Psalm 58 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 58.

Meditate on verses 10-11.

The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;

he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.

And men will say, “Surely there is reward for the righteous;

surely there is a God who judges on earth.”

Psalm 58 is a disturbing, violent psalm.  As you read it, you may have questions to ask your LORD about wicked people and the nature of God.  You may want to read more about the coming wrath and judgment of God on sinful, evil people.  Revelation 14 is a good cross-reference to Psalm 58. 

So the angel swung his sickle to the earth

and gathered the clusters from the vine of the earth

 and threw them into the great wine press of the wrath of God. 

And the wine press was trodden outside the city,

and blood came out from the wine press,

 up to the horses’ bridles, for a distance of two hundred miles.

—Revelation 14:19-20

Psalm 58 is also a great reminder to pray for those you know who do not have a relationship with the LORD Jesus Christ and to beg God to choose them for the sake of His salvation.

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you,

 that you would go and bear fruit and that your fruit would remain,

 so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He may give to you.

—John 15:16

David asked God to shatter the teeth of the evil people around him (Psalm 58:6).  There are some wicked people in the world right now that you may want to ask God to make them “like the miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun” (Psalm 58:8).

You may want to ask God to make those evil people righteous people.  As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray Psalm 58:11 over them.

“Surely You are the God who judges the earth! 

Make _________ righteous, so there will be a reward for them.

You are the reward, Jesus, in whose name I pray~”

Psalm 57 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 57.

Meditate on verse 7.

My heart is steadfast, O God;

 my heart is steadfast;

 I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!

When David wrote this Psalm, his life was not going smoothly and as he had hoped.  It was a season of living in caves, hiding from King Saul who wanted him dead (1 Samuel 22; 24).  When David’s brothers and father’s household heard where he was living, they even visited him in his cave (1 Samuel 22:1).

Sometimes life is like David’s, not as you may have hoped.  This is an encouraging Psalm because it gives you words to pray confidently in Christ on days, weeks, months, even years when life is hard.

Pray Psalm 57:1-3 and 7 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“Be gracious to ________ and me, O LORD, be gracious to us,

for our souls take refuge in You;

and in the shadow of Your wings,

 we will take refuge until destruction passes by. 

We will cry to God Most High,

to You, God, who accomplishes all things for us. 

You will send from heaven and save us. 

You reproach him who tramples upon us. 

LORD, You will send forth Your lovingkindness and Your truth. 

Our hearts are steadfast, O God, our hearts are steadfast;

we will sing, yes, we will sing praises.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 56 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 56.

Meditate on verse 3.

When I am afraid, I will trust in You.

It was the summer of 1969 in Amarillo, Texas; I was eight years old.  Several life changing things happened that summer.  The most important was on June 8; I invited Jesus to live in my life as my Savior and LORD.  I was baptized on June 22. 

We moved to a different house that summer.  I did not like change, and I missed my old house; I dreaded going to a new school to start third grade.

And there was the week I attended Vacation Bible School at my church.  Each morning there was a Bible verse to memorize, and on one particular day, the verse was Psalm 56:3.  I memorized it in the King James Version:

What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.

Now, summertime in Amarillo can bring significant thunderstorms, which often contain very large hail and even tornadoes.  As a little girl, I was terribly afraid of tornadoes. 

This summer night, my parents had already tucked me into bed.  As I lay there trying to fall asleep, I overheard them talking, and the tone of their voices told me something bad was about to happen.  Being eight years old, I reasoned that I needed to be a “big girl” and not add to their concerns, so I decided to stay in bed even though I was honestly scared to death.  I started saying the Bible verse I had memorized that morning over and over.

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.

 What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee. 

What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee..”

And I fell asleep. 

The next morning I awoke to learn that half the windows in our house had been broken and our entire roof would have to be replaced because of the destructive hailstorm that night.  Miraculously I heard none of it because the LORD caused me to sleep through the night.

The LORD laid a significant foundation stone for my walk of faith.  I knew that I knew that I did not need to be afraid.  I could trust in the LORD.

Psalm 56:3 became my “forever verse,” a Bible verse tucked forever into my memory to be said the moment I need it.  Do you have a forever verse, a Biblical truth that comes to mind quickly in difficult circumstances?

Trusting God was a forever theme of David’s life.  In Psalm 56, he was scared, yet he chose to put his trust in the LORD and not be afraid (v. 11).

As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray Psalm 56:8-13 over a situation where you and someone you love need to trust God.

“LORD, take account of _________ and my wanderings.

Put our tears in Your bottle and in Your book.

Turn back our enemies in the day when we call on You.

This we know, that You are for us, God!

God, we praise Your Word.

LORD, we praise Your Word.

God, we put our trust in You;

we will not be afraid.

What can man do to us?

Your vows are binding upon us, O God.

