Summer Daily Readings - Psalms Pt. 1
Readings for this week January 1 - 5
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 first week of readings focuses on praising God for who he is and what he has done.
Day 1 – Praising God’s Greatness
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 145:1-8
1I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2 Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4 One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5 They speak of the glorious splendour of your majesty—
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They tell of the power of your awesome works—
and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7 They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
Prompts for Prayer
· Exalt, praise, extol, proclaim, celebrate. What other words could be used?
· What reasons are there to praise God for who He is?
· What reasons do you have to praise God for what he has done in your life over the past year?
· How have you learnt to praise him more each day?
· Meditate on the wonderful works of God.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – The Character of God
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 145:9-16
9 The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10 All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11 They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12 so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendour of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
Prompts for Prayer
· The importance of regularly praising God.
· How is God’s character revealed in this passage?
· How have you experienced His character in your life recently?
· How does the king stoop to help those in need?
· God as bountiful and protective Creator.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Let Us Praise Him
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 95:1-7
1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.
Prompts for Prayer
· How do you praise God? How often?
· How does your love and praise of God show itself in the moments of the day no one else sees?
· In the moments of your day that others do see?
· God as King.
· God as Shepherd.
· God as Creator.
· God as the origin and wellspring of all that you are.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – God is Coming to Rule His People
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 98
1 Sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvellous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
2 The Lord has made his salvation known
and revealed his righteousness to the nations.
3 He has remembered his love
and his faithfulness to Israel;
all the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
4 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,
burst into jubilant song with music;
5 make music to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and the sound of singing,
6 with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—
shout for joy before the Lord, the King.
7 Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy;
9 let them sing before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples with equity.
Prompts for Prayer
· God’s restorative justice.
· The global perspective of all creation.
· What does it mean that God will ‘judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity’?
· Where do you see God’s love and justice are most needed now?
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – Made in the Image of God to Praise the Image-Maker
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Psalm 8
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels
and crowned them with glory and honour.
6 You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
you put everything under their feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the animals of the wild,
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Prompts for Prayer
· What does being made in God’s image actually mean?
· What have we been made for?
· What is our relationship to creation?
· How is our relationship with creation an avenue of praise of God?
· How is each person a mirror for the image of God?
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)