In Practise - The word swap

Recently I tried replacing the word “enemy” with “sickness” when I read the psalms, and what a difference it made to how I read them!

Trying new things keeps us alive

I like to try new things...... well not all new things.

In fact at restaurants I am the one who always orders the same thing (because I’m sure I will like it) whereas my husband usually adventures gastronomically and tries new food.

But in my faith, I like to try new things. Being bored causes me to drift away from God and really why should I be bored when there are so many ways to connect with him?

I know my relationship with my creator grows stagnant and my love for him fades to the background unless I am vigilant.

So I eagerly try new and old ideas.

Why this word swap?

My latest experiment came about because of a few things:

1. I love reading the Psalms but I was starting to feel conflicted about how often the psalmist asked God to crush his human enemies.

2. I really believe in the power of the spoken word, and I think when we pray out scripture it feeds our minds more than just reading it and also that does something supernatural in the environment around us.

So I got to thinking about how, we know God wants all people to come to him so we can’t really look at other people as our enemies.

However sickness and disease, well they are certainly our enemies!

How I did it

I’ve started praying the psalms out loud, replacing any references to enemies with sickness or disease and it has been illuminating.

I’ve always enjoyed reading the psalms, they seem so genuine and the heartfelt cries of the psalmist to God are so rich. But with this simple modification they are relevant and real to me in a fresh way.

For example Psalm 18 verse 48 reads

“He delivers me from my enemies. You also lift me up above those who rise against me; You have delivered me from the violent man.”

But I prayed it out loud as

“Thank you Lord that you deliver me from my sickness. You also lift me up above all disease that rises against me; you have delivered me from illness and disease. Thank you God!”

Psalm 25, verse 2

“O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.”

Then became:

“O my God, I trust in you; let me not be ashamed; Let not illness or disease triumph over me. Amen”

Where ever possible I have been praying the psalms out loud, and reminding God (and myself) that sickness and disease are my enemies and calling on God to deliver me.

It has been very encouraging and uplifting.

I really do recommend it.

If you want to try something different to connect with God in your prayer and bible reading, it’s great fun and also a great way to open yourself up to Gods word afresh.

KG