Praying through the Psalms

By Moy Hernandez

Praying through the Psalms by Moy Hernandez

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Dec 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638448310

Book preview

Psalm 1

(Nehemiah 13:3)

The truly happy person doesn’t follow wicked advice, doesn’t stand on the road of sinners, and doesn’t sit with the disrespectful. Instead of doing those things, these persons love the LORD’s Instruction, and they recite God’s Instruction day and night! They are like a tree replanted by streams of water, which bears fruit at just the right time and whose leaves don’t fade. Whatever they do succeeds. That’s not true for the wicked! They are like dust that the wind blows away. And that’s why the wicked will have no standing in the court of justice—neither will sinners in the assembly of the righteous. The LORD is intimately acquainted with the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked is destroyed.

Never stop speaking about this Instruction… Recite it day and night so you can carefully obey everything written in it. Then you will accomplish your objectives and you will succeed.

Joshua 1:8

PRAYER: Trusting in God’s Leading/Plan

Lord, help me to resist evil and sin in the form of doubt and to instead delight (Psalm 31:18) in your instruction/word. Help me to seek your streams of water that I may bear spiritual fruit in good time—Your spiritual fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).

Help me, Lord, not to fear times of spiritual drought when they do come. Discern my hidden motives that I may confess them (Jeremiah 17:8, 10, 17). Please, Lord, do not terrorize me, do not let me feel so alone as I learn to wait for Your good will to be done. Lead me instead on the way of righteousness (Psalm 5:8) that I may be Holy like You are Holy in character and action.

Psalm 2

(Psalm 37:13)

Why do the nations rant? Why do the peoples rave uselessly? The earth’s rulers take their stand; the leaders scheme together against the LORD and against his anointed one.

Come! they say. We will tear off their ropes and throw off their chains! The one who rules in heaven laughs; my Lord makes fun of them. But then God speaks to them angrily; then he terrifies them with his fury: I hereby appoint my king on Zion, my holy mountain!

I will announce the LORD’s decision: He said to me, You are my son, today I have become your father. Just ask me, and I will make the nations your possession; the far corners of the earth will be your property. You will smash them with an iron rod; you will shatter them like a pottery jar. So kings, wise up!

Be warned, you rulers of the earth! Serve the LORD reverently—trembling, kiss his feet or else he will become angry, and your way will be destroyed because his anger ignites in an instant. But all who take refuge in the LORD are truly happy!

I will never take my faithful love away.

2 Samuel 2:15

PRAYER: Who Am I to You, God

My Lord, You are my Father, my God, and I am Your child. All I ask is for a constant awareness of Your grace, which is always sufficient for me (2 Corinthians 12:9). When I experience it, remind me of it daily! May I take refuge in my time of stress in You alone. Guide me in how I may serve You with reverence today in how I may tell others of Your marvelous love.

Psalm 3

(2 Samuel 15–17)

LORD, I have so many enemies! So many are standing against me. So many are talking about me: Even God won’t help him.

But you, LORD, are my shield! You are my glory! You are the one who restores me.

I cry out loud to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down, sleep, and wake up because the LORD helps me.

I won’t be afraid of thousands of people surrounding me on all sides. Stand up, LORD! Save me, my God! In fact, hit all my enemies on the jaw; shatter the teeth of the wicked! Rescue comes from the LORD!

May your blessing be on your people!

PRAYER: The Lord Helps Me

Lord, even when I don’t feel You, You are my shield. Please restore the joy of my salvation (Psalm 51:12) and sustain me with a willing spirit. Maybe I am imagining it, but there seems to be some many who are propped up against me, so many intent on holding me back, on hurting me, on denying me.

Save me from my enemies, and would you please help them to reflect upon your grace, your joy and love towards me. And even if they choose not to, may your blessings continue to be upon me.

(Numbers 6:24–27)

Psalm 4

(2 Samuel 17:29; 1 King 17:6)

Answer me when I cry out, my righteous God! Set me free from my troubles! Have mercy on me!

