Psalm 38 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 38.

Meditate on verse 9.

LORD, all my desire is before You,

and my sighing is not hidden from You.

Psalm 38 is a cry for help to the LORD.  David was in misery from his sins; he was doubled over in the pain of iniquity (v. 6).  God’s hand was heavy upon David as He chastened and rebuked him (v. 1-2).  Instead of continuing in sin and rebellion against the LORD, David confessed his iniquity and gave all his desires to God (v. 9, 18).  David’s family and friends were avoiding him; he knew his only hope was to hope in the LORD (v. 11, 15).

Are you in over your head in sin; is the burden of your iniquity too much for you to bear (Psalm 38:4)?  Are you full of anxiety because of your sin (Psalm 38:18)?  Humble yourself before the LORD, confess your iniquity, and give Him all your desire and sighing (Psalm 38:9, 18).

Pray Psalm 38:15 and 21-22 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“O LORD, ________ and I hope in You;

You will answer, O LORD, our God.

Do not forsake us, O LORD;

 O our God, do not be far from us!

 Make haste to help us, O LORD, our salvation!

Because of Your name, LORD Jesus~”

Psalm 37 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 37.

Meditate on verses 7a and 8.

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him…

Cease from anger and forsake wrath;

 do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.

“Do not fret” is a repeated command in Psalm 37.  Are you a “fretter”?  Do you allow people and situations to gnaw at you, corroding your thoughts and consequently your entire day?  God’s Word tells you why you should not fret about what is happening around you.  Observe these contrasts from Psalm 37:

1.     Evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD, they will inherit the land (v. 9).

2.     The arms of the wicked will be broken, but the LORD sustains the righteous

 (v. 17).

3.     The man of peace will have a posterity, but transgressors will be altogether destroyed (vs. 37-38).

4.     The posterity of the wicked will be cut off, but the salvation of the righteous is from the LORD; He is their strength in time of trouble (vs. 38-39).

Do not let people and situations cause you to take your focus off of the LORD.  Fix your eyes on Jesus; trust Him!  The LORD wants to keep you from fretting. 

Pray Psalm 37:3-6 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, help _______ and me to trust in You and do good.

Let us dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.

As we delight ourselves in You, give us the desires of our heart.

We commit our way to You, LORD.  We trust in You to do it.

Bring forth our righteousness as the light and our judgment as the noonday.

For the sake of Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 36 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 36.

Meditate on verse 5.

Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens;

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

David contrasted the ungodly with the LORD in this Psalm.   Some of the characteristics of an ungodly person are:

1.     No fear of God

2.     Flatters himself

3.     Speaks deceit and wickedness

4.     Plans wickedness upon his bed

5.     Sets himself on a path that is not good

6.     Does not despise evil

Some of God’s characteristics are:

1.     His lovingkindness extends to the heavens.

2.     His faithfulness reaches to the skies.

3.     His righteousness is like the mountains of God.

4.     His judgments are like a great deep.

5.     He preserves man and beast.

6.     He has the fountain of life.

Do you fear God?  Would the LORD describe you as Godly or ungodly? 

Repent of any of the ungodly characteristics that describe you and pray Psalm 36:7-11 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!

________ and I take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.

Let us drink our fill of the abundance of Your house,

 and give us to drink of the river of Your delights.

 For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light. 

O continue Your lovingkindness to us; let us know You.

 Continue Your righteousness to us; make us upright in heart. 

Do not let the foot of pride come upon us,

and let not the hand of the wicked drive us away.

In Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 35~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 35.

Meditate on verse 1.

Contend, O LORD, with those who contend with me;

 fight against those who fight against me.

Are you or someone you love being treated unjustly and wrongly?  Psalm 35 gives you a Godly way to handle the situation.

1.     Give the person who is wronging you to the LORD.

Let those be ashamed and dishonored who seek my life;

 let those be turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.

 Let them be like chaff before the wind,

with the angel of the LORD driving them on.

—Psalm 35:4-5

2.      Pray for the person who is mistreating you when they are in difficulty.

But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth;

 I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer kept returning to my bosom.

 I went about as though it were my friend and brother;

 I bowed down mourning as one who sorrows for a mother.

           —Psalm 35:13-14

3.     Worship the LORD with other believers.

I will give You thanks in the great congregation;

 I will praise You among a mighty throng.

—Psalm 35:18

4.     Fellowship with Godly people who will pray for you and rejoice with you.

Let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication;

 and let them say continually,

“The LORD be magnified, who delights in the prosperity of His servant.”

