“Bend an ear, God; answer me… Help your servant—I’m depending on you! … I count on you from morning to night. … I put myself in your hands! You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. … Every time I’m in trouble I call on you, confident that you’ll answer. (Ps 86:5)

I remember hearing a rabbi say that the right place to start reading the Bible was in the book of Psalms. It’s an interesting thought isn’t it? You might think to begin at the beginning, or to first learn the historical story, or attempt to understand its high theology. So, why the Psalms?

Because the Psalms operate out of relationship, and that’s where your walk with God begins.

And continues.

It’s also wonderful to me to consider that the Psalms were the prayer-book of Jesus. He knew its songs intimately, and in fact he quotes the book of Psalms more than any other book. The reason is that Jesus lived in a warm and constant relationship with Father God, such as I can barely imagine.

But I want to imagine it! More- I desire to live it. It’s a life of happy trust (I’m depending on you!); of constant awareness (I count on you from morning to night); and confident expectation (You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help).

Jesus raises my reading of the Psalms from the level of a wishful hope to that of solid trust. Every time I’m in trouble I call on you, confident that you’ll answer. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s little book Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible leads us into this profound truth:  “Jesus Christ has brought every need, every joy, every gratitude, every hope of men before God. In his mouth the word of man becomes the Word of God, and if we pray his prayer with him, the Word of God becomes once again the word of man. All prayers of the Bible are such prayers which we pray together with Jesus Christ, in which he accompanies us, and through which he brings us into the presence of God. Otherwise there are no true prayers, for only in and with Jesus Christ can we truly pray.”

I put myself in your hands! You’re well-known as good and forgiving, bighearted to all who ask for help. … Every time I’m in trouble I call on you, confident that you’ll answer.

All is well: the God who raised Jesus is here. Do not fear.