knew who they needed to direct it to. They had no question about it. If things were good, God be praised. If things were bad, God be petitioned. Where else was there to go? God is the ultimate source of it all.

Tell me what you think.

(Come back next Monday for the next installment as we learn that God is the Judge.)

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 3: God is My Creator

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(If you want to study more on this topic, start at the beginning of this series on prayer and the Psalms and follow the links to each successive post.  Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

My excitement for this series is increased this week because I just got home from Orlando, Florida after a great weekend with the teenagers from the South Bumby Church of Christ. We spent four hours on Saturday talking about prayer from the psalms. I know I was built up and I hope they were too.

Last week we saw God is creator. However, the psalmists took it even further than just a general statement about creation. God is not only the creator in general. He is very specifically my creator.

Psalm 139 drives this home better than any other passage.

For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Psalm 139:13-16

If God is creator of the universe, He is sovereign ruler of the universe. If He is creator of me, He is the sovereign ruler of me. The psalmist recognized that this creation gives God intimate knowledge of me.

You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar. 
You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it.

Psalm 139:2-6 

As we expect an inventor to know the ins and outs of the work of his hands, God knows us intimately. He knows how we tick. He knows how we think. He knows how we respond. He knows what we will say before we say it. The psalmist is left in awe. “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.” Notice, the psalmist doesn’t get bogged down trying to figure out how that works. He doesn’t get bogged down trying to figure out if he even needs to speak this psalm because God already knows. He is just in awe of God’s knowledge and he expresses it.

Perhaps the greatest point we should get from this psalm however is not that God knows the thoughts of the psalmists, but that the psalmist, seeing God as his creator, wants to know the thoughts of God.

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
I awake, and I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

The psalmist also realizes this means God is my judge.

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try my and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way!

Psalm 139:23-24

At first, this statement brings up some fear in me. I’m not sure I’m ready to tell God search me that thoroughly. I’m not sure if I’m ready for God to look in every crack and crevice of my heart to find if there is any grievous way in me. I already know I’m still growing. I know there are struggles and problems. The psalmist seems to be saying he knows he is pure. However, at second glance, I think there is something other than acknowledging God’s judgment and the psalmist believing he measures up. Instead, he ends the thought with, “…lead me in the way everlasting!” Is it possible the psalmist is not saying, “Look at me God. Judge me God. I measure up”? Is it possible he is saying, “God look at me. Know me. Find everything that is wrong and fix it by leading me in your way”? I’m tending toward that second idea. After all, we’ve heard the first kind of statement before. But that was from a Pharisee and Jesus said that man was not justified. Perhaps God’s knowing us is not as frightening as it seems at first. Yes, He is judge. But He is not waiting to cast us into hell. He wants to search our hearts and show us the right way. 

We must acknowledge God is our creator. He knows us. He knows how we work. He knows what is in our heart. Therefore, He can help us. Let us surrender to Him. Let us open every closet. Let us expose every buried skeleton. Let us shed the light in every chasm. We are only as sick as our darkest secrets. Let us let God’s light shine on them all so He can lead us away from our grievous way and onto in His everlasting way.

Come back next Monday as we strike on one of the most shocking aspects of the Psalmists faith in God. If we are going to believe in the God of the psalmists, we will see Him as the source.

Believing in the God of the Psalmists, Part 1: God Is

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If we want to improve our prayer lives, a great place to go is Psalms. The prayers of these saints soar on heights we can hardly fathom. Over the last two weeks of our Spiritual Springboard we noticed 2 Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Exactly Like the Psalmists and then 2 More Reasons.

You may also want to check out the index for this entire series of posts.

Now we want to turn our study to what we can learn from the psalmists about praying.

The foundation for praying as the psalmists did is believing in the God of the psalmists. This is so much more than just saying, “Yeah, I believe in Jehovah.” This means examining the psalms and what they said about God. Because of what the psalmists believed about God, they prayed. If we want to pray like they did, we’ll have to believe like they did. When we believe like they did, prayer will no longer be a checklist item of Christian homework to try to accomplish every day like that daily literature journal our college lit professors tried to get us to do. When we believe like they did, prayer will be our natural response. We won’t be able to help praying.

The first point we need to notice is the psalmists believed God Is.

God Is

You may think this should go without saying and we need to move on to more important topics. However, sometimes the very obvious needs to be stated. When we don’t state it, even the obvious is forgotten. Yet, even more than stating the obvious, we should get beneath the surface of this statement.

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”–Psalm 14:1

“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.'”–Psalm 53:1

As if to make the point abundantly clear, the Psalms contain these two almost identical songs. Both begin with the same sentiment. Only fools declare there is no God. Of course, the atheists and agnostics believe the exact opposite. In this post, I don’t wish to argue that point, but simply show what the Psalmists believed.

The Springboard for Prayer

The reason this point is so phenomenal is not just about the psalmists’ faith but their faith despite all the other things they say in their prayers. Too many people today pray and when things don’t go their way, assume God must not exist. The psalmists prayed and prayed and prayed and things didn’t always go their way. What did they do? They prayed again. Why? Because they did not believe the evidence of God’s existence was wrapped up in whether or not God did what they asked.

They prayed because they believed God was there. They didn’t suddenly assume God was zapped out of existence simply because He didn’t respond on their timetable or in their way. 

Consider Psalm 88. It is a benchmark psalm for me and will come up repeatedly in our study. In Psalm 88:1, Heman claimed he cried out to God day and night. The rest of the psalm chronicled Heman’s troubles. He had endured many of them. He laid them at God’s feet and claimed God was the author of them. He got mad at God. He accused God. He didn’t understand God. However, for all of those very troubling aspects of those psalms he never denied God. He didn’t question God’s existence. He assumed it. That was why Heman was so troubled. Why, since God does exist and does care, wouldn’t He do something about Heman’s troubles? It didn’t even enter his mind to say, “Since God is not doing something about all this, He must not be there.” Yet, that is exactly the response of so many today.

If we want to pray like the psalmists, our faith must be anchored in God’s existence. God will not respond to our prayers on our timetable. He is not bound by our whims and wishes. As the sovereign ruler of the universe who sees the beginning from the end and knows all sides of our lives and the entire world, we can trust Him to do what is right. He knows better than we do. He knows when to respond and how. We need to be like Heman. The very fact that he wrote Psalm 88 indicates his continued faith that God Is, even though God is not bound by Heman’s will.

From the psalmists perspective, wise and righteous people might get mad at God. They might accuse God of being the author of some of their troubles. They might feel like God is far away and is ignoring them. But only the fool looks at all that and says, “There is no God.” 

As we grow in prayer, we will have all kinds of questions and struggles. However, we will always have a leg up as long as we maintain our faith. God is out there even if we feel like He is far away. God is still there. He is still the sovereign ruler of the universe. Only the fool, no matter how smart he thinks he is, says there is no God.

Come back next Monday to learn that the Psalmists did not merely believe God is, but they believed God is the creator of all that is.