Using different genres and invoking an array of emotions, Psalms is a book for the whole person. Psalms are for the intellect, will, and emotions. Each week a new Psalm will be added for reflection and contemplation. Pray it will deepen your affections for God and help you express your feelings to God. Psalms are made up of different genres. Each genre highlights different emotions. Lament, Thanksgiving, Royal, Wisdom, Messianic, Remembrance—just to name a few.
Acknowledge your emotions. The Psalms call readers to acknowledge and name emotions, encouraging us to empathize with the author. They express joy, sadness, love, anger, and thanksgiving, reminding us we are not alone in how we feel.
Pray through the Psalm. Learning to pray through Scripture calls us to slow down and see God’s heart, truth, and posture towards us in the midst of our experiences and feelings.
Reflect. Take time to review the Psalm for the week. Answer the reflection questions. Don’t rush. Your purpose is not to accomplish something, but to spend time with someone (Jesus).
Take your time. This is not a race! Intentionally make space each day to read and reflect on the Psalm. We will spend a week on each Psalm. The goal is to learn how to linger and enjoy a relationship with God through the reading of His Word.
Day 1: Read the Psalm. Just read it. Maybe read it twice.
Day 2: Answer the Reflection Questions.
Day 3: Personally Reflect on the Psalm. Note your thoughts and questions. What is your favorite verse, why?
Day 4: Write a Prayer for yourself based on the Psalm
Day 5: Slowly Reread the Psalm.
To the choirmaster: according to Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.
1 I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart;
I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.
2 I will be glad and exult in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
3 When my enemies turn back,
they stumble and perish before your presence.
4 For you have maintained my just cause;
you have sat on the throne, giving righteous judgment.
5 You have rebuked the nations; you have made the wicked perish;
you have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy came to an end in everlasting ruins;
their cities you rooted out;
the very memory of them has perished.
7 But the Lord sits enthroned forever;
he has established his throne for justice,
8 and he judges the world with righteousness;
he judges the peoples with uprightness.
9 The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.
10 And those who know your name put their trust in you,
for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
11 Sing praises to the Lord, who sits enthroned in Zion!
Tell among the peoples his deeds!
12 For he who avenges blood is mindful of them;
he does not forget the cry of the afflicted.
13 Be gracious to me, O Lord!
See my affliction from those who hate me,
O you who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 that I may recount all your praises,
that in the gates of the daughter of Zion
I may rejoice in your salvation.
15 The nations have sunk in the pit that they made;
in the net that they hid, their own foot has been caught.
16 The Lord has made himself known; he has executed judgment;
the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion.[d]Selah
17 The wicked shall return to Sheol,
all the nations that forget God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten,
and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail;
let the nations be judged before you!
20 Put them in fear, O Lord!
Let the nations know that they are but men! Selah
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Reflection Questions
This is a Psalm of Thankfulness. Have you ever expressed your thanks to God in this way?
In verses 7 and 8, David says God has established his throne for justice. He judges the world with righteousness. Does God's judgment bring you comfort or apprehension?
Verse 18 says, "the needy shall not always be forgotten and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever." When you're feeling in need does this verse give you hope? Do you trust the promises God offers in His Word? Why or Why not?
Praying the Psalm - take this Psalm and personalize it. Then pray it to God. This practice encourages us to experience Psalm 9 both practically and personally.