The Book of Psalms

• 150 Hebrew Poems
• Compiled and divided into 5 books
• Written over the course of 1,000+ years

Many different authors

• David (73)
• Anonymous (49)
• Asaph (12)
• Sons of Korah (11)
• Heman, Ethan, Solomon & Moses (5)

Many different types of Psalms

• Lament
• Praise
• Thanksgiving
• Wisdom
• Royal & Messianic
• Imprecatory

How to read the Psalms

• Psalms are a genre of poetry.
• Psalms use parallelism.
• Psalms use metaphor to communicate truth.
• Psalms shape our worldview.
• Psalms help us relate to God more honestly.

"The Bible cannot properly be read except as literature; and the different parts of it  as the different sorts of literature they are. Most emphatically the psalms must be read as poems; as lyrics, with all the licenses and all the formalities, the hyperboles, the emotional rather than logical connections, which are proper to lyric poetry."
— CS Lewis

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
I had nearly lost my foothold.
— Psalm 73:2

“The poem is not a thing we see—it is, rather, a light by which we may see.”
— Robert Penn Warren

“The Psalms showed me that imagination was a way to get inside the truth.”
— Eugene Peterson

“As metaphor users, poets tell us what our eyes and our ears often miss, around and within us. Poets use words to drag us into the depth of reality itself.”
— Eugene Peterson

“We must not make these Psalms too religious or pious…they are not religious in the sense that they are courteous or polite or deferential. They are religious only in the sense that they are willing to articulate this chaos to the very face of the Holy One.”
— Walter Brueggemann

Psalms encourage us to trust God and follow God no matter what’s happening in life.

Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.
But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.
For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.
They are free from common human burdens; they are not plagued by human ills.
Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.
From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.
They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression.
Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth.
Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.
They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?”
This is what the wicked are like—always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.
Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence.
All day long I have been afflicted, and every morning brings new punishments.
If I had spoken out like that, I would have betrayed your children.
When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply
till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.
Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!
They are like a dream when one awakes; when you arise, Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.
When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
Psalm 73

“We say either the heart overflows and begins to pray by itself…but this is a dangerous error….to imagine that praying is natural for the heart. We confuse wishing, hoping, sighing, lamenting, rejoicing—all things the heart can do alone—with praying. but this confuses earth and heaven, humans and God. Praying does not simply mean pouring out one’s heart. It means finding the way to and speaking with God, whether the heart is full or empty. No one can do this on their own; for that, they need Jesus Christ.”
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

How to pray a Psalm

• Read it slowly and prayerfully a few times and pay attention to what the Holy Spirit is bringing your attention to.
• Meditate on a line or image.
• Read it with a journal in hand, reflecting on where it’s connecting with your life.
• Pray through the movements of the Psalm.
• Personalize the language for you and/or your group.

Action Steps

Prayerfully reflect on the following questions:

• On a scale of 1-10 how honest are you with God in prayer? Why do you think that is? What keeps you from being more honest?
• What % of your life do you bring to God in prayer? Why do you think that is? What keeps you from talking to God about more of your life?

Practice:

• Use a journal to write out a really ugly and honest prayer to God
• Bring something honest to God in prayer consistently this week
• Choose a Psalm to pray through every day this week (if you don’t know what to choose, consider Psalm 1 or Psalm 23)