7/28/2019 Psalm of Remembrance

1/1

Writing a Psalm of Remembrance

Overview

This practice will help you grow in your trust and love or God, by giving you a way to x attention on who He has shown

Himsel to be in your lie. By purposeully writing a brie, powerul summary o His aithulness rom your past experience,

you will nd it easier to depend on Him in present and uture difculties. You will be ollowing in the ootsteps o His people,

who or centuries have written songs and poems to celebrate specic ways God showed His power on their behal.

For more rom the Bible, look at Exodus 13:3; 1 Chronicles 16:8-13; Hebrews 2:1; Exodus 15:1-21; Psalms 78, 114, 116, 135.

For a 3-minute video introduction to this practice, visit www.fcslo.org/pages/online-resources

Practicing

The Bible is ull o calls to remember. Over and over, the leaders o Israel, the prophets, and later the apostles and early Chris-

tian writers counsel us: Remember what God has done! Gods people would oten set up an ebeneezer, a stone o remem-

brance, which would serve as a reminder to those in generations long ater o specic ways God proved aithul. (In act, the

entire book o Joshua can be read as a lengthy explanation o a number o monument stones which, generations later, still

stood in Israel.)

So, in this practice we join in a long line o Gods people who have sat down, considered the events o their past, and told a

story o Gods goodness. And, in so doing, we oer God worshipbecause we acknowledge Him as the one who is good,

rom whom every good thing comes (James 1:17). By doing this purposeully, we begin to develop a habit o looking or

Gods character in our lives. We begin to expect that our current predicament will turn out to show that God is aithul. Every

day becomes a chance or God to show Himsel aithuland we look or it.

Begin by reecting on your own lie. Can you think o a difcult situation that God helped you overcome? Jot down some

thoughts about it, as a way o brainstorming. Here are some questions to help you begin:

How did it eel at frst, when the hard circumstances began?

What were your prayers in that time?

How did God comort you in that time?

What happened that got you through?

What did you learn about God?

What truth do you need to remember?

Now, spend some time writing a psalm o remembrance. Its helpul to ollow a orm to organize your thoughts, especially i

you dont write poems very oten (or ever). You might consider using the ollowing structure:

1. Praise God or the character trait you learned about Him rom the experience

2. Describe the specic situation, especially how you elt (try to use metaphors!)

3. Write how God specically helped you

4. Repeat what you learned about God rom the experience, briey

5. Oer thanks, and invite others to celebrate with you!

Beore you begin, here are some practical pointers to help, especially or non-poets:

There is no reason this has to rhyme or sound good! The point is to celebrate God, not get published.

You might start by writing out the specic events in the orm above. Then, go back and add how each made you eel.

Metaphor is really helpul. I you elt sad, did it eel like a balloon burst? Or like the darkest shade o blue enveloped

everything? or like you were a wilting ower? Or.... you get the point. This helps you be more specic about what was

it was like or you, not just what events happened. That way when you say what God did to save you it will be ar more

powerul.