Praying the Psalms of Jesus

by James W. Sire

At key moments in his life on earth, Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, turned to the Psalms for words to express his deepest thoughts and emotions. It is not hard to imagine Jesus, his mind and heart saturated with the words and thoughts of the Psalms as they were prayed aloud in the Temple, going off early in the morning to pray. How much must he have mouthed the words of the Psalms and given them a fulfillment? They became his answering speech to his heavenly Father. In these pages you will discover how the psalms that relate closely to the mission of Jesus can also become our answering speech. We will begin our journey into the mind of Christ by immersing ourselves in several psalms which Jesus himself refers to and fulfills. And then in the second half of the book, we will immerse ourselves in psalms that Jesus would have meditated on during his time on earth, focusing on the heart and mind of Jesus as he prayed the psalms. Structural analysis of each psalm will help us grow our ability to read the Psalms. The guided personal prayer liturgy with each chapter will help us go deeper in the experience of praying the Psalms. Through these psalms we will discover more of the human life of our Lord and Savior. And in the process we will discover more of who we are as we come before our holy God. Also included: a group discussion and prayer experience to accompany each chapter.

Genres: Prayer, Theology

223 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2007

About the author

James W. Sire was a Christian author, speaker, and former editor for InterVarsity Press.

Sire was an officer in the Army, a college professor of English literature, philosophy and theology, the chief editor of InterVarsity Press, a lecturer at over two hundred universities around the world and the author of twenty books on literature, philosophy and the Christian faith. His book The Universe Next Door, published in 1976 has sold over 350,000 copies. He held a B.A. in chemistry and English from the University of Nebraska, an M.A. in English from Washington State and a Ph.D. in English from the University of Missouri.

Reviews

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have enjoyed both Sire's books on the Psalms. The way he explained them made them so much more meaningful and understandable.

[Mark Roossinck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the concept and enjoyed the insights, but I felt like the application needed more depth. Praying the Psalms that emphasize the person and the ministry of Jesus was a great concept.

[Mauberley]

I was quite disappointed in this book. Sire uses a four-fold method to enter into these spiritual poems (How does it work as a Psalm? What did it mean to ancient Israel? What would it have meant to Jesus when he heard it? What does it mean to us?) and the results are less than shimmering with insight. To my mind, the 'liturgies' that Sire creates for the Psalms are far more distracting than helpful. Unfortunately, Sire really doesn't have the requisite imagination to help us understand what the Psalms under consideration would have meant to Jesus and, frankly, I'm not sure that anyone could help us with that.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two parts: Jesus in the Psalms (cross referencing Jesus' quotes in the gospels with those in the Psalms) and The Psalms of Jesus (where Jesus appears prophetically). The author gives special emphasis to Psalms 22, 110, 118, 2, 69, 29, 23, 45, and 80. I read this slowly, praying carefully through the psalms, seeing Jesus in the psalms where I had not seen Him before, worshiping.

[Jt]

another good book on prayer