The Following is an excerpt from St. Atahnasius on Praying the Psalms:
The excerpt is taken from:
http://prayerfoundation.org/athanasius_praying_the_psalms.htm
Praying the Psalms
by: St. Athanasius
[This is the same Athanasius of the Athanasian Creed. He attended the Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.), at which the Nicene Creed was composed.]
“In the Psalter you learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries.”
My Dear Marcellinus,
I once talked with a certain studious old man, who had bestowed much labour on the Psalter, and discoursed to me about it with great persuasiveness and charm, expressing himself clearly too, and holding a copy of it in his hand the while he spoke. So I am going to write down for you the things he said.
Son, all the books of Scripture, both Old Testament and New, are inspired by God and useful for instruction, as the apostle says; but to those who really study it the Psalter yields especial treasure. Within it are represented and portrayed in all their great variety the movements of the human soul. It is like a picture, in which you see yourself portrayed and, seeing, may understand and consequently form yourself upon the pattern given.
In the Psalter you learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill. Prohibitions of evildoing are plentiful in Scripture, but only the Psalter tells you how to obey these orders and refrain from sin.
“But the marvel with the Psalter is that…the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, written for his special benefit…”
But the marvel with the Psalter is that, barring those prophecies about the Savior and some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not as though someone else were speaking or another person’s feelings being described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God as his own heart’s utterance, just as though he himself had made them up.
It is possible for us, therefore to find in the Psalter not only the reflection of our own soul’s state, together with precept and example for all possible conditions, but also a fit form of words wherewith to please the Lord on each of life’s occasions, words both of repentance and of thankfulness, so that we fall not into sin; for it is not for our actions only that we must give account before the Judge, but also for our every idle word.
“So, then, my son, let whoever reads this book of Psalms take the things in it quite simply as God-inspired.”
When you would give thanks to God at your affliction’s end, sing Psalm 4, Psalm 75 and Psalm 116. When you see the wicked wanting to ensnare you and you wish your prayer to reach God’s ears then wake up early and sing Psalm 5.
For victory over the enemy and the saving of created things, take not glory to yourself but, knowing that it is the Son of God who has thus brought things to a happy issue, say to Him Psalm 9; and when you see the boundless pride of man, and evil passing great, so that among men (so it seems) no holy thing remains, take refuge with the Lord and say Psalm 12. And if this state of things be long drawn out, be not faint-hearted, as though God had forgotten you, but call upon Him with Psalm 27.
If you want to know how Moses prayed, you have the 90th Psalm. When you have been delivered from these enemies and oppressors, then sing Psalm 18; and when you marvel at the order of creation and God’s good providence therein and at the holy precepts of the law, Psalm 19 and Psalm 24 will voice your prayer; while Psalm 20 will give you words to comfort and to pray with others in distress.
When you yourself are fed and guided by the Lord and, seeing it, rejoice, the 23rd Psalm awaits you. Do enemies surround you? Then lift up your heart to God and say Psalm 25, and you will surely see the sinners put to rout. And when you want the right way of approach to God in thankfulness, with spiritual understanding sing Psalm 29.
So, then, my son, let whoever reads this book of Psalms take the things in it quite simply as God-inspired. In every case the words you want are written down for you, and you can say them as your own. _____________________________________________________________
About the Author:
Athanasius was one of the most influential of the early theologians of the church. His fame comes mainly from being the best-known opponent of the heretic Arius. Arius taught that Christ was but a creature—a created being instead of the second person of the Godhead. Athanasius stood against Arius, defending the faith which he explains in On the Incarnation. Athanasius lived through severe persecution, attended the famed Council of Nicea (325 A.D.), and died as the patriarch of Alexandria in A.D. 373.
From “On the Incarnation” by St. Athanasius. Translated and edited by A Religious of C.S.M.V. With an introduction by C.S. Lewis. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1946. Reprinted: Crestwood, New York: St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, 1989, pp. 97, 103, 105, 107-109, 114, 116.
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As seen in Pray! magazine, Issue 8, Sept./Oct. 1998.
Pray! magazine is produced by NavPress and The Navigators (in cooperation with an advisory Board that includes: America’s National Prayer Committee, The Denominational Prayer Leaders Network, Mission America, and The National Association of Evangelicals).
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The following is an excerpt from our Presbyterian brothers on praying the Psalms:
Excerpt is from: http://www.redeemer.com/connect/prayer/praying_psalms.html
Praying the Psalms
Additional Note: The Imprecatory Psalms can be confusing with their cries for vengeance upon Israel’s or the psalmist’s enemies. “Basically, realize that calls for justice are absolutely right, and remind us how important God’s holiness and justice are. But secondly, recognize that the Psalmists did not have the justice of God completely satisfied in Christ. Thus we pray for our enemies, not wish them ill. Yet we as Christians can pray these Psalms as longings for social justice and hatred against the ‘power and principalities’ behind the world.” Quotes from Dr Tim Keller’s January 2006 MCM teaching notes, c2006, used with permission. Suggestions:
Trying it out: Try out the above suggestions. (If you want to experiment, Psalm 131 is short, yet speaks richly to New Yorkers today. Commentary notes for this psalm are on the back). Take small steps. 15-20 minutes a day would be a great starting point. Don’t rush. Don’t worry about doing this perfectly, just start! Invite the Holy Spirit into these times and let His grace and truth shape your prayer and heart. Stay at it for three weeks – research shows that it takes about 3 weeks to build a habit. Be alert to what differences might be happening in your relationship with the Lord and your life as a result. (If helpful, go for a leisurely block of time on a Sunday! Or discuss/pray a Psalm in community.) Psalm 131 My heart is not proud, O LORD,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
Commentary #1: New Bible Commentary, 21st edition, p 575. Psalm 131. Rest In Psalm 130 the exhortation to hope arose from what is true of the Lord; in 131:3 it arises from what the psalmist has found to be personally true. He has taken a lowly place (1); his inner being (2) is at rest – like a child grown past the instinctive demands and fretfulness of infancy and now content, as a toddler, simply to be with mother. What kind of an original journey out of self-confident pride into humility and rest first prompted this beautiful psalm? We do not know, but its call to hope in the Lord links it with 130 and makes it the testimony of a sinner forgiven: humbled by the mercy of God, at peace within because at peace above. Commentary #2: Notes on the Psalms, G Campbell Morgan, p 260. Psalm 131: Jehovah the Satisfaction of the Pilgrim This is a brief psalm, but it very full of beauty, as it sets forth the contentment of a restless soul in the will of God. It follows the last as an advance of experience, and as a sequence. Its peculiar note is not that of a natural contentment, but of a satisfaction won in spite of all contrary tendencies. The thought of weaning is the dominant one. That for which a child craves it at last becomes content without. So the soul of the singer, which once was ambitious and restlessly attempted to walk in ways for which it was not fitted, is with Him in quietness and contentment. The secret of victory over feverish ambition is divulged in the psalmist’s appeal to Israel to hope in the Lord. That, interpreted in the light of the previous psalm, means that in the gracious sense of His forgiving love is the secret of a content which puts an end to all false ambition. Redemption truly apprehended, is more than forgiveness. It is restoration to the quiet peace of being in harmony with all the forces of nature, because governed by the will of God. From The Book of Common Prayer, 1662: Read 1 or more psalms selected by the schedule.
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The following URL will lead you to a video on Praying the Psalms:
Psalm 32: http://www.youtube.com/user/jpnwatchman
