Soulfood

In 2023, June 1 is the day I wrote these guides. You may notice a theme. These guides will also reflect the original recipients, the congregation of Michiana Covenant Presbyterian Church in Granger, IN.

The Psalms of the Day for day 1 are 1, 31, 61, 91, and 121.

Psalm 1 is fairly well-known to anyone who has been attending MCPC regularly as we sing it frequently and it often comes up in preaching. We can pray this psalm for one another, asking that the Spirit of Jesus would enable us more and more to delight in the law of YHWH, turning away from the counsel of the wicked (no matter whether we agree with their politics!) and avoid sitting with sinners (whether they flatter us or not) and flee from the seat of the scornful (even if they are mocking people we disagree with). We can pray for one another and ourselves that we will have clarity of mind and diligence to meditate continually on God’s law, and that we will drink deeply from the living waters that flow from the heart of Christ.

 

Psalm 31 is a prayer to pray for the afflicted, even for ourselves. Especially as we enter into a month in which the powerful in our society promote and celebrate sexual perversion and abominable practices, we can pray by this psalm that as we humbly stand for truth we will be delivered from persecution by our enemies – especially this month from those who hate embodied reality and hate human bodies made in the image of God. Verse 20 in the Geneva Bible reads: “Thou didst hide [those who trust in thee] privily in thy presence from the *pride* of men; thou keepest them secretly in thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues.” Indeed! May this be our humble and confident prayer in Jesus Christ in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation that seeks to tear down God’s image even in little children. Lord, have mercy!

 

Psalm 61 is a prayer to pray in and with Christ, that we would cling to the rock that is higher than we are and hope in God alone. We plead with God to give us the inheritance He has promised to us who fear His name, and give thanks for the fulfilment of this promise in Jesus Christ both now and in the age to come. As King Jesus dwells secure before the Father, so we too are encouraged to bring our desires to Him as those who are beloved children, brought before the Father by our union with Christ by the Holy Spirit. We pray for one another and for ourselves that the shadows of the present miseries and trials will fade in the light of the hope we have in Christ, as we sing praise to YHWH while faithfully performing the works He has given us to do as we wait for the coming of our King.

 

Psalm 91 is another psalm to pray with courage and boldness as we are embattled by a culture that loves death and hates life. As those around us celebrate demented debauchery and revile truth, we are those who take refuge under the wings of the God who is faithful to defend us from the terrors of those who work in darkness and the arrows that are aimed at us by shameless men in broad daylight. In Christ, we pray boldly against his and our enemies who threaten us with cancellation or loss of employment or even protests outside our houses for failure to affirm and support their destructive, death-working practices and policies. Lord, come quickly!

 

Psalm 121 can be prayed word for word, and is worth memorizing and using for meditation. It is an excellent benediction, and a reminder that we both need help and have a Helper Who neither slumbers nor sleeps but is always keeping us in His unassailable care. He will preserve us from all evil and keep our souls – indeed, He has done this and is doing it and will continue to do it for all who are in Christ Jesus. Thanks be to YHWH Who preserves our going out and our coming in (all our ways in all our days) from now and forevermore!