The Psalms

In addition to reading at least one chapter of a Gospel each day, I include the Psalms in my daily reading. The Psalms are, after all, the church’s ancient prayer book and hymnal; replete with praise and thanksgiving, with repentance, with questions we all want to ask God from time-to-time. Psalms takes us to great heights and it meets us at our lowest depths; it speaks of unbridled joy and dark despair; it draws us into intimate relationship with our Good Shepherd while giving us a sense of pilgrimage in the company of saints.

I have found great comfort and hope in Psalms over the years; I have also found myself under the searchlight of a righteous and just and holy God as I have journeyed through these 150 hymns and prayers; and thankfully I’ve also found His sweet mercy meeting me in these pages. The passages are old friends, and while they are familiar they also continue to hold hidden treasures and I never know when a particular psalm will extend its hand to me, displaying new insights and delights to my heart and mind.

Consider that the psalms are over 2,000 years old; they have been prayed and sung across the world in countless languages and in myriad circumstances. They have been intoned in great cathedrals and they have been the last words uttered by those tortured for their faith in Jesus. They have been proclaimed in the midst of fear and uncertainty and they have been shouted in triumphal thanksgiving. For every situation, for every quandary, for every day, for every season – there is a psalm.

Beginning each day with Psalms…that is a good way to begin a day and a good way to live life.