How does one pray on election day? I get this question a lot and as of late I find myself always encouraging people to pray the psalter. The general protest is usually revealing: “the psalms are just words of encouragement… election day needs something political.” This is just factually inaccurate. There are encouraging Psalms, of course. But the whole book is a deeply political series of songs and prayers. They have offered and do offer God’s people his words to pray over circumstances which are beyond our immediate control (e.g. I alone cannot determine the election… that is precisely what an election is). I can cast a vote. I can do a myriad of advocacy things. But the election itself is an event which exceeds my vote and my activism. The Psalter offers us a liturgical remedy: eternal prayers, sung and prayed before the living God, songs which are both the Christ’s songs and Church’s songs, which lift my election anxiety from the ballot to the throne room of heaven.
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