Praying the Psalms

David’s Anointing

It has been reported that after David was anointed as the next King, King Saul was stricken with an evil spirit. David was then called to play and sing to Saul. When David sang to Saul and played the lyre, the spirit would leave Saul. The powerful anointing of God on David gave him powers to cast out these spirits. It is thought that these songs to Saul are what inspired David to write 73 of the 150 Psalms. 1 Samuel 16:23 (NRSV)

23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him. We should recognize that David was anointed at a young age because the very next chapter of 1 Samuel is that of Goliath the giant that God destroyed through David. 1 Samuel 17:31–33 (NRSV)

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32 David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” Why did Saul receive an evil spirit? Because when David received the anointing God departed from Saul. It is important to note that before David’s anointing no Psalm was recorded, only after his anointing. So, what does this all mean to us and our praying the Psalms? The first person to pray the songs (Psalms) is the very one whom King Jesus was to descend from, David. According to the Bible David is a prototype of King Jesus. What happens to David, happens to him because of the one who is in him, Jesus.

So, we might ask why do we pray the Psalms? The Psalms are important because as David and others put words to their hearts we can be aware that the Lord spoke through the Psalmist. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that David was aware that the Lord was in him so to speak. Because of this he was considered to be a prophet, and because of this David could actually speak concerning the Resurrection of the Christ even though Jesus was coming from David. It can all get a little confusing can it not. Acts 2:30–31 (NRSV)

30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Foreseeing this, David spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, saying,

‘He was not abandoned to Hades,

nor did his flesh experience corruption.’

We pray the Psalms because David brought them to us with Jesus in his heart. When David prayed the Psalms it is Jesus Christ who prays them through David. When we pray the Psalms it happens in much the same way. So by all means pray the Psalms. For a few months now a few of us here at the church have studied the Psalms and I will be the first to say they get a bit hard to take at times, but knowing that Jesus prays these prayers with us is definitely reassuring. Dietrich says, “How is it possible for a man and Jesus Christ to pray the Psalter together? It is the incarnate Son of God, who has borne every human weakness in his own flesh, who here pours out the heart of all humanity before God and who stands in our place and prays for us.” He has known torment and pain. He has known guilt and shame. (Death) It is really our prayer, but he knows us so well that it is also his prayer.

Who prays the Psalms? David prays, Christ prays, we pray.