Praying the Psalms with Augustine and Friends

Introduction

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Perhaps you recognized verse five as Jesus’ prayer on the cross? Jesus and the New Testament authors quote the Psalms more than any other Old Testament book—a striking 41% of Old Testament quotations in the New Testament are from the Psalms, and Jesus alludes to the Psalms more than fifty times! 1 When we pray the Psalms, we are joining a long line of faithful men and women— stretching thousands of years, all the way back from Moses to David and then Jesus—who have sought God’s help. I discovered this beloved community as the Psalms taught me to pray. They helped me cultivate a deeper trust in God and nurtured my hope during a dark time. At the close of that devastating year, I met with one of my mentors, someone with whom I had not been able to speak throughout the investigation. Without a single word of explanation from me, he looked me in the eye and said with great compassion, “Carmen, this year must have been hell for you.” In that moment, I knew that God had answered my prayers for vindication. Though I had been unable to protect my own reputation, God had been at work behind the scenes. I was seen. I answered my mentor, Yes and no. Yes, this has been the most painful experience of my life. But if hell is the absence of God, then I can’t describe this year as hell, because I have never felt the presence of Godmore tangibly. I attribute the peace of God’s presence that I experienced to the Psalms. Cut off from human support, the Psalms became my lifeline. They connected me to the God who was deeply concerned for my well-being, shared my

1 Bruce K. Waltke and James M. Houston, The Psalms as Christian Worship: A Historical Commentary (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2010), 110.