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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 2: God is Creator

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(If you want to study more, start at the beginning of this series on Praying Like the Psalmists. Or check out the index for this entire series of posts.)

Last week we learned the Psalmists prayed because they believed God Is. Yet, their faith did not end there. God was not merely out there, He was integrally related to what is down here. He is the author of it all. He is the creator. Everything down here is merely the creature.

God is Creator

Psalm 8:3 defines it, saying, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place…” Look to the skies. See the moon, the stars, the planets; these are not just out there. They are there because God put them there. They are His handiwork. Be in awe of the great God who said, “Let there be light” and there it was. Merely looking at the expanse of the sky should remind us of God’s glory. However, the more we learn about creation the more in awe we should be. Sadly, too many scientists keep studying to disprove God. Yet, the more they learn about the intricacies of creation, the more I’m amazed at God. From the precision with which our expansive solar system moves creating days, months, seasons, and years, to the extensive information stored in the most microscopic of cells, every bit of creation sings for God’s praise. Psalm 19:1-2 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.” Every part of creation prompts us to praise God, from the burning gas of the stars to the brilliant colors of the flowers to the amazing efficiency of the ants and bumblebees.

Psalm 89:11-12 says, “The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. The north and the south, you have created them; Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.” Because God is the creator of all I see, He is the owner of all I see. As Psalm 50:10-11 says, “For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.” None of this is ours. It is all God’s. He merely grants us the use of it. You think your father is rich and has a great many land holdings? My Father has yours beat. He owns it all and one day your father will have to give account to mine for how he used the land.

The Springboard for Our Prayers

Here is the crux of the matter. When we fully see God as the creator of heaven and earth, of all we see, and all that is, prayer will no longer be a checklist item of Christian homework. Rather, prayer will become the natural response to who God is and what He has done. How can we help but praise God when He is that powerful? How can we help but petition when we see we are so weak in comparison? How can we help but confess to the God who holds us in the palm of His creative (and therefore destructive) hand? He is the creator. He is the owner. He is the sustainer. Because of Him we have life. Because of Him we have breath. Because of Him we have food. Because of Him we have clothes. Because of Him this world is perfectly suited for us. How could we not pray when we let this sink in to our hearts?

Additionally, when we fully see God as creator of heaven and earth, of all we see, and all that is, everything becomes a reminder and a prompt to pray. The budding trees, the blooming flowers, the mountains, the valleys, the fruit trees, the cedars, the stars, the moon, the planets, the people, the animals, the plants. Everything around us is the handiwork of God. Everything around us is reason to praise God. Walk outside whether day or night and pray with your eyes open. Start thanking God and praising Him for everything you see that comes from Him. Be amazed at it all.

The Psalmists prayed like they did because they saw God as Creator. Do we? Do we really? Or is creation merely one of those points we like to argue technically about with the atheists? 

Praise for God the Creator

Psalm 148 provides the ultimate crescendo of praise for God as creator.

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, from the heavens;
praise him in the heights!
Praise him, all his angels;
praise him, all his hosts!

Praise him, sun and moon,
praise him, all you shining stars!
Praise him, you highest heavens,
and you waters above the heavens!

Let them praise the name of the Lord!
For he commanded and they were created.
And he established them forever and ever;
he gave a decree, and it shall not pass away.

Praise the lord from the earth,
you great sea creatures and all deeps,
fire and hail, snow and mist,
stormy wind fulfilling his word!

Mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars!
Beasts and all livestock,
creeping things and flying birds! 

Kings of the earth and all peoples,
princes and all rulers of the earth!
Young men and maidens together,
old men and children!

Let them praise the name of the lord,
for his name alone is exalted;
his majesty is above earth and heaven.
He has raised up a horn for his people,
praise for all his saints,
for the people if Israel who are near to him.

Praise the Lord! 

Come back next Monday to learn that the Psalmists did not merely see God as the creator of all that is out there. They saw God as creator of me and all that is within me.

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.

2 More Reasons We Don’t Have to Pray Exactly Like the Psalmists

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Next Monday, we’ll move on to learning how to pray like the psalmists. This week, however, we’ll conclude what we started last Monday by noting two more reasons we don’t have to pray exactly like the Psalmists. Also, you may want to check out the index for the entire series of posts.

