Three Hours of Prayer
Psalm 49 is broken up into five relatively equal stanzas in the NASB95 version (1-4, 5-9, 10-12, 13-15, and 16-21). The ESV version supplies the summary heading in the form of a question, “Why Should I fear in Times of Trouble?” Why indeed, when we take the teaching of Psalm 49 to heart. What if we were to take every psalm in the psalter and turn it into a scaffold for three prayers, one for each of the Jewish hours of prayer, morning, noon, and evening? That might be a great way to deepen our appreciation for each psalm and to train our hearts not to fear.
Morning
May I rise as a warrior of peace.
May I rise with good news upon your lips, for all people.
May I walk in such a way that those born low or high will listen.
I trust You who died and rose to give me words to speak.
Turn my ears to Your word that I might help others understand.
Help me to rise and work this day
to make my life sing of the King’s glory.
For I have no reason to fear either rich or poor,
The Living God has redeemed my life and made me His own,
so that the announcement of Your Gospel will bring life.
Afternoon
Even the rich end their days in tombs
Even the foolish and the wise lie underground in the end.
Nothing a man does endures.
Trusting in ourselves is a vain and unproductive path.
The grave is a place of decay and rot,
but God will redeem my life and take me to Himself.
So let me live today as a man without fear.
Let me remember my end and theirs
that they might have the same hope as mine.
Evening (a benediction)
May the Lord who walked with us this day
make our whole being, body, mind, and spirit, rest.
May our evening thoughts be saturated with knowing Him,
for in knowing Him, we are rich beyond all measure.
Go to Psalm 50
ChosenRebel's Blog 