Psalms – Introduction – Christianity

Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

Whenever the Psalter is abandoned, an incomparable treasure vanishes from the Christian church. With its recovery will come unsuspected power (Bonhoeffer, 25).

One might ask: “How do we do this?” Well, we could read five psalms a day, all hundred-fifty in a month. How would that work? In the end, like aimless, empty wandering. Little sinks into our spirit. Another approach is to latch onto a Bible in a year program. Each day we read a few chapters from the Testaments, and about a dozen verses or so from either the books of Psalms or Proverbs. This takes discipline and soon feels like work. Few make it to the end. How about gathering select verses and pull them whenever needed? This can help but be careful. It is easy to find ourselves trying to manipulate God. It is futile to demand he act according to isolated out-of-context biblical passages.

This article is an introduction. How does the Book of Psalms relate to our generation? How can we apply its wisdom to our lives? Paul gives us clues in his writings:

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your heart to the Lord (Col 3:16).

Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; singing, and making melody in your heart to the Lord; giving thanks always concerning all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to God, even the Father (Eph 5:18–20).

The words psalms, hymns, spiritual songs overlap in meaning. It is similar to saying. “Goliath was a massive, giant, hulk of a man.” The three adjectives add emphasis. But to be precise:

A psalm is a song set to an established tune and played with instruments. Fifty-five of the songs from the Book of Psalms are directed to the chief musician. Approximately twenty-four of these specify particular musical instruments.
A hymn is a song of praise, celebration, or adoration. It sometimes can be spontaneous as Paul and Silas illustrate (Acts 16:16–40). Despite being beaten and put into prison, they were singing hymns to God. The disciples give us another example (Matt 26:30; Mk 14:26). In this case, the hymn they sang likely originated in the Book of Psalms.
A spiritual song is an ode, a poetical chant, or responsive reading. There are remnants of these throughout the New Testament (ex: Phil 2:6–11). These can be cries from the spirit of man back to God, or prophetic utterances coming directly from the Holy Spirit.

The Book of Psalms is unique among the Biblical canon. In one sense, it is a collection of ancient Israeli canticles. The Episcopal church hymnal is a modern example¹. It contains seven hundred and twenty songs. In another sense, the Book of Psalms is a prayer book. The Anglican Book of Common Prayer contains approximately eight hundred Christian prayers². I doubt that very many people would think to work through either of these books in a month, or in a year.

The word meditate or meditates appears eleven times in the Psalms. The word delight is another that appears many times. Psalm 1 captures the intent:

Blessed is the man who doesn’t walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand on the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in Yahweh’s law. On his law he meditates day and night (Ps 1:1–2).

To delight in Yahweh’s law and to meditate on it day and night is not speeding through verses on a monthly or yearly quest. It doesn’t mean every second day and night. Rather, the Psalms is to be lived and experienced. But how, you might ask? Good question. It’s one that I’ve been wrestling with of late.

Athanasius (297–373 CE) is arguably the earliest doctor of the church. In a letter to Marcellinus he provides one of the first complete commentaries on the Psalms.³ The following two quotes provide a good overview.

From the introduction by Joel Elowsky:

There are two reasons why the Psalms speak so directly to the soul: (1) the Psalms were written in such a way that the words actually become the property of the one speaking them at that moment. David may have written the words, but they become the words of whoever is chanting or singing them at the moment. This does not happen in quite the same way as with other portions of Scripture. . . . (2) A second characteristic of the Psalms that conforms them to the contours of the soul is the fact that they were meant to be sung. . . . He (Athanasius) points to two reasons why the Psalms are to be sung. First, music provides for a freer less restricted expression of words. . . . Secondly, the Psalms speak to the whole range of human emotions and inner movements of the soul — from anger, to desire, to the contemplation of reason (Pages 4-5).

An excerpt from Athanasius’s writings presents a flavor of his writing style.

And when you see the Savior’s grace which has been spread abroad in every place as well as the salvation of the human race, if you want to address the Lord, sing Psalm 8. Moreover, if you want to celebrate the wine harvest by giving thanks to the Lord, you have again the same Psalm as well as Psalm 84. For overcoming the enemy and the preservation of creation, not boasting in oneself but making known that the Son of God has accomplished this, recite the words of Psalm 9 and 10 which is spoken to him. And whenever someone wants to stir up a lot of trouble for you, have your confidence in the Lord and sing Psalm 11. And when you witness the arrogance of the crowd and increasing evil, so much so that nothing is considered holy among men, flee to the Lord and cry out Psalm 12. And if you are waylaid by the snare of your enemies, do not desert your post as if you were forgotten by God, but call out upon the Lord, singing Psalm 13. And when you hear someone blaspheme against divine Providence, do not join with them in their ungodliness, but talk to God reciting Psalms 14 and 53. And finally, if you want to learn what citizenship in the kingdom of heaven is like, sing Psalm 15 (Paragraph 16. pages 23-24).

Conclusion

In this series, I plan to take my time and compose a single article to address each Psalm. It will likely take a year (or more) to complete the project. I expect I’ll learn quite a bit. My hope is that you find this a useful endeavor.

Thanks for Listening

References

The Church Hymnal: according to the use of the Episcopal Church.
Book of Common Prayer.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible. Translated by James H. Burtness. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1974, .
Christopher Brian Garton Ash, The Psalms: A Christ-Centered Commentary, vol. 1, (Crossway, 2024).

Dan Harvey, author of Wrestling with Faith and Experiencing the Apocalypse, secondlooknow.com

Psalms – Introduction

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