We will give You thank offerings,

for You have delivered our souls from death,

 indeed our feet from stumbling.

LORD, let us walk before You in the light of the living.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 55 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 55.

Meditate on verses 1 and 2.

Give ear to my prayer, O God,

 and do not hide Yourself from my supplication. 

Give heed to me and answer me;

I am restless in my complaint and am surely distracted.

Psalm 55 is another Maskil of David, a thought-provoking psalm. The words of the distracted psalmist bring comfort to those of us who are in similar situations.

Someone who had been David’s friend became his enemy.  David used words like: anguish, fear, trembling, and horror to describe his feelings (Psalm 55:4-5).  And, he took his anguished, fearful, trembling, horrified self to the LORD.

As for me, I shall call upon God,

and the LORD will save me.

 Evening and morning and at noon,

 I will complain and murmur,

 and He will hear my voice.

 He will redeem my soul in peace

 from the battle which is against me…

—Psalm 55:16-18

Contemplate the fact that you can take any situation, any complaint to your LORD. You can talk to Him all day long about what is happening to you and those you love. In fact, He wants you to bring Him your every need.  If you are in the midst of a restless, distracted time of life, use the words of Psalm 55 to voice the cries of your heart.

Pray Psalm 55:1 and 22-23b over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“Give ear to ________ and my prayer, O God,

and do not hide Yourself from our supplication.

We cast our burden upon You, LORD.  Please sustain us!

LORD, make us righteous and do not allow us to be shaken.

LORD, we will trust in You.

Because You are Jesus, in whose name we pray~”

Psalm 54 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 54.

Meditate on verse 4.

Behold, God is my helper;

the LORD is the sustainer of my soul.

Psalms 52-55 are introduced as Maskils of David.  They are Psalms to be contemplated with lessons to be learned. 

1 Samuel 26 gives the historical context for Psalm 54.  David was hiding in the wilderness Ziph from an angry King Saul who was pursuing him with 3000 men.  The Ziphites told Saul that David was hiding in their midst.  Please read 1 Samuel 26 to learn what God wants to teach you about trusting Him in impossible situations.  You will also discover verses to pray in that chapter; for example, “May the LORD deliver me from all distress” (1 Samuel 26:24).

Now, pray Psalm 54 as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).  Hear the LORD teaching you as you talk to Him.

“Save _______ and me, O God, by Your name,

 and vindicate us by Your power.

Hear our prayer, O God;

give ear to the words of our mouths.

 For strangers have risen against us,

 and violent men have sought our lives;

they have not set You before them.

Behold, God, You are our helper;

 LORD, You are the sustainer of our souls. 

Recompense the evil to our foes;

destroy them in Your faithfulness.

 Willingly we will sacrifice to You;

we will give thanks to Your name, O LORD, for it is good. 

LORD, deliver us from all trouble;

let our eyes look with satisfaction upon our enemies.

Because of Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 53 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 53.

Meditate on verse 1a.

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”

God is not what the world would call “politically correct.”  God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), so He calls a person who does not think He exists a fool, someone who is senseless and stupid.  Psalm 1:1 goes on to describe this fool as “corrupt and having committed abominable injustice.”

Amazingly, God even saves fools.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked…

Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh,

indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind,

 and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest,

 but God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,

 even when we were dead in our transgressions,

made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved).

—Ephesians 2:1-5

Apart from Jesus Christ, everyone is a fool.  Thank your Savior for saving you from your foolish self.  As a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7), pray Psalm 53:2 and 6 over those you know who need God’s salvation.

“God, look down from heaven upon ___________.

 Let them understand and seek after You.

Bring them Your salvation and rescue Your captive people.

Let them rejoice and be glad.

Because of Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 52 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 52.

Meditate on verse 1.

Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?

The lovingkindness of God endures all day long.

Read 1 Samuel 21 and 22 to understand the events surrounding this Psalm of David. 

David was in the midst of wicked people.  They were workers of deceit who loved evil and falsehood (Psalm 52:2-3).  David could have been describing people you hear about in the news today.  These workers of deceit were part of David’s life. Notice how David hunkered down in the Truth of God in the midst of the evil around him. 

But God will break you down forever;

He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent,

 and uproot you from the land of the living. 

The righteous will see and fear, and will laugh at him, saying,

 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,

 but trusted in the abundance of his riches

 and was strong in his evil desire.”

—Psalm 52:5-7

As wickedness whirls around the world today, it more important than ever to know God and His Word and to meditate on His Truths day and night (Psalm 1:3).  Say, like David did, “I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever” (Psalm 52:8b).

Pray Psalm 52:8-9 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“God, make _______ and me a green olive tree in Your house.

We trust in Your lovingkindness forever and ever.

We will give You thanks forever because You have done it.

We will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your Godly ones.

In Your name, Jesus~”