Going Deeper: Psalms of Orientation

Hello all!

Last night at LYFT we continued our series on the Psalms by looking at the Psalms of orientation. These are the Psalms that describe “life as it should be.” Psalms of orientation give voice to the seasons of life where things make sense and the goodness and order of God is seen in all things, especially the beauty of creation and the goodness of God’s law.

We talked about how spending time in these Psalms when life is good helps us build a foundation of truths about God that we can be sure of and cling to even when the seasons of life change.

In our small groups we briefly practiced meditation on Psalm of Orientation and writing our own Psalms of Orientation. The purpose of doing this was to help students build their foundation of truths about God that they can cling to and trust in all circumstances. For students and families interested in going deeper with the Psalms of Orientation, here are some practical things you can do this week either individually or as a family:

1) Meditate on and pray the Psalms of Orientation. Some examples include Psalms 1, 8, 14, 15, 19, 23, 24, 33, 34, 37, 104, 119, 131, 133, and 145. You can do either of these things on your own or as a family together. Meditation may sound complicated, but it simply means to focus one’s mind. To meditate on these Psalms simply make an effort to focus your mind on the words of the Psalms. Read through it slowly and intentionally, taking careful notice of the meaning of each word/sentence. The Psalms can also be prayed, which simply means that instead of reading the Psalms to learn something, you are reading them to God as prayers to him.

2) Take more time to write your own Psalms of Orientation. Click here to download the guide from last night that will help you in the process. One possibility is to have everyone in your family write a Psalm of Orientation and then pray them all together as a family.