Last week we learned we don’t have to pray exactly like the Psalmists because…

1. The Psalms are part of the Old Covenant and Not Part of Our Covenant with God.

2. The Psalm were not written as the universal guide for all praying, but were written in a culturally appropriate genre.

There are two more reasons we do not have to pray exactly like the psalmists.

3. When Jesus was asked to teach His disciples how to pray, He didn’t refer to the Psalms.

In Luke 11:1-13, Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray. While some of the principles He demonstrated can also be learned from the Psalms, He did not once go to the Psalms as the guide for how we are to pray. Rather, He provided a model for prayer and then stated some principles about persistence and about how God wants to bless us.

I have to believe if the Psalms were the guide we have to follow about praying, Jesus would have used them directly and set them up as our standard. But He didn’t.

Having said that, I do note that Jesus did use the Psalms in prayer. While on the cross He prayed the Psalms twice. In Matthew 27:46, Jesus prayed Psalm 22:1: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” In Luke 23:46, Jesus prayed Psalm 31:5: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” 

I conclude that we do not have to pray exactly like the psalmists. However, if we want to pray like Jesus, we can certainly learn from the psalmists.

4. Even the Old Covenant Hebrews Didn’t Pray Like the Psalmists.

WHAT?!

I know that shocks you; let me repeat it. Even the Old Covenant Hebrews didn’t pray like the Psalmists. Oh, no doubt, at times the Hebrews incorporated the Psalms in their prayers. I’m sure many of the psalms are liturgical in nature. That is, they were actually incorporated into their formal worship. For instance, it makes perfect sense to see Psalm 24:1-10 as part of their public worship as they opened the gates of the temple every morning. The Psalms of Ascent seemed to have been used as the Jews pilgrimaged their way to Jerusalem.

I recognize the Jews did pray the psalms. What I mean is when Jews hit their knees in prayer on a daily basis as they faced the hardships of life and needed God’s help, they didn’t pray in Hebrew poetry anymore than we would. Don’t be surprised at this. Have you read Job? For 35 chapters these 5 friends argue about what was happening to Job. Do any of us actually believe they argued in Hebrew poetry? Of course not. We understand this was a stylized account of what happened.

I suggest that is exactly what we see in the Psalms. They are not the natural prayers the normal Hebrews would offer. Rather, they were stylized accounts of what happened surrounding prayers. Certainly, they were adopted in later prayers. However, for example, David didn’t just naturally spout off the Hebrew poetry of Psalm 57:1-11 or Psalm 142:1-7 while he was hiding in a cave, fearing for his life.

When we just think about this for a moment, we can all naturally recognize this. However, I can actually show you a specific instance that demonstrates it. Isaiah 38 shows the prayer of an ancient Hebrew and then the psalm he wrote later about the circumstance.

King Hezekiah was going to die. God had told him through Isaiah to get his affairs in order, his time was up. In Isaiah 38:3 we see Hezekiah’s prayer: “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” That doesn’t sound very psalmish. Rather, it sounds very prosaic, straightforward, normal. In fact, it sounds an awful lot like a simple prayer we might offer today. There is no poetic form, no parallelism, no chiasm, no imagery. 

However, in Isaiah 38:10-20 we see the psalm Hezekiah wrote to memorialize this circumstance. I have no doubt at later times Jews probably used this psalm in their prayers, but this psalm wasn’t just the natural prayer offered up. I am sure if we could see behind the scenes of all the psalms, we would find similar stories. 

Even we might write a poetic prayer that we used repeatedly, but that is not the natural way we pray. We might find some poetic prayers, even the psalms, and adopt their language in our prayers or even recite them in prayer. However, that is not how we pray naturally. The psalmists didn’t do that either. We don’t have to feel guilty if our natural and normal prayers don’t soar to the poetic heights of the psalms.

Wrapping Up the Springboard

We are going to learn a great deal about praying from the psalmists. However, I thought it was important to set our minds at ease. We don’t ever have to pray just like the psalmists. We don’t have to feel guilty if we don’t naturally pray like they did. We can simply be free to study the psalms as long as we like and grow as much as they’ll let us without feeling overwhelmed. 

I’m looking forward to this study and hope you are as well. Come back next Monday for our next installment. We’re going to learn if we want to pray like the psalmists, we have to believe in the God they did and we’ll start learning what they believed about God.