The Psalms

One of the most helpful resources I have ever bought, and I did so in my "Contemplate" visit to the seminary in 2007, is the CPH book Reading the Psalms with Luther. It is the complete Book of Psalms with some notes on each Psalm by Luther himself. In addition each Psalm begins and ends with a prayer.

The Psalms as a book of prayer is definitely something we ought to be communicating to people. For me personally I find it easier to "read" the Psalms when I am immersing myself in them as prayer rather than something I am reading just to say I have read them, or studying for the purposes of a test. In the fall I took the course at the seminary pertaining to the Psalms with Dr. Reed Lessing (CPH Commentaries Amos, Jonah, and the upcoming Isaiah 40-55). He communicated, in no uncertain terms, the the Psalter (another word for the entire collection of Psalms) is the Christian book of prayer and it should be a part of our praying for our entire lives. The Psalter seems to cover the topics of human life as they weave in and out of human suffering and joys, and even many times combining the two in one Psalm!

Plus, if you're like me, maybe you struggle with prayer as in how to pray and what to say. The Psalter provides for us the how and what in prayer. This is important especially in a "postmodern" world that looks for answers and truth in a variety of places, and does not allow anyone else to speak for them, the Christian can be comforted by this book of prayer where we do allow Another to speak for us, the human authors of the Psalms, but also the Holy Spirit who leads us to pray. The Psalms are very human, yet also very much divine as God's Word speaks to us through them. Most notably God's Word speaks to us through them in the person and work of Jesus the Christ.

So often the weight of sin and brokenness in this age brings us down, the Psalter is the perfect book for those who have broken hearts because it communicates the reality of our broken world so clearly and honestly. Yet they do not leave us in our brokenness, but drive us back to Yahweh, our God, and His faithful promises. One such promise is the one received at Baptism. As the Psalms communicate it is there that we know that even if God feels far off, He is not far at all, but close to delivering us. What a great comfort! It's the comfort of being joined with Christ, which does not "save" us from the realities of this world, but plunges us head first into them to not only find comfort ourselves, but also for our neighbors around us.