WHY READ THROUGH THE BOOK OF PSALMS?
The very fabric of everyday life is changing before us; and in this season seemingly filled with disasters and diseases, it seems to us like we’re living in unprecedented times. And yet, beyond all these, we ought to be reminded by Scripture that even so, God remains steadfast and unchanging.
We believe that when we let God shape our spiritual life through the Psalms, we open ourselves to learning new ways and new words for articulating our relationship with God. This book of poetry and songs highlights the wide range of emotional & spiritual experiences given to us in our humanity. We learn about mourning, grief, lament, love, joy, forgiveness and what it means to connect with God in the midst of our complex lives. It is a creative epic about our life with God, community and creation.
Walter Brueggemann describes the Psalms as showing us the counter-world of abundance and truthfulness that comes from living with God. This could be considered true by three means:
1.
The Psalms show us who we are.
When we read the book of Psalms, we are reading our common human experience reflected back in writing. It is a liberating thought: we are not alone, and people then have felt the same things we feel now. Here, we find them processing life as they made sense of it in God.
The Psalms show us who we are. It frames our experiences within the larger, emotional history of the people of God. When we take our pain, our despair, our joy, our wonder, or whatever other strange things we feel deep in the human spirit, and look to the procession of the saints that have walked through the halls of time saying, “it was like that”, we’re reminded that we are not alone. We are not first, and we are not last. The Psalms are a people’s history of prayer, an emotional catalogue of experience that gives context for the things that move deep in our spirit.
2.
The Psalms show us how to pray the life of the Church.
The Psalms are personal prayers just as it is the prayer book of the people of Israel, Jesus & His disciples, and thus, of the Church. When we pray guided by the Psalms, we join in the whole Church of Christ worldwide and through the centuries.
When we don’t know what to pray, the Psalms are our anchor. By building the Psalms into our personal and corporate prayer lives, we are connecting ourselves to the same prayers that have been prayed over thousands of years by the people of God as they dreamed about a life lived fully in God’s presence.
3.
The Psalms show us who God is.
As much as the Psalms show the honest process of putting words, music and theology together, they also guide us in understanding the character of God. The words of the psalmists give us a language for how to name the deep things of God.
We believe that when we let God shape our spiritual life through the Psalms, we open ourselves to learning new ways and new words for articulating our relationship with God. This book of poetry and songs highlights the wide range of emotional & spiritual experiences given to us in our humanity. We learn about mourning, grief, lament, love, joy, forgiveness and what it means to connect with God in the midst of our complex lives. It is a creative epic about our life with God, community and creation.
Walter Brueggemann describes the Psalms as showing us the counter-world of abundance and truthfulness that comes from living with God. This could be considered true by three means:
1.
The Psalms show us who we are.
When we read the book of Psalms, we are reading our common human experience reflected back in writing. It is a liberating thought: we are not alone, and people then have felt the same things we feel now. Here, we find them processing life as they made sense of it in God.
- The reverence of “Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song” (Ps. 95)
- The pain of “Who praises you from the grave? I am worn out from my groaning.” (Ps. 6)
- The despair of “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22)
- The wonder of “Who is like the Lord our God?” (Psalm 113)
The Psalms show us who we are. It frames our experiences within the larger, emotional history of the people of God. When we take our pain, our despair, our joy, our wonder, or whatever other strange things we feel deep in the human spirit, and look to the procession of the saints that have walked through the halls of time saying, “it was like that”, we’re reminded that we are not alone. We are not first, and we are not last. The Psalms are a people’s history of prayer, an emotional catalogue of experience that gives context for the things that move deep in our spirit.
2.
The Psalms show us how to pray the life of the Church.
The Psalms are personal prayers just as it is the prayer book of the people of Israel, Jesus & His disciples, and thus, of the Church. When we pray guided by the Psalms, we join in the whole Church of Christ worldwide and through the centuries.
When we don’t know what to pray, the Psalms are our anchor. By building the Psalms into our personal and corporate prayer lives, we are connecting ourselves to the same prayers that have been prayed over thousands of years by the people of God as they dreamed about a life lived fully in God’s presence.
3.
The Psalms show us who God is.
As much as the Psalms show the honest process of putting words, music and theology together, they also guide us in understanding the character of God. The words of the psalmists give us a language for how to name the deep things of God.
- God is a Refuge and a Fortress. (Psalm 91)
- God raises up the poor from the dust. (Psalm 113)
- God’s hands hold the depths of the earth. (Psalm 95)
- God is the one who hears our weeping. (Psalm 6)
How do we use this devotional?
For 30 days, this devotional will offer a psalm (in the English Standard Version) for your reading, reflection and prayer.
Take time to read the psalm in its entirety, then consider the “Reflection” portion as a means of digging deeper in worship and wonder.
The “Prayer” sections guide you in your effort to apply the psalm to your personal life, as well as some aspect of our church’s life.
We ask the church to fully enjoin us in this for the next 30 days starting March 23rd, Monday (Part One of this devotional is found here). Let us simply seek the Lord with a sense of anticipation and rest.
Selah.
Take time to read the psalm in its entirety, then consider the “Reflection” portion as a means of digging deeper in worship and wonder.
The “Prayer” sections guide you in your effort to apply the psalm to your personal life, as well as some aspect of our church’s life.
We ask the church to fully enjoin us in this for the next 30 days starting March 23rd, Monday (Part One of this devotional is found here). Let us simply seek the Lord with a sense of anticipation and rest.
Selah.
DOWNLOAD YOUR copy
You can access our Part One (Days 01-15) here.
You can access our Part Two (Days 16-30) here.