Listen to my prayer! How long, you people, will my reputation be insulted? How long will you continue to love what is worthless and go after lies?

Know this: the LORD takes personal care of the faithful.

The LORD will hear me when I cry out to him. So be afraid, and don’t sin! Think hard about it in your bed and weep over it! Bring righteous offerings, and trust the LORD! Many people say, We can’t find goodness anywhere. The light of your face has left us, LORD! But you have filled my heart with more joy than when their wheat and wine are everywhere! I will lie down and fall asleep in peace because you alone, LORD, let me live in safety.

Let light shine out of darkness.

2 Corinthians 4:6

PRAYER: Are You Hearing Me, Lord?

Righteous God, please answer my cry, set me free from my enemies, have mercy, and listen. Let me experience Your loving care, let me serve You in righteousness and faithfulness. Fill my heart with joy, make your face to shine upon me. Grant me peace, for You alone can make me safe. May it be so, Father, please.

Psalm 5

(1 Samuel 17:7; 2 Samuel 17:29; Romans 3:13)

Hear my words, LORD! Consider my groans! Pay attention to the sound of my cries, my king and my God, because I am praying to you! LORD, in the morning you hear my voice. In the morning I lay it all out before you.

Then I wait expectantly. Because you aren’t a God who enjoys wickedness; evil doesn’t live with you. Arrogant people won’t last long in your sight; you hate all evildoers; you destroy liars.

The LORD despises people who are violent and dishonest. But me? I will enter your house because of your abundant, faithful love; I will bow down at your holy temple, honoring you.

LORD, because of many enemies, please lead me in your righteousness. Make your way clear, right in front of me. Because there’s no truth in my enemies’ mouths, all they have inside them is destruction. Their throats are open graves; their tongues slick with talk.

Condemn them, God! Let them fail by their own plans. Throw them out for their many sins because they’ve rebelled against you.

But let all who take refuge in you celebrate.

Let them sing out loud forever! Protect them so that all who love your name can rejoice in you. Because you, LORD, bless the righteous. You cover them with favor like a shield.

PRAYER: All That Is Good Comes from God

To You, my God, I lift my concerns, consider my groans, and hear my words. I begin my days with You and anticipate Your response. You are not wicked or evil but indeed from where all good things come from (James 1:17). You have no time for dishonesty, arrogance, or liars; therefore, I humble myself before You (James 4:10). In all that I do, I want to honor You.

Lead me, I pray, and make obvious to me the path I should take (Psalm 1:3). If those who are against me continue to refuse to act in kindness and grace toward me, then let their schemes fail against your servant. Protect me as I draw near to You (James 4:8) that I may rejoice in Your righteousness and favor.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands your sinner, purify your heart. Humble yourself before the lord and he will lift you up.

James 4:8–10

Psalm 6

(1 Chronicle 28:21)

Please, LORD, don’t punish me when you are angry; don’t discipline me when you are furious. Have mercy on me, LORD, because I’m frail.

Heal me, LORD, because my bones are shaking in terror! My whole body is completely terrified! But you, LORD! How long will this last?

Come back to me, LORD! Deliver me! Save me for the sake of your faithful love! No one is going to praise you when they are dead. Who gives you thanks from the grave?

I’m worn out from groaning. Every night, I drench my bed with tears; I soak my couch all the way through.

My vision fails because of my grief; it’s weak because of all my distress. Get away from me, all you evildoers, because the LORD has heard me crying!

The LORD has listened to my request.

The LORD accepts my prayer. All my enemies will be ashamed and completely terrified; they will be defeated and ashamed instantly.

PRAYER: The Lord Is with Me, He Is More than Merciful

Lord, I know I do not make it easy on You at times, but please be patient with me. May Your mercy win over Your frustration over my lack of faith. I am worried, I am afraid, I feel such anxiety and uncertainty over my future. To me, You seem silent.

