Daily Lesson for Wednesday 3rd of January 2024
Read 2 Samuel 23:1-2 and Romans 8:26-27. What do these texts teach us about prayer?
The Psalms are inspired prayers and praises of Israel, and so, in the Psalms the voice is that of God intermingled with that of His people. The Psalms assume the dynamics of vivid interactions with God.
The psalmists address God personally as “my God,” “O Lord,” and “my King” (Psalms 5:2, Psalms 84:3). The psalmists often implore God to “give ear” (Psalms 5:1), “hear my prayer” (Psalms 39:12), “look” (Psalms 25:18), “answer me” (Psalms 102:2), and “deliver me” (Psalms 6:4, NKJV). These are clearly the expressions of someone praying to God.
The remarkable beauty and appeal of the Psalms as prayers and praises lie in the fact that the Psalms are the Word of God in the form of the pious prayers and praises of believers. The Psalms, thus, provide God’s children with moments of intimacy, such as described in Romans 8:26-27: “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (NKJV).
Jesus, too, quoted from the Psalms, such as in Luke 20:42-43, when He quoted directly from Psalms 110:1—“ ‘Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms: “The Lord said to my Lord, / ‘Sit at My right hand, / Till I make Your enemies Your footstool’ ” ’ ” (NKJV).
Although some psalms have sprung from, or refer to, specific historical events and the experiences of the psalmists themselves, as well as the experiences of Israel as a nation, the Psalms’ spiritual depth speaks to a variety of life situations and crosses all cultural, religious, ethnic, and gender boundaries. In other words, as you read the Psalms, you will find them expressing hope, praise, fear, anger, sadness, and sorrow—things that people everywhere, in every age, no matter their circumstances, face. They speak to us all, in the language of our own experiences.
What should Jesus’ use of the Psalms tell us about the importance that they could play in our own faith experience?
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