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First Thoughts Blog

Category Archives: Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

Introduction to Psalm 25: 1-7

Posted on: September 28, 2020
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
Remember me not according to the sins of my youth but according to the LORD's own character. He is merciful.
 

 
 
Psalm 25: 1–7
 
To you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
O my God, in you I trust;
let me not be put to shame;
let not my enemies exult over me.
Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame;
they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous.
Make me to know your ways, O LORD;
teach me your paths.
Lead me in your truth and teach me,
for you are the God of my salvation;
for you I wait all the day long.
Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love,
for they have been from of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
according to your steadfast love remember me,
for the sake of your goodness, O LORD!
Posted in: Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

Responding Personally to Psalms Seminar

Posted on: August 17, 2020
by: Dr. Malcolm Guite

Dr. Malcolm Guite of Cambridge University will take us into the purpose of the psalms and delve specifically into Psalms 20-24. Malcolm Guite is a minister in the Church of England, a renowned poet, a rock musician, and was for many years chaplain at Girton College, Cambridge. His specialty is the intersection between faith and the arts. Malcolm is the author of four volumes of his own poetry, several books on theology and literature, the editor of both Advent and Lenten collections of great English poems, and many essays for the Church Times. He has two cuddly greyhounds. And he loves C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and George Herbert so it should be no surprise Gerrit is a huge fan!

Supplemental Handout 

 

Posted in: Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

Weekly Psalms Readings

Posted on: August 6, 2020
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
Praying the Psalm of the Week Five Different Ways! 
 
Monday: As a Personal Prayer 
 
Read the psalm to get a sense of it. 
Read again, listening for phrases that grab you, then ponder those.
Pray the psalm aloud a third time, as a prayer of your life.
 
Tuesday: As a Prayer of Jesus 
 
Read the psalm once. 
Read the psalm aloud, imagining that Jesus is praying it.
Say “My Father” whenever you see LORD or God.
Ponder at what stage in his life this psalm might have fit Jesus.
Pray the psalm a third time joined to Jesus’ prayers.
 
Wednesday: For Someone You Love
 
Hold someone you love in mind as you read the psalm aloud. Consider how its words relate to their life. Pray it aloud again as if your loved one were praying it. 
 
Thursday: As Part of Community
 
Follow the same pattern, only today pray the psalm imagining that you are surrounded by fellow Christians in a great worship service. Imagine as you pray it aloud twice that everyone is vocalizing it together.
 
Friday: For Someone Who Is Difficult or Hostile
 
Follow the same pattern, only today pray the psalm imagining someone you struggle to love: even, especially, if it seems unlikely this person would ever pray a psalm!  
 
 
 

August 10-14     Psalm 23

 

Posted in: Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

Posted on: August 3, 2020
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor
This wretched distancing goes on! Yet so does the need to connect to others. And to God. Our hearts are still made to be in communion. So how do we stay connected in isolation? This month we begin a series of interlocking ways to encounter Christ through the Psalms. I’d like to tell you about it in advance of a mailing you’ll receive next week. 
 
For 3,000 years, the LORD’s people have climbed the stairways of words that are the Psalms. By making these prayers their own prayers, they have ascended through psalms straight into God’s presence. The Psalms were the very prayer book of Jesus himself. We find Christ’s heart for his Father when we pray psalms in communion with Jesus. We get drawn close to each other when we pray psalms together and for one another. We even find words to pray for our enemies when we pray psalms on behalf of those hostile to us! Psalms express our souls; they also transform our souls, taking us deeper than we could ever go on our own.
 
This fall, for 100 days, we’re going to hone in on the Psalms. Spiritual riches beyond price reside in these songs. So I’ll be inviting you to engage these psalms in a variety of practices. 
 
Next week, you’ll receive in the actual mail a beautiful bookmark with the schedule of psalms we are studying and five ways—one for each week day—we can pray the psalms with different people in mind. Beginning August 10, each Monday you’ll receive by email a three-minute video introducing the psalm of the week, and then, the following Sunday we’ll use that psalm in worship. And, very exciting to me, for three Sunday evenings at 5 pm, we’ll be launching by livestream special presentations introducing these psalms. Guest speakers include one of my spiritual heroes, Malcolm Guite from Cambridge, and one of Darin’s heroes, Mark Futato from Reformed Theological Seminary. We’re hoping those of you with big TVs and spacious seating areas will host watch parties. And consider joining a Shepherding Through the Psalms group to encourage one another. These groups will consist of 3-6 friends who will weekly connect with each other via a text, phone call, lunch or coffee—whatever works best for you. Spur one another on by discussing what you’re learning from the psalm of the week, how the prayer rhythms are going, and how to intentionally pray for each other. For more information visit fpcbr.org. To sign up as a group shepherd or member, email Kelly Wood.
 
 
Posted in: Restoring Your Soul Through Psalms

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