Praying in Weakness

Recently, I walked through a season when hope seemed lost. I knew that I should pray, but I was so weak I couldn’t even form the words to pray. I was desperate for help, so I turned to the book of Psalms, faintly hoping to give voice to my own fears and struggles. I managed to pray through one psalm each morning, and after going through all 150 of them, I still felt too weak to pray on my own. So I started over and prayed through them again. And again. And again.

In four years, I’ve cycled through the Psalms about eight times. In them I found the words to pray that I couldn’t. I found hope to cling to, and I found expression for my disappointments and grief. I found words of praise and lament. I was able to confess my sin and express my hope as I spoke them aloud to the Lord.

It wasn’t easy. Some days, the psalm I read didn’t seem very relevant to me. How do I ask for victory in battle, or speak of chariots? How do I praise the splendor of the temple, or thank Him for fruitful fields, or pray about other things with which I have little to no experience? On top of that, I often struggled to pray a psalm filled with hope and joy when I felt nothing but sadness and shame.

All I could do was humbly ask God to help me pray the psalm for that day. It was in this struggle that what seemed like foreign words became a deeply personal conversation, because the words I offered to Him as I prayed were the very words of hope He gave to me in answer to those prayers.

Over this four-year journey (and counting), I have learned a few different perspectives that have helped me enter into the sweet communion of conversation with God as I’ve prayed the psalms.

From a Historical Perspective

The Psalms were written by real people loved by God trying to make sense of a broken world. The more familiar I am with Israel’s history, the easier it is to understand why the psalms mention chariots and fire and destruction, as well as splendor and holy attire. One way to gain this historical perspective is to read the historical books of the Old Testament, Genesis through Nehemiah. Knowing the historical accounts help me draw parallels between my own experience and those of the nation of Israel. I may not understand chariots, but I do know what a military tank is. I may not be able to see the temple, but I have seen beautifully adorned sanctuaries. Drawing these parallels helps me see that the experiences of the psalmists are not as foreign as they may seem at first glance.

From the Author’s Perspective

King David wrote many of the psalms, but there were other authors, such as Solomon and Moses. Several psalms mention the author and even the event that inspired their words. You can find these notes just before the first verse. I try to imagine, based on historical accounts, what a particular author might have been feeling. Was it betrayal? Fear? Triumph? Hope? Despair? Persecution? A sense of awe? What would have moved the author to use those particular words and images? I try to put myself in their shoes because as humans, we all know fear and hope and loss and betrayal. I may not understand what it’s like to face the tip of a spear, but I do know what it feels like to fear for my life. I may not have a literal army chasing after me, but I do know stress. Like David, I have lost friends and committed sin. I have known joy and grief, hope and despair. I find the spectrum of human emotion and experience in the psalms, and can express these emotions as I pray.

From Christ’s Perspective

I have wondered if the author of Hebrews was a singer who had a playlist in his head from his years as a worship leader in the temple. In this New Testament book, nearly all of the quotes concerning the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy are from the psalms. Christ himself explained in Luke chapter 24 that the law, the prophets, and the psalms were about him. He came to fulfill every promise and prophetic word written in the Old Testament, including the Psalms.

Christ, who was fully God, was also fully man. As both, He didn’t just fulfill the prophecies and promises the psalms contain, but he felt all the emotions. He knew fear, betrayal, persecution, and death. He knew beauty and hope and victory. The psalms shed light on his experience as the God-man in the midst of our fallen world. Not only were they about him, but he also prayed them. Some of his last words on the cross were from Psalm 22, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He both experienced and fulfilled this word. When I pray the psalms, I think of Christ’s life, and work to think through ways he might have experienced what the psalmist did, or even fulfilled what the psalmist wrote about.

From My Own Perspective

As I try to understand the psalms through other perspectives, they are transformed into deeply personal words, words that I can take as my own. As I’ve said, I may not ever face a garrison of Philistines or the destruction of my nation by a brutal enemy, but I do have an enemy who is ruthless and cunning. Satan is a liar and a murderer. I have been betrayed by friends. I have felt fear and isolation. I have stood before an uncertain future. I have also known the tender love of God, and have been moved by joy to praise Him. I can fully enter into the human experience through the thoughts and emotions expressed in these psalms.

But more than all of this, I have most treasured praying the psalms in Christ. Because He knew betrayal, I know intimacy with Him when I am betrayed. Because He saw beauty and rejoiced, I share His joy when I rejoice in beautiful things. Taking His words on my lips and interpreting my experiences, thoughts, and emotions through them, I enter into communion with the Word Himself. When I do, I experience fellowship with Him. The author of Hebrews tells us, “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” When I pray the psalms with Christ, I am moved to come confidently to Him because He knows what it’s like to be human.

I find comfort as I the Lord takes the words He has given me in the psalms to offer to Him in prayer, and speaks them back to me in Christ so that I might experience fellowship with Him. I don’t think I’ll ever overcome my weakness in prayer, but I am grateful that the Father has given us the psalms so that I have words to pray as I draw near to Him.