I NEED WISDOM

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How to Pray the Wisdom Psalms

Learning to Pray from the Psalms, Part 5

(Click here for Part 1)

by Pastor Paul Dugan

The Psalms provide a playlist for all dimensions of the human experience, for all parts of the human soul. This playlist includes a wide variety of genres that help us gather the whole of our lives in honest and grateful prayer before God. 

The Psalms have changed my life. They have become medicine for my soul.

Today we practice praying the wisdom psalms. Psalm 1 is a classic example (NLT):

1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.

3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.

5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.

6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Wisdom in the Hebrew Scriptures is not the same thing as ‘smarts.’ It is possible to be a smart fool. Neither is wisdom a ‘secret knowledge’ possessed by a mystically-gifted elite. Wisdom is the practical skill of making good choices in the sight of God, in the everyday stuff of life.

Psalms of wisdom often include proverbs with short memorable sayings, contrasting light with darkness, good with evil, and the righteous with the wicked. 

Key words to look for in wisdom psalms: righteous, wicked, wise, foolish, blessed, fear of the Lord, law of the Lord. Examples of psalms of wisdom: Psalm 1, 14, 15, 19, 37, 49, 73, 112, 119, 127, 128, 133.

To listen to a wisdom psalm put to music, click here (Courtesy: The Corner Room).

How to pray your own psalm of wisdom:

"I thank you God for giving us clear boundaries- for defining for us what is true and false, good and evil, wise and foolish. And thank you for giving us the freedom to choose the good!

"I lament the sorrow and pain in my life/world that has resulted from unwise choices...

(yours and others’)

"I bring to you the choices that are in front of me/us today…

(ex, in how I invest my time, my words, my relationships, money, abilities, vocation, body, etc.)

This is part five in a ten-part series on how to pray the psalms. Part six is here.

For an index to digital prayer guides for more than one hundred individual psalms, click here.