Soulfood

The Psalms of the Day for the tenth day of the month are 10, 40, 70, 100, and 130. As we pray with and for one another this day, the words of these psalms can help shape our prayers such that we think God’s thoughts after Him.

Psalm 10 is a prayer of one who is despairing at the wickedness of those around him. As we pray these words that describe how one whose heart is far from God acts and thinks, we first must confess ways in our own hearts that too often send us that direction in thought, word, and deed. But as we plead that YHWH would draw near to us and deliver us from those who act wickedly, we also pray for one another that we will hope in YHWH alone for rescue. We ask YHWH to strengthen our hearts as we wait in hope for Him to do justice and break the power of the wicked!

Psalm 40 is also a prayer of waiting and hoping. We remind ourselves that YHWH has drawn us up from the pit of destruction and we praise Him for this in our prayers, remembering the many times He has delivered us in the past. And remembering with praise and thanksgiving what YHWH has done for us in the past encourages us to keep asking for deliverance from whatever we are struggling with right now – because He took thought for us and became poor and needy for our sakes, taking on our flesh and humbling Himself to death for our sins, we are confident that He takes thought for us who are poor and needy as Christ intercedes for us before the throne. So we pray that He will do as He has promised and help us without delay!

Psalm 70 parallels the last 5 verses of Psalm 40 so closely that many scholars believe it is a “double entry” of sorts in the book of Psalms. If so, it encourages us all the more to rejoice and be glad in YHWH as we wait in hope for Him to deliver us!

Psalm 100 is a prayer of praise, which we pray with joy and thanksgiving knowing that we live in the presence of the God whose steadfast love (hesed) endures forever and whose faithfulness (emmet) is to all generations. We pray in this psalm that each of us will be encouraged to give thanks to Him and bless His name in the midst of whatever else is going on in our lives, confident that we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Hallelujah!

And Psalm 130 is another prayer of waiting, reminding us in our prayers to humble ourselves as we pray, knowing that if we were judged by our iniquities we would be destroyed – but with YHWH there is forgiveness, so we hope in Him! And so we wait and hope, with praise and thanksgiving, for the Redeemer to attend to the voice of our pleas for mercy in the midst of this crooked and perverse generation. Lord, come quickly!