| PSALMS |
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| trying to explain his life, quoted from Psalms more than any other book. They appear to have meditated on the psalms often as they considered the meaning of Jesus' life. In the psalms they could see that even the best men - even David, the great king - suffer agony and feel abandoned. Living by faith is not easy. It was not for David; it was not for Jesus either. These powerful poems of praise and worship, some of the most beautiful ever written, offer no magical formulas to make troubles go away. Yet, while real life questions, struggles, and discouragements have a strong voice in these poems, more powerful still is the voice of joy and security in the strength and fortess of Israel: the Lord himself. |
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| How to read Psalms |
| The best way to read Psalms is also the most common way: to maek these ancient prayers your own and speak them directly to God. So many of the poems catch deep human feelings that you can't help being moved by them. But not all the psalms seem attractive. Some sound harsh, self-congratulatory, or boring. You will not find it easy to pray these until you understand them. And there are so many psalms! This is the longest book in the Bible. To compensate, many people read only selected psalms, skimming over the others. But then they miss the deeper messages found there, including the messages that the New Testament writers saw when they quoted Psalms more than any other Old Testamant book. The richest lessons from Psalms may come from particularly difficult poems you must read again and again until you begin to see what the author had in mind. The original Hebrew of these poems probably used no rhyme or strict rhythm as traditional English poems do. |
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