The Book of Psalms is a source of songs in which we can offer praise and thanksgiving to God. It also has much to offer in regard to our approaching God in prayer. Many of the psalms are written in the style of prayer or petition and are thereby suitable in helping us learn how to pray and how to express those innermost emotions and needs of which we often lack the words to express.
This isn’t a new idea. We have many examples of this in the New Testament. Jesus used the Psalms in prayer twice on the cross. “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46; Psa. 22:1). “Father, into your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46; Psa. 31:5). While suffering in deep agony, He chose to use the Psalms to express His deepest feelings. The apostles also used the Psalms. “And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, ‘Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against his Anointed’” (Acts 4:24-26). Addressing God, they quoted from Psalm 146:6. In expressing their problem, they referred to Psalm 2:1-2. This prayer was offered as a result of persecution, and they chose to use the Psalms to express their problems to God. These examples teach us that it is appropriate on occasion to use phrases from the Psalms in our prayers. When we realize that found in the Psalms are man’s deepest emotions expressed in inspired terms, it is only natural that we would want to use them to express our own feelings. We want to avoid the danger of “vain repetition” (Matt. 6:7). We should use expressions from the Psalms only when truly heartfelt.
When we incorporate the Psalms in our prayers it is helpful to keep some elements of prayer in mind. Jesus addressed these when teaching about prayer (Matt. 6:9-13). He addressed the Father (v. 9), prayed for God’s purposes (v. 10), for our material needs (v. 11), for our spiritual needs (v. 12-13a), and concluded praise (v. 13b). In the Palms, we find expressions for all of these—for addressing the Father (Psa. 8:1, 90:1-2); praying for God’s purposes (Psa. 57:11; 72:18-19); for mentioning material needs (Psa. 144:12-15); for spiritual needs (Psa. 51:1-4; 71:1-3); and for offering praise (Psa. 36:5-9).
As a word of caution, this is not to receive the praise of men. It should be done to help find the words to convey the thoughts and concerns of our hearts. Sometimes we get stuck praying the same prayer. This may help us open our hearts and minds to new ways of expressing ourselves to our Lord.