![]() ![]() The psalms, in their rich diversity, confessional uncertainties, and perplexities, invite us to join Israel in worship. As these texts become our prayers and heart-songs, we will come to know ourselves more fully and to know God more surely. Only through reading the psalms, slowly and reflectively, will we find ourselves in these ancient Hebrew Scriptures, which draw us into the presence of the sovereign God. While the commentary may provide some helpful background, alert the reader to linkage with words and themes, and stimulate the imagination for application, it will not replace repeated readings of a psalm in order to hear God speak through the psalm s own distinctive structure and world of words. The reader of these sacred poems soon discovers that a psalm speaks for itself. Finally, the book of Psalms serves as instruction book, as indicated in the opening psalm s invitation to meditate day and night on the life-giving word of God s instruction for living (1:2 cf. Here is also a prayer book, voicing the needs of individuals and the commu- 17Ģ 18 Introduction to Psalms nity in times of trouble. This grand collection of psalms is a treasured hymnbook inviting and expressing the people s praise to their sovereign God. The Psalter only truly begins to speak and sing within us when we have been led by God and lifted up by Him, and have ascended into its silences (Merton: 160). They contain within themselves the silence of high mountains and the silence of heaven. Thomas Merton, a Roman Catholic, wrote that the psalms are more than language. Martin Luther referred to the Psalter as a little Bible. Beyond the liturgies of synagogue and church, the psalms have been woven into the richly varied experience of countless men and women across the centuries. Within Christian tradition, many different churches have nurtured worship through the psalms, spoken or sung as invocation, adoration, confession, hymns, chants, and responses. The early church was enjoined to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God (Col 3:16). ![]() The Gospels tell of Jesus and the disciples singing hymns, likely the so-called Hallel psalms at the beginning of the Passover meal ( ) and at the end ( ). The daily morning service in the synagogue today includes Psalms, and the Sabbath morning service contains a sequence of psalms culminating in 92 and 93 (Davidson, 1998:1). Some psalms had a fixed place in the great Jewish festivals. But most prison chaplains ask for two to four cards to give out to each inmate so they can send a card to their friends and family members.1 Introduction to Psalms Encountering God in the Psalms The influence of the book of Psalms on Jewish and Christian traditions, both in terms of the worship of the community and the spiritual experience of countless individuals, is immense. Various churches write encouraging notes in the cards and then give the cards to a prison chaplain to distribute, especially to give to those inmates who never receive any mail. One chaplain said the Christmas cards were always “the HIGHLIGHT of the whole year!” Several chaplains told us that the day on which cards are handed out is a day of joy and celebration that inmates look forward to each year. Chaplains pray over the cards and then hand them out among the inmates. It provides them with another opportunity for ministry among inmates. The Christmas cards have also blessed many prison chaplains. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |