I Am Prayer

Scripture Reading: Psalm 109

The English renderings of verse four seek to clarify the odd phrasing of the Hebrew which would be translated literally as “I am prayer.” This same kind of phrasing is used in Psalm 120:7 where the Psalmist says, “I am peace,” and most English translations record it as something like, “I am for peace.”

These translations do help the reader to some extent. The literal rendering of the Hebrew would sound clumsy to our ears. At the same time, it is also helpful to ask why the Psalmist wrote “I am prayer?” He didn’t do it accidentally. He wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and he had a specific idea in mind in the way he expressed himself.

That line is within the context of the Psalmist bemoaning his enemies' hateful response to his loving-kindness. He had loved them, and they accused him. He did them good, and they rewarded him with evil. So, how would he respond? He says, in response, “I am prayer.”

While this means he prayed, it means more than that. This is why he phrased it this way. This is why he didn’t just say, “I prayed,” and, instead, wrote, “I am prayer.” The idea is he gave himself over wholly to prayer. He was constant and fervent in his prayers. He didn’t allow himself any other options. Prayer became so much a part of his response that it consumed who he was to the point that one could say of him, “He is prayer.”

This, then, takes on a whole new meaning. It points us to a level of prayer and a commitment to praying that few of us have yet to discover or experience. It is not that we don’t pray. We do. That is not the question. The question is are we becoming so consistent, committed, constant, and fervent in our prayers that we are the kind of people who it could be said, “They are prayer?”