Why do Christians pray the Psalms?
Pray thanksgiving, questions and unresolved lament through Psalms 100, 13 and 88 in the 1662 Prayer Book translation.
Christians pray the Psalms because these biblical prayers give us words for speaking to God together: words of delight, grief, trust and protest. They can also take us beyond what we would think to pray on our own.
That can feel strange. A psalm full of thanksgiving may be appointed on a difficult morning. A cry for help may interrupt a day when life seems settled. Whose words are we saying?
The Psalms belong to Israel’s Scriptures and remain part of Jewish prayer. Christians receive them within the Bible and pray them in the light of Christ. At Christ Church North Adelaide, we use the Psalter translation in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. The examples here follow that text.
Three prayers with different voices
Psalm 100 welcomes us into thanksgiving. Its invitation to “serve the Lord with gladness” leads into praise of God as our maker and shepherd. The psalm gives reasons for thanksgiving: God’s graciousness, enduring mercy and truth. It does not ask us to manufacture a cheerful mood before we can begin.
Psalm 13 asks how long the distress will last. Its questions are direct. The speaker feels forgotten, troubled within and threatened by enemies. Then comes the appeal for God to hear, followed by a change of emphasis: “But my trust is in thy mercy”. The closing praise does not describe how the conflict was resolved. Trust is voiced while much remains unexplained.
Psalm 88 does not make that turn. Its final verse, in the Prayer Book translation, speaks of lovers and friends put away and acquaintances hidden from sight. There is no closing announcement that all is well.
Yet the psalm has continued to address God.
This, too, is a prayer the Bible gives us.
Read the complete texts in the 1662 Prayer Book Psalter. Short extracts can help us notice a phrase; the whole psalm lets us hear the movement, or the lack of resolution, around it.
When the words do not sound like your own
Praying with the Church brings other people’s lives into view. If your morning is peaceful, a psalm of distress can help you attend to people who are frightened or alone. If thanksgiving feels difficult, you may be able to join others in naming a goodness you cannot presently feel.
This is an invitation, not a demand to disguise what is happening within you. You can notice a difficult line, ask what it means and return to it. In Psalm 88, for example, the speaker’s sense of abandonment should not become our verdict that a suffering person has been rejected by God.
Try one psalm slowly
Begin with Psalm 13. Read it through before choosing a favourite line. Where is the question? What is being asked of God? Where does the voice change? Pause over one phrase and let it shape your own prayer.
To hear the Psalms within a fuller pattern of worship, follow a dated service in CCNA’s Morning and Evening Prayer playlist. Our Prayer Book introduction explains the wider setting.
