The House of Prayer

Psalms: The House of Prayer- Part 1 (by John Frye)

I have been pondering Eugene H. Peterson’s comment that his “primary educational task as pastor was to teach people to pray” (The Contemplative Pastor, 96).

Peterson, like many other wise spiritual directors, points us to the Psalms. “The Psalms make it possible to say things that are otherwise unsayable,” writes John Goldingay. He continues, “In church, they have the capacity to free us to talk about things that we cannot talk about anywhere else.” The Psalms motivate and show us how to pray whole prayer.

I admit that my prayers can slide into small, all-about-me-or-mine prayers. Sometimes I am bored by my own prayers. The horizon of my prayer vision clouds with my own self-interest. I don’t think I am alone in this. All along I have ready access and am invited to the pulsating life, expansive vision and flint-like reality of prayers called The Psalms.

Reflecting on six various kinds of Psalms, I discern six eternal needs crying within our hearts. The six Psalm types are 1) Psalms of Praise, 2) Psalms of Lament, 3) Psalms of Thanksgiving, 4) Psalms of the King, 5) Psalms of Wisdom, and 6) Psalms of Torah. In this post, we will consider the first three types.  I’ll just offer one Psalm for each type.

Psalms of Praise: Psalm 100.  I have a friend named Bruce. He is a good, loyal, and helpful friend. He sells used cars. I like being with him. Goodness (not sinlessness) radiates from Bruce. God ups the ante on all human goodness. We need Someone good and powerful and for us. We need a deliverer. Psalms of praise remind us of the good, powerful, and loving character of God and his extreme acts of powerful love to save us.

Psalms of Lament: Psalm 137. This Psalm lets us say the unsayable to God. God is good. Life isn’t (always) good. Real evil exists. We need to not only name evil, we need to express how we feel about it. Pious vocabulary (God-talk) is the bane of prayer. Always, always, honesty is the synonym for holiness. I was kneeling before a mother at the graveside of her teen daughter who had unexpectedly died. I had said a few words of Christian hope to her, the family and friends. I tried to express particular comfort to her. She said to me, “John, this is shitty.” She had uttered a truly Psalm-like expression.

Psalms of Thanksgiving: Psalm 136.  When the goodness and power of God intersect with the pain and tragedy of our lives, most often thanksgiving erupts. God comes through. Things change for the better. We need hope. Living in the expectancy that God is present and God is good helps us frame life with anticipation for tomorrow. Pain may feel like forever, but that is its deception. Faith, hope, and love: these are forever. Hope reminds us that the end of the story of our lives and consummation of the Story of God is ineffable glory. Joy and hope find endurance-producing energy in the good purposes of God. Happy thanksgiving!

The Book of Psalms is the house we live in. I owe this thought to Derek Kidner.  In the next post  we will consider the final three Psalm types.