Summer Daily Readings - Psalms Pt. 4
Readings for this week January 22 - 26
Click here for a pdf of this week’s readings
Due to the holiday season, the January daily readings were prepared far in advance of the Summer Series, and so therefore are not connected with the content of the Summer Series. The readings for the next four weeks will take on a slightly different format than usual.
Each daily reading will contain a passage from the Psalms, as well as several questions, words and phrases, or ideas to be used as prompts (if you wish) for you to pray through in response.
This fourth week of readings focuses on offering our hopes and dreams to God, and what we want to ask of him for the immediate future.
Day 1 – The Only One to Ask
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 86:1-10
1Hear me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who trusts in you.
You are my God; 3 have mercy on me, Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant, Lord,
for I put my trust in you.
5 You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
listen to my cry for mercy.
7 When I am in distress, I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, Lord;
no deeds can compare with yours.
9 All the nations you have made
will come and worship before you, Lord;
they will bring glory to your name.
10 For you are great and do marvellous deeds;
you alone are God.
Prompts for Prayer
· Calling on God, crying out to God.
· The nature and character of the One we cry out to.
· Where is God leading you in 2024?
· How will you trust God to lead you?
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Signs of God’s Goodness
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 86:11-17
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart;
I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your love toward me;
you have delivered me from the depths,
from the realm of the dead.
14 Arrogant foes are attacking me, O God;
ruthless people are trying to kill me—
they have no regard for you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
show your strength in behalf of your servant;
save me, because I serve you
just as my mother did.
17 Give me a sign of your goodness,
that my enemies may see it and be put to shame,
for you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Prompts for Prayer
· What are you seeking God about at the moment?
· Seeking a sign from God.
· How does God guide us and tell us what He wants?
· Help, comfort, guidance, protection.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Looking for a Way Out
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 88:1-9
O Lord, the God of my salvation,
I have cried out by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my soul has had enough troubles,
And my life has drawn near to Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;
I have become like a man without strength,
5 Forsaken among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And they are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the depths.
7 Your wrath has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah.
8 You have removed my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an object of loathing to them;
I am shut up and cannot go out.
9 My eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have spread out my hands to You.
Prompts for Prayer
· Holding on when times are tough.
· Looking ahead when there seems no hope.
· Where is God wanting to take you this year?
· What answers to prayer do you need at the moment?
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – Rescued and Redeemed
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 107:1-9
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some wandered in desert wastelands,
finding no way to a city where they could settle.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way
to a city where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love
and his wonderful deeds for mankind,
9 for he satisfies the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.
Prompts for Prayer
· Rescuing the wanderers, the sick, the imprisoned and those afflicted by life’s storms.
· A life-giving offer.
· What has God rescued you from in the past?
· Sharing the rescue and the life offered with others.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – To End as We Began to Begin Again
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Prompts for Prayer
· Exalt, praise, extol, proclaim, celebrate. How have you done this over the last four weeks?
· What answers to prayer have you had over the last four weeks?
· What new ways to praise God could you adopt/try?
· When you look ahead, where do you see God leading you next?
· How is your entire life praising God?
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)