Help me to be aware of Your presence. Remind me that You are with me and that You have not left me (Joshua 1:9). I praise You, Lord, for all that You have done for me, work through me. I pray that others may be blessed too. How much more crying must I do, how much longer should I feel so helpless, so useless.

I know You hear me, Father. I believe You accept my prayer. Please remove those who seek to harm me.

I’ve commanded you to be brave and strong, haven’t I? Don’t be alarm or terrified, Because THE LORD your GOD is with you, where ever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Psalm 7

(2 Samuel 16:14; Esther 7:10; Daniel 6:24; Acts 17:31)

I take refuge in you, LORD, my God. Save me from all who chase me! Rescue me! Otherwise, they will rip me apart, dragging me off with no chance of rescue.

LORD, my God, if I have done this—if my hands have done anything wrong, if I have repaid a friend with evil or oppressed a foe for no reason—then let my enemy not only chase but catch me, trampling my life into the ground, laying my reputation in the dirt.

Get up, LORD; get angry! Stand up against the fury of my foes! Wake up, my God; you command that justice be done! Let the assembled peoples surround you. Rule them from on high!

The LORD will judge the peoples. Establish justice for me, LORD, according to my righteousness and according to my integrity.

Please let the evil of the wicked be over, but set the righteous firmly in place because you, the righteous God, are the one who examines hearts and minds. God is my shield; he saves those whose heart is right.

God is a righteous judge, a God who is angry at evil every single day. If someone doesn’t change their ways, God will sharpen his sword, will bend his bow, will string an arrow.

God has deadly weapons in store for those who won’t change; he gets his flaming arrows ready! But look how the wicked hatch evil, conceive trouble, give birth to lies!

They make a pit, dig it all out, and then fall right into the hole that they’ve made! The trouble they cause will come back on their own heads; the violence they commit will come down on their own skulls.

But I will thank the LORD for his righteousness; I will sing praises to the name of the LORD Most High.

No one can contain God’s power.

Daniel 4:35–36

PRAYER: Take Refuge in God

Father, what have I done to deserve the treatment I receive from others? Please help me, save me. How may I make amends for the wrongs they accuse me of? If I do deserve their wrath, then so be it, but please have mercy on me, Lord. As I seek to turn my life around, may it be evident by Your justice around me and others. May the evil that surrounds me dissipate, especially any that may be present still in my own heart.

You are my shield, God, You protect me, You make my heart right with You. Transform my stubbornness with Christlike meekness by Your mighty hand. I sing praises to You because You are just and righteous and those who refuse Your grace or misuse it will certainly not persevere because you are sovereign God. You alone control all things and will work them out according to Your will (Isaiah 46:9–10).

I am God, there is none like me…my plan will stand, all that I decide, I will do.

Isaiah 46:9–10

Psalm 8

(1 Chronicles 28:21; Isaiah 51:16; Genesis 1:26, 2:15)

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth! You made your glory higher than heaven!

From the mouths of nursing babies you have laid a strong foundation because of your foes, in order to stop vengeful enemies.

When I look up at your skies, at what your fingers made—the moon and the stars that you set firmly in place—what are human beings that you think about them; what are human beings that you pay attention to them?

You’ve made them only slightly less than divine, crowning them with glory and grandeur.

You’ve let them rule over your handiwork, putting everything under their feet—all sheep and all cattle, the wild animals too, the birds in the sky, the fish of the ocean, everything that travels the pathways of the sea.

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name throughout the earth!

I put my words in your mouth, you are my people.

Isaiah 51:16

PRAYER: Nothing Compares to You, Lord!

There is nothing that compares to You, oh, God. You always come through for me, even when I don’t see it presently. From birth and beyond, Your purpose and plan is good (James 1:17). Compared to all Your creation, I am so small, so insignificant, yet in Your eyes, I mean so much more (Job 7:17).

You trust me and grant me stewardship over my life. Help me, please, guide me, please. When I seek You, please let me find You. For You alone are great and Lord over all the earth!

Every good and perfect gift comes from above, from the Father, the creator, in whose character there is no change.

