Praying the Psalms through Advent

Nov 11

In the calendar of the Christian church year, every period of celebration is preceded by a time of preparation. Historically, Advent, the sacred season that begins four Sundays before Christmas Day, is a way to prepare our hearts for Christmas. For Christians, Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Christ — that light has come into darkness and, as the Gospel of John says, “the darkness could not overcome it.” But Advent bids us first to pause and to look, with complete honesty, at that darkness.

Tish Harrison Warren invites us into this season of preparation: “To practice Advent is to lean into an almost cosmic ache: our deep, wordless desire for things to be made right and the incompleteness we find in the meantime. We dwell in a world still racked with conflict, violence, suffering, and darkness. Advent holds space for our grief, and it reminds us that all of us, in one way or another, are not only wounded by the evil in the world but are also wielders of it, contributing our own moments of unkindness or impatience or selfishness… Advent reminds us that joy is trivialized if we do not first intentionally acknowledge the pain and wreckage of the world.” (NYTimes, 11/30/19)

The Psalms give voice to this ‘cosmic ache.’

I invite you to join me in praying the Psalms this Advent season. I have chosen psalms that express the themes of waiting and longing for God’s kingdom to come, ‘on earth, as it is in heaven.’ Let these ancient prayers stretch your own lament, confession, gratitude, and expectation to match the fullness of the Advent gospel.

Click on each psalm link below for a prayer guide.

Dec 1- Psalm 4

Dec 2- Psalm 5

Dec 3- Psalm 6

Dec 4- Psalm 13

Dec 5- Psalm 25

Dec 6- Psalm 27

Dec 7- Psalm 31

Dec 8- Psalm 33

Dec 9- Psalm 37

Dec 10- Psalm 38

Dec 11- Psalm 39