Faith Expressions

The Books of Psalms is a handbook of prayers. It consists of hymns and prayers composed by some Israelites over a period of time and collected by the Israelites to be used personally by each Israelite or by the community.  Many of the psalms are attributed to David. The total number of psalms written by David is seventy-three. From the psalms of David, we can understand quite clearly why the Book of Psalms is a book of prayers.

Psalms 9:1-2 – “I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart; I will tell of all your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” – King David

Comment – King David is praising God with all his heart. God is his joy, and that is charm offensive par excellence, and he is telling everyone about God as his joy. The king is serenading the King of kings.

Psalms 139:13-14 – “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” – King David

Comment – King David is thanking God that he is His creation, a human being so gloriously made in the image and likeness of God. God is the creator, the author and source of life. How joyful King David is with God!

Psalms 103:1-5 – “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” – King David

Comment – King David is praising God again, and he is praising God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind and with all his strength. He is praising God for all the blessings he has received from God, and he is simply besides himself with joy.

Psalms 23:1-3 – “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.” – King David

Comment – For King David, God is his shepherd who gives him peace, keeps his well-being and leads him to righteousness for God’s glory. For King David, God alone is sufficient. Period.

Psalms 139:7-8 – “Where can I go to hide from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to the heavens, you are there; if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there.” – King David

Comment – Here again, King David testifies that God is God. He is omnipresent; he is everywhere at the same time. He sees all things. No one can hide from God. 

Psalms 3:5-6 – “I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around.” – King David

Comment – King David prays in the morning and thank God for his life and the new day. His morning prayer includes a prayer for protection from his enemies, and he places his trust in God.

Psalms 6:6-7 – “I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.” – King David

Comment – At night, King David shares his sadness and troubles with God. He is not ashamed to tell God his problems. King David is intimate with God. This is pure and simple quality bonding.

Psalms 5:3 – “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.” – King David

Comment – King David prays every morning. He knows God listens to his prayer and requests, and he trusts God to deliver.

Psalms 4:9 – “In peace I lie down and sleep, for only with your help, O Lord, can I rest secure.” – King David

Comment – King David prays in the evening. He feels relaxed and sleeps well. He places his trust in God. God is his protector. ----- So King David prays in the morning and prays in the evening. Good job, King David!

Psalms 5:1-2 – “Give ear to my words, O Lord; give heed to my sighing. Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.” – King David

Comment – King David is asking God for His help. The king is sighing and crying, and he is informing God that he needs his support very badly. And so he prays.

Psalms 108: 6-7 – “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory shine over all the earth. With your right hand come to our aid so that those you love may be delivered.” – King David

Comment – King David is praying for his constituents, his people. He is asking God to be their deliverance. That’s real public service from the king.

Psalms 22:1 – “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” – King David

Comment – King David feels completely abandoned by God. But not really. The king is in a state of brokenness, and it is a period when one either tries to overcome the problems and pains of life or simply gives up on them. It is a stage of soul-searching where one has the opportunity to discover the true value of excellence, which is God who is the creator, the redeemer, and the author and source of life. 

Psalms 24:7-8 – “Lift up your heads, you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.” – King David

Comment – King David is acknowledging, again, who is God. God is the King of glory who is strong and powerful. In other words, King David is telling everyone who is the real “Who’s Who,” and it is not David, himself.

Psalms 27:4 “One thing I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.” – King David

Comment – King David has a beautiful request to God. He wants to live in God’s temple. In the serene and peaceful environment of God’s temple, King David acknowledges his human frailties to God, and while the king recognizes all his weaknesses and faults, he is able, by God’s grace, “to gaze into the loveliness of the Lord.”

Psalms 68:34-35 – “His excellence is over Israel, And His strength is in the clouds. O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places. The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.” – King David

Comment – King David is happy. He is praising God for helping his constituents, his people. The king sings a song of triumph for God.

Psalms 40:9 – “I proclaim your saving acts in the great assembly; I do not seal my lips, Lord, as you know.” – King David

Comment – King David is not yet done praying. The king wants to proclaim God and His goodness to the people. The king wants to praise God in front of His people. The king wants to proclaim the good news about God. Yes, King David wants to tell the people about God.

King David learned that by praying, he was allowing himself to be loved by God and to experience who God is.

This is the Book of Psalms, a handbook of prayers. So when you pray, pray like a king. God loves you.

References: NCB, NKJB, NIV, NIVUK and NRSVACE

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