Coincidental psalms
While on the subject of prayer, many of you know that we in Lausanne have the tradition of reading through Psalms, one psalm each Sunday, one after the other. I wanted to write praying through the Psalms, but I think some of the psalms just get read-through and not prayed-through. I’m talking about myself, not others.
Recently, there were two Sundays when the psalms read-prayed were especially appropriate. The first was when we had 9 Croatians with us for the Taizé meeting in Geneva. Psalm 113:
Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord!
The second was last weekend at the women’s retreat. The weekend’s theme was Peace. The coincidental psalm? 122:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Two lovely coincidences, conducive to prayer and worship.
Recently, there were two Sundays when the psalms read-prayed were especially appropriate. The first was when we had 9 Croatians with us for the Taizé meeting in Geneva. Psalm 113:
Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!
For great is his steadfast love towards us,
and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.
Praise the Lord!
The second was last weekend at the women’s retreat. The weekend’s theme was Peace. The coincidental psalm? 122:
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
‘May they prosper who love you.
Peace be within your walls,
and security within your towers.’
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’
For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Two lovely coincidences, conducive to prayer and worship.
February 10th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
It was only a few years ago that the bulb came on in my head that the Psalms are prayers………..prayers from real people praising, thanking, and glorifying God as well as crying out in confusion, fear, pain, and disappointment. What a comfort they are!
February 11th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
The first Psalm and situation gives encouragement while the second only reminds us of how long the “Middle East” has been in conflict. I love the idea of reading and praying through Psalms in our worship.