James 1:17

Psalm 9

(Isaiah 14:12–14; 1 Samuel 17:4; Amos 2:7)

I will thank you, LORD, with all my heart; I will talk about all your wonderful acts. I will celebrate and rejoice in you; I will sing praises to your name, Most High.

When my enemies turn and retreat, they fall down and die right in front of you because you have established justice for me and my claim, because you rule from the throne, establishing justice rightly. You’ve denounced the nations, destroyed the wicked. You’ve erased their names for all time.

Every enemy is wiped out, like something ruined forever. You’ve torn down their cities—even the memory of them is dead. But the LORD rules forever!

He assumes his throne for the sake of justice. He will establish justice in the world rightly; he will judge all people fairly. The LORD is a safe place for the oppressed—a safe place in difficult times. Those who know your name trust you because you have not abandoned any who seek you, LORD.

Sing praises to the LORD, who lives in Zion! Proclaim his mighty acts among all people! Because the one who avenges bloodshed remembers those who suffer; the LORD hasn’t forgotten their cries for help. Have mercy on me, LORD! Just look how I suffer because of those who hate me.

But you are the one who brings me back from the very gates of death so I can declare all your praises, so I can rejoice in your salvation in the gates of Daughter Zion. The nations have fallen into the hole they themselves made! Their feet are caught in the very net they themselves hid!

The LORD is famous for the justice he has done; it’s his own doing that the wicked are trapped. Higgayon. Let the wicked go straight to the grave, the same for every nation that forgets God.

Because the poor won’t be forgotten forever, the hope of those who suffer won’t be lost for all time. Get up, LORD! Don’t let people prevail! Let the nations be judged before you. Strike them with fear, LORD. Let the nations know they are only human.

Open your hands generously.

Deuteronomy 15:11

PRAYER: My Eternal God

My full confidence and hope is in You, Lord, my God, my provider. I believe that You are watching over me so that no one may be victorious over Your child. Your way is the only way that succeeds; the ways of others will always fail. You are fair and treat all equitably according to Your purpose and will (Romans 8:28). You do not abandon me when I am in trouble. I can trust in Your constant presence.

Do remember how I have suffered, perhaps You have spared me from lives full pains, yet it still hurts. I know You do not forget my cries. Even so, there are still those who form ranks against me, but You are mighty and greater than any army. I will testify of Your justice, whether present or yet to come (Jeremiah 29:11). The wicked and those mere mortals who smear Your grace shall not prosper over those they oppress. You will not allow it, for You are righteous and eternal God.

Happy are you who are poor, because God’s Kingdom is yours!

Luke 6:20

Psalm 10

(Daniel 7:28; Amos 5:10–6:8; Luke 10:31–32)

Why do you stand so far away, LORD, hiding yourself in troubling times? Meanwhile, the wicked are proudly in hot pursuit of those who suffer.

Let them get caught in the very same schemes they’ve thought up! The wicked brag about their body’s cravings; the greedy reject the LORD, cursing. At the peak of their wrath, the wicked don’t seek God: There’s no God—that’s what they are always thinking. Their ways are always twisted.

Your rules are too lofty for them. They snort at all their foes. They think to themselves, We’ll never stumble. We’ll never encounter any resistance. Their mouths are filled with curses, dishonesty, violence. Under their tongues lie troublemaking and wrongdoing.

They wait in a place perfect for ambush; from their hiding places they kill innocent people; their eyes spot those who are helpless. They lie in ambush in secret places, like a lion in its lair. They lie in ambush so they can seize those who suffer! They seize the poor, all right, dragging them off in their nets. Their helpless victims are crushed; they collapse, falling prey to the strength of the wicked.

The wicked think to themselves: God has forgotten. God has hidden his face. God never sees anything! Get up, LORD! Get your fist ready, God! Don’t forget the ones who suffer! Why do the wicked reject God? Why do they think to themselves that you won’t find out? But you do see! You do see troublemaking and grief, and you do something about it!

