Soulfood

The psalms of the day for the twenty-ninth day of the month are 29, 59, 89, 119, and 149. Finally we come to the psalm everyone has probably been wondering about – 119! Donald Whitney, in his book Praying the Bible, recommends taking one or two stanzas of Psalm 119 on the 29th day of each month rather than trying to read the whole psalm. In months with 31 days, Psalm 119 is recommended as the only psalm for day 31. In this way, we can pray through Psalm 119 at least once in the course of a year without spending too much time in it in any single day!

As we pray with and for one another we can use these psalms to guide our prayers and thereby pray God’s Word back to Him. What better way to pray in the Spirit than to pray using the words He inspired!

Psalm 29 is a psalm of praise, celebrating the God of creation and giving Him the glory that is rightfully His. We pray that each of us would, throughout our day, see the glory and power of God working around us and in us to accomplish His good and glorious purposes. We pray with confidence that God has acted, is acting, and will act to show forth His power and might as His voice silences all other voices. We give God praise and ask that we would have eyes to see Him in His might acting for the glory of His name as we go about the work He has given us to do in Christ Jesus.

In Psalm 59 we hope in the Spirit of Christ to be kept from evil. As the psalm records the deeds of the wicked, we humbly plead with YHWH not only to preserve us from their wickedness but also to transform our spirits such that we do not act as they do. Especially this month as our fellow Americans proudly speak lies about God’s good design of our bodies, we ask that those who speak such things would be scattered and deprived of power. We pray that we will be kept from arrogance and pride ourselves, humbly relying on grace alone for our righteousness and not daring to trust in our right beliefs or righteous actions to deliver us from the wrath of God, but only in the righteousness of Christ imputed to us at the cross. And we pray for our friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors who are deceived and deluded and who set themselves and their desires against God’s holy law, that they would be destroyed in the most glorious way – by being converted to His will and receiving His grace in Jesus! Then we will all sing together of YHWH’s power and praise His mercy in the morning, for He is our refuge!

We continue in this last theme in Psalm 89, giving thanks that we are part of a congregation of saints in all times and all places who testify to the covenant love and faithfulness of YHWH the God of hosts. We remember His righteousness and equity, mercy and truth, and pray in Jesus that by the Spirit we may reflect the Father in the way we conduct ourselves before the nations. Blessed are we who are a people belonging to YHWH!

Psalm 119 is a masterpiece commending the law of God to us. As David Powlison has pointed out, one of the defining features of this psalm is the intimacy between the one praying and the God to Whom we pray. The most repeated words in the psalm are “I” and “you,” emphasizing the communion between God and us that comes to us when we rightly worship Him. Choose a stanza or two and make it a prayer to Your loving Father Who has not only given you His perfect law, revealing His character and goodness to you, but has also given you Jesus to bring you into perfect fellowship with Him, in Jesus, by the Holy Spirit! Pray for all of us that we will discipline ourselves to hide God’s law in our hearts and let it be a light to guide our steps as we walk in the paths He has given us to walk today.

Psalm 149 directs us to sing the song that renews our hearts, the praise of God in the midst of the congregation. By this psalm we pray for each other that we would rejoice in our King and Creator, and be encouraged to persevere in following after and obeying and trusting Him Who sets all things in order under Christ’s feet. As we pray with and for one another, let us pray that we would be all the more emboldened to sing aloud the praises of our King and make music to Him with joyful hearts, even in the midst of sorrows and sufferings, griefs and pains, hardships and sadnesses. God will deliver His people – praise the LORD!