Encouragement from the Psalms

It is amazing that you could read Psalms any number of times and in any number of periods of your life, and there is so much in there that just seems to suddenly show up, as if the verses where hidden before or were added in some mysterious way. Starting on Psalm 150 and going back, there are any number of ideas that could be derived from the Psalms to help with our personal prayers..

Psalm 150 verse 2 " praise him for his surpassing greatness"

One of the things to reflect on in prayer is God's greatness which surpasses anything else you could possibly think of. For example, you could pray, thank you God that your help on this matter surpasses the power of the sun, or the pull of the moon on the ocean. Thank you that your sight for me on this surpasses the best views on the earth.

Any type of help you seek from the Lord would be a surpassing type of help. We are okay with outright seeking God's surpassing greatness in our rather minute personal requests.

Psalm 149 verse 5" Let the faithful exult in glory, let them sing for joy on their couches." It is more a private banquent, my little private palace. Within this psalm, the Lord is looking for communion not only in the public praise and worship but in the private moments, whether it be personal praise, prayer or song that according to the messages of this Psalm is pleasing to the Lord. You could sing a song walking alone on a beach as well as in a crowded assembly of the faithful. This verse again points to the powerful experience of the individual with the Lord, it's like that John Denver song, " What one man can do".

Psalm 148 verses 11 and 12. " Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers of the earth, Young men and women alike, old and young together!

I run some road races including the NY Marathon and it is just like this, everybody together in one pursuit, various ages, men and women, younger and older. Something the Lord is looking for, which is specifically togetherness on prayer.

This psalm in the earlier verses speaks of the praises from the heights and angels and it is said that the later verses show how human prayer mirrors prayer and praise in the heavens.