by Pastor Paul Dugan
Try beginning your prayer with praise, using this three-part rhythm.
Part I: Become present to the presence of God:
Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. (Ps 90:14)
Pause in silence before him. Slowly inhale, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Slowly exhale, and release any burdens you are carrying into this time of prayer. Repeat this breathing prayer until you have brought your whole self - your thoughts, emotions, imagination, desires, and your body- (“as-is”) into the presence of God.
Part II: Slowly read Psalm 8 out loud in two different translations:
ESV: 8:1 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.
2 Out of the mouth of babies and infants,
you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings,
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
MSSG 8:1 God, brilliant Lord,
yours is a household name.
2 Nursing infants gurgle choruses about you;
toddlers shout the songs
That drown out enemy talk,
and silence atheist babble.
3-4 I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous,
your handmade sky-jewelry,
Moon and stars mounted in their settings.
Then I look at my micro-self and wonder,
Why do you bother with us?
Why take a second look our way?
5-8 Yet we’ve so narrowly missed being gods,
bright with Eden’s dawn light.
You put us in charge of your handcrafted world,
repeated to us your Genesis-charge,
Made us stewards of sheep and cattle,
even animals out in the wild,
Birds flying and fish swimming,
whales singing in the ocean deeps.
9 God, brilliant Lord,
your name echoes around the world.
Part III: Use your own words to pray Psalm 8 back to God:
“Lord God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit- I praise you, for who you are…
“I praise you for what you have done. Specifically, I thank you for…
The psalms were originally written as lyrics. They have been sung by the people of God throughout the history of Israel and the church. Take time to listen to a version of Psalm 8 set to music…
©2015 Corner Room Music Official website: cornerroommusic.com
From the album Spring (2017) by Jonathan Ogden. jonanthanogden.co.uk
From the album “The Psalms Project, Vol. 1” (2011). thepsalmsproject.com
For links to individual guides for more than one hundred different psalms click here.
For more on the Psalms:
Here is an introduction to the Book of Psalms.
For a list of psalms by literary style (genre) click here.
For an introduction to the narrative arc of the psalms, see Spirituality of the Psalms, by Walter Brueggemann.