Praying Through: Psalm 150
The Psalm
Psalm 150 (CSB)
1 Hallelujah! Praise God in his sanctuary. Praise him in his mighty expanse.2 Praise him for his powerful acts; praise him for his abundant greatness.
3 Praise him with the blast of a trumpet; praise him with harp and lyre.
4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and flute.
5 Praise him with resounding cymbals; praise him with clashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the LORD. Hallelujah!
The Prayer
What can I say?
I pray to worship You.
I pray to praise Your holy name forever.
I pray to sing to You.
I pray because I want You.
I pray because I need You near.
I pray because I have no life without You.
I pray because You are my Lord and God.
I pray because You are my Father.
I pray because You are my Savior.
I pray because You are the Spirit inside of me.
And this I know, You have declared Your sweets words to be true (Psalm 119). Your words come from Your very breath (2 Timothy 3:16) and they are sufficient—no, more than sufficient—necessary for life. (Genesis 2:7 cf. John 11:43)
How can I begin to describe the feeling when your sweet words falls upon my ears, eyes, mind and heart?
Psalm 19:7–10 (CSB)
- The instruction of the LORD is perfect,
- renewing one’s life;
- the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy,
- making the inexperienced wise.
The precepts of the LORD are right,
- making the heart glad;
- the command of the LORD is radiant,
- making the eyes light up.
The fear of the LORD is pure,
- enduring forever;
- the ordinances of the LORD are reliable
- and altogether righteous.
They are more desirable than gold—
- than an abundance of pure gold;
- and sweeter than honey
- dripping from a honeycomb.
If Your promises hold true—if You say You will make all things right despite our folly and sin (Genesis 3:15); if You say You will bear our iniquities and our trespasses (Isaiah 53) and You will draw near to us just when we think You are so far away (Psalm 22), then my life and my love is all in Your Word. I have nowhere else to go and no one else to turn to.
Who can I trust?
Where I can seek refuge in?
Whom have I in heaven but You?
Is there anyone on earth I desire besides You? (Psalm 73:25)
This much is true: for you are my God. You loved me and you are always mindful of me even before you created time and space.
You have shown the awesome worth of your love by sending and giving Your precious Son to me.
You have shown the infinite might of your power by giving your Spirit to me.
So what then can I say?
So what then can I do?
All I can do is simply thank you.
So from the bottom of my heart,
I thank you for giving me strength.
Thank you my Father God.
Thank you my Christ Jesus.
Thank you my Holy Spirit.
You judged me faithful.
You appointed to Your service.
Despite my dishonoring and blaspheming,
Your holy name,
despite my persecution and hatred,
of those who love you,
despite my perverted and violent opposition,
towards you,
Still
I only received mercy
because I was lost
I was lame
I was deaf
I was blind
I was stupid
I was ignorant
I was evil
I was dead
and I was not looking and could not look for you whatsoever.
But Your beautiful, sweet and tender
love, mercy and grace
overflowed for me
overwhelmingly
undeservingly
ill-deservingly
with your unbroken faithfulness
and your relentless love
that can only be by You,
for You,
through You,
my Christ Jesus my Lord my Savior.
These words
out of my heart
are true
and with all of my hope and dreams
and desires and wishes
I pray
that these words would be sweet to your ears.
I know
that you came in this world
to rescue your people
to pull them out of despair
to give your people life
to save them from their sins
to bring them to you
evil sinners
at war with you
All of us
And I lead this group.
I am the foremost
I am their chief
I am their victor
I am their champion of those who would face Your terrifying wrath!
Yet,
in this reason
that Your grace abounds all the more
that Your mercy renews every morning
that Your love never ceases
that You
my Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ
might display
Your perfection, beauty, tenderness, quickness,
Your love, mercy, grace, patience
for all of those who You call Yours
and those would believe upon Your holy name for life forever.
This is why I will sing
to the God of the everlasting to the everlasting
the Triune
the Father
the Son
the Holy Spirit
the immortal
the invisible
the Only One
the Creator
the Sustainer
the Merciful
the Peace
the Grace
the Faith
the Messiah
the Immanuel, God with Us
the Blessed
the Living Word
the Christ
the Son of God
the Fellow Heir
the Second Adam
the Kinsman Redeemer
the Beginning
the Means
the End
the Majesty
the Truth
the Way
the Life
the Wisdom
the Teacher
the Rescuer
the Promise
the Calling
the Fulfillment
the Abundance
the Host
the Governor
the High Priest
the Prophet
the Apostle
the Sufferer
the Messiah
the Servant
the Son of Man
the Glorified
the Power
the Gospel
the Guide
the Elector
the All-Sufficient
the Lion of Judah
the Worthy Lamb who was slain
the King of all kings
the Lord of all lords
the Commander
the Ruler above all
the Name above all Names
my Holiness
my Righteousness
my Justice
my Faithfulness
my Mercy
my Grace
my Friend
my Confidence
my Pastor
my Elder
my Brother
my Assurance
my Redeemer
my Rock
my Salvation
my All in all
my Exalted
my Glorious
my Beloved
my Joy
my Song
my Love
my Jesus Christ, King, Lord, Savior and Messiah
my Father, my Father, my Abba, my heart
my Holy Spirit, my comfort, my peace, my gift, my breath.
So I will be so very careful to
worship,
sing,
praise,
glorify,
exalt,
proclaim,
honor,
dedicate,
and love
You alone.
I pray this desperately and joyfully,
in the beautiful,
sweet,
precious,
most tender,
loveliest,
most worthy,
dearest name of
Your Son.
His name is
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 22:20 (CSB) He who testifies about these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
Yes! Come, Lord Jesus! Right now, come, right now!
Amen!