1. Preparation
Learning to pray a psalm in Christ involves study, meditation, and praying in the Spirit. Studying a psalm includes reading it repeatedly from several different translations, focusing attention on its actual words and images, and doing the research necessary to comprehend what the psalmist is saying. Comprehension usually requires using tools like a study Bible, Bible dictionary, and/or commentary.
God wants to replace our distorted thought patterns with new life-giving patterns. God’s goal is our total transformation. That’s why Paul told the Christians in Rome:
Romans 12:2 — “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be (being) transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
(God’s will is not just about big decisions—it’s the next right thing you need to do, even in the next few minutes.)
In studying a psalm (or any scripture), repetition, concentration, and comprehension will lead to reflection—pondering the meaning of what we study so God can give us hearing ears, seeing eyes, and “renewing” minds. The study of a psalm focuses on exegesis, observing and interpreting a psalm according to its context in ancient Israel, its literary type, and its interpretation by New Testament scriptures. We best not, and probably cannot, meditate on psalms, or any Holy Scripture whose text we do not understand.
2. Meditation
Once we have studied a psalm enough to understand its basic meaning, we are ready to meditate on it. Meditation centers on internalizing and personalizing the psalm or verses from a psalm. Unlike Eastern meditation which attempts to empty the mind, Christian meditation seeks to fill the mind, transform it, and bring repentance (change) and faith (trust). Meditation invites us to enter into the presence of God for ourselves and hear His voice and obey it now. Meditation is a gift of grace. If you don’t yet feel a desire to meditate on Scripture, humbly open yourself, ask to receive God’s gift of grace to you. Unwrap your package! Everyone who acknowledges Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can enter into God’s presence in Christ and hear and obey His Word.
When we meditate, we purposely detach from our concerns and surroundings (preferably in a quiet place without interruptions) and consciously give ourselves to God, creating an emotional and spiritual space for God to speak and for us to listen and to see and to respond. Sometimes it helps to read and talk about the passage aloud to God. Don’t shame yourself for distractions; just refocus your attention on your meditation—as many times as necessary.
Psalm 1:2
Their (the blessed, happy ones) delight is in the torah (instruction) of God, and they meditate on his torah day and night.
Psalm 19:14
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.
Psalm 119: 15
I will meditate on your commandments (torah) and give attention to your ways (torah).
Psalm 119:92-93
If my delight had not been in your law (torah), I should have perished in my affliction." I will never forget your commandments (torah) , because by them you give me life.
3. Praying in Christ
Birds live in the air, fish live in the water, and Christians live in Christ. Not only does Jesus Christ live in us (“…Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Col 1:27), but we also live in him. Our intimate spiritual living union with Christ is mentioned repeatedly in the New Testament. We are united with him, incorporated into him. We do not pray on our own; we pray in Christ and he prays in us.
lf he takes us with him in his prayer, if we are privileged to pray along with him, if he lets us accompany him on his way to God and teaches us to pray, then we are free from the agony of prayerlessness. But that is precisely what Jesus Christ wants to do He wants to pray with us and have us pray with him, so that we may be confident and glad that God hears us.
Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible, p. 11
John 15:4—“Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself, it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (Our lives have no fruitfulness apart from our union and fellowship with Christ; the same is true for our prayers.)
Ephesians 1:3—“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.” (The capacity to pray in Christ and have him pray in us is an incredible spiritual blessing, part of our spiritual position in Christ.)
Ephesians l: 7-8 — In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (We are redeemed, forgiven people with the capacity to see and think like Jesus.)
Ephesians 3:12—“In him (Jesus Christ) and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” (We study, meditate, and pray freely in Christ, confident of God’s acceptance and guidance.)
Colossians 2:6-7 and 9—“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness… For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.” (God fills us full of Himself in our union with Christ.)
1 John 2:28—“And now, dear children, continue in him so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”
The Holy Spirit will teach us to pray all the Psalms in Christ and with Christ. He will use the Psalms to teach us the language of worship and prayer. Our part is to prepare by study and be available by meditation “To be sure, the one who prays the psalms remains himself. But in him and through him it is Christ who prays.” (Bonhoeffer, p. 19)
4. The Sacramental Power of the Psalms
Praying the Psalms transforms us. Their transforming language acts as a sacrament which brings about a new reality in us that did not exist before; they affect us and mold us. The Psalms present a “language world” that, when we enter it, is a “means of grace” that shapes us as new people with a new sense of God’s presence and power. We praise God for the Psalms and for the wonderful way He uses them to teach us to live and to pray in Christ.