The helpless leave it all to you. You are the orphan’s helper. Break the arms of those who are wicked and evil. Seek out their wickedness until there’s no more to find.

The LORD rules forever and always! The nations will vanish from his land. LORD, you listen to the desires of those who suffer. You steady their hearts; you listen closely to them, to establish justice for the orphan and the oppressed, so that people of the land will never again be terrified.

PRAYER: Father, Help Me

Father, please help me. When I cannot perceive Your presence, I am lacking the peace of Your companionship. What have I done to deserve Your silence? Yet I can clearly feel the attacks of those who seek to hurt me, I see their disregard for Your righteousness.

To me, it seems as though they get away with murder. They brag about it openly, and no consequence appears to follow their selfish actions toward the innocent. They mock the weak, the spiritually poor like me. They say You have forgotten me, that You don’t care for me, that You have abandoned me.

All Your promises do not seem to comfort me at this moment. Help me to be more aware of Your presence in my life especially during these times of darkness where my faith is struggling to hold on.

I believe in Your perfect time You will make all things right. Please steady my anxious heart, replace my fear with a greater portion of Your hope. Hear my prayers, help my unbelief, and let me know You are indeed with me right now.

Throw all your anxiety unto Him, Because He cares about you…after you have suffered for a little while, God the God of all GRACE, the one who called you, will Himself…

Restore

Empower

Strengthen

and Establish you!

1 Peter 5:7

Psalm 11

(1 Samuel 19:3, 21:1–22:19; Genesis 19:24)

I have taken refuge in the LORD. So how can you say to me, Flee to the hills like a bird because the wicked have already bent their bows; they’ve already strung their arrows; they are ready to secretly shoot those whose heart is right?

When the very bottom of things falls out, what can a righteous person possibly accomplish?

But the LORD is in his holy temple. The LORD! His throne is in heaven. His eyes see—his vision examines all of humanity.

The LORD examines both the righteous and the wicked; his very being hates anyone who loves violence.

God will rain fiery coals and sulfur on the wicked; their cups will be filled with nothing but a scorching hot wind because the LORD is righteous!

He loves righteous deeds.

Those whose heart is right will see God’s face.

Matthew 5:8

PRAYER: God, You Remain Sovereign!

Father, at times, I feel I must flee for my life, run away as far as I can from my situation. But when I cannot, I take refuge in You, my God. Even when others plot against me, when I cannot see the light at the end of my troubles, You remain on Your throne. You are Lord, you are sovereign.

Yes, You may allow difficulty to come my way, yet teach me what it means to count such hardship as joy (James 1:2–5). I want to learn. Grant me wisdom to recognize that You are building my character that I may be of greater service to You in my service of others.

You know me quite well. Forgive me for when my faith falls short (Romans 3:23).

I believe You do forgive me. I know You long for me to put my faith into practice, especially when it is difficult to do so. Show me how my heart may need to be made right with You, and guide me into a willing transformation for Your honor and glory.

Faith is dead if it doesn’t result in faithful activity.

James 2:17

Psalm 12

(1 Chronicles 28:1; 1 Timothy 4:1)

Help, LORD, because the godly are all gone; the faithful have completely disappeared from the human race! Everyone tells lies to everyone else; they talk with slick speech and divided hearts.

Let the LORD cut off all slick-talking lips and every tongue that brags and brags, that says, We’re unbeatable with our tongues! Who could get the best of us with lips like ours?

But the LORD says, "Because the poor are oppressed, because of the groans of the needy, I’m now standing up.

I will provide the help they are gasping for.

The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver that’s been refined in an oven, purified seven times over!

You, LORD, will keep us, protecting us from this generation forever. The wicked roam all over the place, while depravity is praised by human beings."

PRAYER: The Lord’s Promises Are Pure

Father, sometimes, it feels that even Your children, other believers, have deserted me. I cannot seem to find a word of comfort even from my family or friends. The more I try to live right, the more I encounter the lies and deception of this