Finding Solace in the Psalms

" Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love,

for in you I trust.

Make me know the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul".

Psalm 143: 8

This morning was full of turbulence and conflict as I struggled to get my daughter off to school. Tears were in her eyes and protests were strongly made as she built her case as to why she shouldn't have to go to school. Parenting is not an easy thing and oftentimes doing the right thing brings much heartache. Every child is different and in some cases I might have let her take a day off for repreive, but knowing my daughter's circumstances and her personality I knew this would only open a doorway to repetitive requests, surely to become a daily habit if I didn't take a strong but loving stance this morning. I also felt it was important for her to face her fears and troubles, rather than avoid them-an important lesson in life.

As I watched the bus leave I was filled with angst and uncertainty...and yes, guilt.  I didn't know how she would be as she got off the bus and I longed to send her courage, strength and peace as she wandered down the hallways towards her classroom. One of the hardest things about being a parent is that we can't always be there physically with our children, even when we know they are struggling emotionally to overcome feelings of insecurity and fears. We just have to hope that we have built strong foundations in which they can stand and face life's continual assaults.

As I returned inside our house and my son turned began to play, anguish crept in and I could no longer keep my grief at bay.  I poured out my heart to God and asked Him to send her healing peace and love. Thoughts and feelings clouded my perceptions and I knew I needed to get focused so I turned to where I oftentimes turn when I need to find some solace and peace...the Psalms. Above was a verse that gave me some encouragement this morning, and I'd like to share a few more that helped my heart feel more light and that gave me a renewed sense of hope.

Psalm 125: 1-2

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

As the mountains surround Jerusalem,

so the Lord surrounds his people,

from this time forth and forevermore.

Psalm 63: 1-4

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

So I have looked uopon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory.

Because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

So I will bless you as long as I live;

in your name I will lift up my hands.

Psalm 62: 5-8

For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence,

for my hope is from him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

my fortress; I shall not be shaken.

On God rests my salvation and my glory;

my mighty rock, my refuge is God,

Trust in him at all times, O people;

pour out your heart before him;

God is a refuge for us.

Praying the Psalms in times of emotional and spiritual exhaustion, in times of uncertainty and distress can be a transforming experience. It can give us the strength and  direction to turn situations around. It helps take the focus off of our problems and puts our focus back on God. It reminds us of who God is...our rock, our refuge, our source of comfort, peace and salvation: our healer. It reminds us of the steadfast love of our creator and the deep hope that there is to be found in laying everything before His throne and trusting completely in His grace and Will.

In what ways do you turn to when the strong waves of life threaten to knock you off balance, seeking to steal your peace and focus off of God? Do you turn to liturgical prayer? The psalms? Meditation? Or perhaps some other way? Please share :)

Praying the Psalms: Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I read this passage from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book "Life Together" and decided to share it with everyone because it explains a quandary that I found myself in at one time when I started off trying to read the Psalms as prayers.  I love how Bonhoeffer explains the quandary which so many can relate to and the explanation that makes the understanding of the dilemma make sense almost at once. He starts off with a question so many have asked at one point of another:

How can God's Word be at the same time prayer to God?


The question brings with it an observation that is made by everybody who begins to use the psalms as prayers. First he tries to repeat the psalms personally as his own prayer. But soon he comes upon passages that he feels he cannot utter as his own personal petitions. We recall, for example, the psalms of innocence, the bitter, the imprecatory psalms, and also in part the psalms of the Passion. And yet these prayers are words of Holy Scripture which a believing Christian cannot simply dismiss as outword and obsolete, as "early stages of religion."...He can read and hear them as the prayer of another person, wonder about them, be offended by them, but can neither pray them himself nor discard them from the Bible.


The practical expedient would be to say that any person in this sitaution should first stick to the psalms he can understand and repeat, and in that case of the other psalms he should learn quite simply to let stand what is incomprehensible and difficult...this difficulty indicates the point at which we get our first glimpse of the secret of the Psalter. A psalm that we cannot utter is a prayer, that makes us falter and horrifies us, is a hint to us that here Someone else is praying, nor we; that the One who is here protesting his innocence, who is invoking God's judgment, who has come to such infinite depths of suffering, is none other than Jesus Christ himself. He it is who is praying here, and not only here but in the whole Psalter.


...Even if a verse or a psalm is not one's own prayer, it is nevertheless the prayer of another member of the fellowship; so it is quite certainly the prayer of the Man Jesus Christ and his Body on earth. ...The Psalter is the great school of prayer.

                                              ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together, p.45

Here is how Ambrose, a 4th century bishop of Milan viewed the Psalms.

"Yes, a psalm is a blessing on the lips of the people, a hymn in praise of God, the assembly's homage, a general acclamation, a word that speaks for all, the voice of the church, a confession of faith in song. It is the voice of complete assent, the joy of freedom, a cry of happiness, the echo of gladness. It soothes the temper, distracts from care, litens the burden of sorrow. Day begins to the music of a psalm. Day closes to the echo of a psalm."

So, when we read the Psalms and come across passages that we think have nothing to do with ourselves, we shouldn't skip over them!  Or merely think of them as something that has no application to ourselves and that should be perceived from simply a historical viewpoint.We should be reminded that the Psalms speak for all our brothers and sisters, including ourselves. Even if we are having a great day and then come across a Psalm that speaks of being in despair and surrounded by one's enemies..it is a reminder of the persecution of others in the body of Christ...others that need our prayers.

Heavenly Father,

Thank you for bringing us safely into this new day. May we be guided by Your Holy Spirit to communicate with love and understanding to those we encounter. Help us, in our cluttered lives, to find time for simple devotion. To feast upon the  spiritual manna, the bread of Life, that is Your Word. Help us to open our hearts to greater depths of love as we grow deeper in our relationship with You. Help us to shine Your light into a world that desperately needs it. May our prayers be like incense, rising up to you as fragrant offerings of devotion.

We love You and give You all glory ,honor and praise.

In Jesus' precious name,
Amen