For thousands of years God’s people have used the Psalms to express themselves to God in song and prayer. But the Psalms aren’t just any old prayer songs—they’re God’s own Word, spoken so that humans might speak to God with his own Speech. The Psalms teach us that life is conversation with God, and they tell us what that conversation can look like, ultimately, through faith in Jesus Christ. The Psalms are what God would say to God, if he were one of us. And of course that’s exactly what we have in Jesus Christ: God’s Word in the flesh, living as a human in conversation with God. In him our conversation is redeemed and renewed; in him, God’s Word becomes our song. If you’ve ever wanted to become more familiar with the Psalms for use in your own prayer, join us!
These are some recommended* resources that might be referenced during this series. Take a look, follow along via online sermons, and invite a friend to visit with us for the series!
- Robert Alter, The Art of Biblical Poetry, and, The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
- The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, Volume 7 (Pss 1-50) and Volume 8 (Pss 51-150)
- Richard Belcher, The Messiah and the Psalms
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible
- Sydney Greidanus, Preaching Christ from Psalms
- Timothy Keller, The Songs of Jesus: A Year of Daily Devotions in the Psalms
- Derek Kidner, Commentaries on Psalms 1-72 and Psalms 73-150
- C. S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms
- Tremper Longman III, How to Read the Psalms
- Eugene Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms as Tools for Prayer
- N. T. Wright, The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential
(*Disclaimer: it should go without saying, but simply because a resource is recommended doesn’t mean every view promoted by the resource is being endorsed. If you need to know that everything someone says is 100% biblical before you’re comfortable listening to him at all, you’ll never be comfortable—not even with yourself. By God’s grace, we can learn from all kinds of people, even if we disagree about important things.)