—Psalm 35:27

5.     Continually thank and praise the LORD. 

And my soul shall rejoice in the LORD; it shall exult in His salvation.

And my tongue shall declare Your righteousness and Your praise all day long.

—Psalm 35:9, 28

Pray Psalm 35:22-24 over an unjust situation.

“You have seen it, O LORD, do not keep silent;

 O LORD, do not be far from _______ and me.

 Stir up Yourself and awake to our right and to our cause, our God and our LORD.

 Judge us, O LORD, our God, according to Your righteousness,

 and do not let them rejoice over us.

For the sake of Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 34 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 34.

Meditate on verses 4, 7, and 11.

I sought the LORD, and He answered me and delivered me from all my fears.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear Him and rescues them.

Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Fear is a repeated word in Psalm 34.  When God repeats Himself in the Bible, He wants you to notice and discover what He is teaching you.

Years ago I counted how many times the word fear was in the Bible and how it was used. I discovered 88 times God said, “Fear not.”  However, He said 122 times, “Fear God.”  Nowhere in the Bible could I find a situation where God said, “Be afraid of this person and situation.”  God said to fear Him.

People often do the opposite.  They are afraid of any and everything except Almighty God.  If people truly feared the LORD, they would not say and do the things they do.  Fearing God stops you from sinning against Him.

Exodus 20:20 explains well what God is teaching you today about fear.

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid;

 for God has come in order to test you,

and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you,

so that you may not sin.”

Pray Psalm 34:11-14 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, teach _________ and me to fear only You.

Because we desire life and love to see what is good,

keep our tongues from evil and our lips from speaking deceit.

Help us depart from evil and do good.

Let us seek peace and pursue it.

Because we fear Your name, LORD Jesus~”

Psalm 33 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 33.

Meditate on verse 1b.

Praise is becoming to the upright.

It is appropriate for you to praise the LORD.  Thanking and praising God is the right thing to do and will replace whining and complaining in your life.

The psalmist gave a list of reasons to praise the LORD.  Some of them from Psalm 33 are:

1.     The Word of the LORD is upright (v. 4).

2.     All of God’s work is done in faithfulness (v.4).

3.     The earth is full of the LORD’s lovingkindness (v. 5).

4.     The Word of the LORD made the heavens (v. 6).

5.     The breath of God’s mouth made everything in the heavens (v. 6).

6.     The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations, but His counsel stands forever (vs. 10-11).

7.     The LORD frustrates the plans of the people, but the plans of His heart last from generation to generation (vs. 10-11).

Meditate on at least one of these truths about the LORD.  Praise and thank Him all day long; it is the right thing to do.

Pray Psalm 33:18-22 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, keep Your eye on ________ and me as we fear You.

LORD, we hope in Your lovingkindness

 to deliver our souls from death and to keep us alive in famine.

 Our souls wait for You, LORD; You are our help and our shield.

Our heart rejoices in You because we trust in Your holy name.

 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us

 according as we have hoped in You.

Because of Your name, Jesus~”

Psalm 32 ~ Praying God's Word

Please read Psalm 32.

Meditate on verses 1 and 2.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!

How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity

 and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

David wrote this Psalm because he knew what it was like to be living in unconfessed sin.

When I kept silent about my sin,

my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.

 For day and night, Your hand was heavy upon me;

 my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

—Psalm 32:3-4

David also wrote this Psalm because he knew what happened after his sin was confessed to the LORD.

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

 and You forgave the guilt of my sin.

—Psalm 32:5

After David admitted his transgressions and guilt to God, the LORD talked to David and said these amazing words:

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;

I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

—Psalm 32:8

Do you desire to hear the LORD say those words to you?  This is a treasure Psalm from your Savior for how to recognize conviction of sin, what to do with sin in your life, and what will happen after you repent of your sin.  Reread it and ask the LORD to search your life and show you anything that displeases Him.

After you repent to the LORD, pray Psalm 32:7-8 and 10-11 over yourself and those for whom you stand guard as a faithful, prayerful watchman (Isaiah 62:6-7).

“LORD, You are ________ and my hiding place.

 Preserve us from trouble; surround us with songs of deliverance. 

Please instruct us and teach in the way we should go. 

Counsel us with Your eye upon us.

 We trust in You, LORD; surround us with Your lovingkindness. 

Because of You, we are righteous and upright in heart.

 We will be glad and rejoice in You, LORD.  We shout for joy.

Because of You, Jesus~”