Praying Psalms of Celebration
Rejoice in the God who rejoices in you.
The Bible begins in a garden and ends in a city, a New Jerusalem overflowing with praise to God. I’ve heard the same said about the book of Psalms. There, at the get-go, we find a righteous man who is “like a tree, planted by streams of water.” Then, one hundred and forty-nine psalms later, we’re caught up in a city-wide musical celebration of the Lord’s glory. The presence of trumpets, harps, tambourines, and cymbals provides the clue to our location. After all, instruments were a luxury in the ancient world, and you wouldn’t find an orchestra in the countryside.
I’m not convinced the whole Bible can be mapped, beginning-to-end, across the songbook we know as Psalms, but it’s an intriguing idea. In any case, it’s true that everything God is doing in our world is leading up to a day when his people will worship with unlimited joy.
It’s a refreshing reminder, especially for anyone tempted to turn praying the Bible into stoic drudgery. Celebration shatters our self-importance. And because everyone knows how to celebrate, it serves as a kind of equalizer. When it comes to joyful prayer, everything that the seasoned believer can experience is also within reach of the wide-eyed newcomer.
So, whoever you are and wherever you’ve been, let’s pray through some Scripture. Many, many psalms contain celebration and praise. This includes those like Psalm 13 that open with lament:
How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?
How long will you hide your face from me? (verse 1)
—and yet still end with gladness:
But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
I will sing to the Lord,
for he has been good to me. (verses 5–6)
That is to say, when you pray psalms, you need to be prepared to break into celebration at a moment’s notice. But it’s still the case that the treasure trove of praise lies at the end of the book. Psalms 145 through 150 offer nearly continuous rejoicing.
I’ve chosen Psalm 147 to guide our prayer here, but a quick note before we get started: in other posts I’ve written on this subject, like Pray a Psalm Right Now and Praying Psalms that Perplex, I’ve included sample prayers after some passages of Scripture. However, I’ve decided not to do that here. One reason is that words of celebration and praise aren’t usually complicated—you’ll come up with what you need. Something as simple as a heartfelt “Thank you, Lord!” is more than sufficient. Or if you like, you can even recite the psalm’s own words as your prayer.
So, however you choose to go about it, I invite you to pray the first five verses of Psalm 147 right now:
Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!
(pray in response)
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the exiles of Israel.
(pray)
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
(pray)
He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
(pray)
Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
(pray)
As you continue to read psalms and praise God, remember that we learn to pray by doing. Don’t worry about getting it “right,” just keep at it.
And as you do, hold tightly to the truth found in Psalm 147:11:
The Lord delights in those who fear him,
who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Jesus’ unfailing love led him to lay down his life on the cross. Because he rose from the grave, we who believe can worship with true freedom. We know that our sins have been forgiven and that God loves us as his own children.
Consider a similar verse found in Psalm 149:4:
For the Lord takes delight in his people;
he crowns the humble with salvation.
You’ve now read it here twice: your God takes delight in you. How often do we reflect on this truth? Surely, we can all answer, “not enough.” As we pray, simply remembering that God delights in us can awaken a deeper sense of satisfaction and celebration.
The Lord delights in you. He rejoices in you.
Rejoice in him.
As the psalms richly capture, life is a complex tapestry of joys and sorrows, a blend of trials and triumphs. Yet, whatever we’re experiencing, we can hold onto the promise that when every temporary thing has faded away, God will remain.
And so will our celebration of him.