SadhanaOriental meditation and christian prayer
Other ways of praying
【15】Praying with Psalms in group – 1 (through silent reading, listening, and singing)
The depth and power of devotion in words of Psalms is extraordinary.
When we can digest these words, we become able to pray more lively, and nurture our heart with the prayer.
In this section, let’s work to pray with Psalms in group.
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Here, we use Psalm 23 for example.
Individual silent reading is the main part of this prayer. During the silent reading, we also listen to verses sometimes. After completing silent reading of all the verses, we sing the entire verses as a conclusion.
First phase: Silent reading and song listening
Second phase: Singing together
To make sure that the above process goes beautifully and smoothly, let’s make the following preparations.
We use a song in Tenrei Seika (Japanese liturgical song book #123 “Shu wa warera no bokusha (The Lord is my shepherd)”). Before starting the prayer, make copies of the text from Psalms 23 as shown in the bottom of this section, and hand them to all the participants. All the participants also put a bookmark on #123 in Tenrei Seika. (For the repeated section marked with ♪, replace the text from the Interconfessional Translation Bible with the text used in Tenrei Seika. It is the first verse of Psalm 23.)
First phase:
The repeated section “The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I lack” should be sung according to the melody in Tenrei Seika by a person who can sing well. (The singer should sing modestly, praying from his/her heart.) Other participants listen to the song in a relaxed manner. While listening, they contemplate on the content, and direct their heart to God. Whenever the singing part finishes, participants silently read and appreciate a verse in between. They are recommended to pray while reading by directing their heart to God. The singer should take sufficient time and proceed slowly.