Soulfood

The Psalms of the Day to guide our prayers with and for each other on the twenty-seventh day of each month are 27, 57, 87, 117, and 147.

Psalm 27 begins with “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my *life*; of whom shall I be afraid?”

This is a psalm to pray with confidence that Jesus is our only hope in life or death. In life and death we belong, body and soul, to our faithful savior Jesus. As many foes come against us and encamp about us in this anti-Christian generation, we have nothing to fear from those who can only kill or imprison or impoverish us. So we pray that the Lord’s people will seek after Him, traveling as sojourners to the house of YHWH where Jesus prepares a place for us. We pray this psalm in Jesus, to whom we have been united by His incarnation, atonement for our sins, and justifying resurrection through faith! As Jesus waited for the Father and was vindicated, we too pray with boldness for the Church as those who are strong and courageous. Pray for missionaries and for evangelists and pastors and for all of us in our various callings, that we would not waver in holding forth truth in a world that loves lies.

Psalm 57 teaches us how to pray in times of trouble, when evil men seek to trample us. This is a psalm of praise to our strong deliverer! We can give thanks for the news of safety for missionaries, who trusted in their Rock and were delivered, and pray for our many brethren who are still in the midst of fighting in The Sudan and Ukraine and even Chicago – places where violence and bloodshed are troubling the faithful. In the midst of all this tribulation, we declare the praises of our God Whose steadfast love (hesed) is great to the heavens and Whose faithfulness (emeth) reaches to the clouds!

Psalm 87 is a declaration of the sovereignty of God in the establishment of a holy city, even the heavenly Zion. We pray by this psalm for all the saints, those who have been born of God in Spirit and in truth, that we would long for no other place but God’s holy city. We ask for our thirst to be quenched alone by living water that springs forth from Zion, that we would be faithful and steadfast in boasting only that we know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Psalm 117 is a brief but profound statement that the LORD is worthy of the praises of all the nations! Let us pray that our nation will be one where YHWH is rightly honored, worshiped, obeyed, and glorified – especially in our own midst. May we be led by faithful teachers who tell us of the steadfast love (hesed) of God and lead us in the right worship of Him Whose faithfulness (emeth) endures forever!

Psalm 147 encourages us to take our cares, burdens, and sorrows to the One Who “gathers the outcasts…heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds…lifts up the humble [or afflicted]…[and] casts the wicked to the ground.” We pray this psalm for those who are afflicted, depressed, sorrowful, grieving, downcast – that we will trust in the Lord Who not only cares for His people but is able to sustain us by His word and strengthen us by His power. We sing praises to Him Who fills us with the finest of all we could ask or even imagine! Praise the LORD!