Everybody loves the Psalms. Most people don’t even know they love the Psalms until they accidentally quote a Psalm around me.
You probably quote them a lot too and have zero idea.
Why? Because they are deeply imbedded in our culture. Deeply.
Think of it this way: you go through something gnarly. It could be a breakup, a death, maybe something less sad but still sucky, and what do you do for comfort? If you said drugs, you are wrong. If you said listen to music, you are 120% correct.
That is what the Psalms are - music. Tunes of happiness and tunes of sadness.
“But Rev. Dr., they don’t rhyme!”
Here’s something to consider: who cares? Some of the best songs don’t rhyme but instead base themselves around rhythms. They were originally written in ancient Hebrew and the Psalmists were always much more preoccupied with the content versus the sound. A lot of them are based around specific syllable counts (think like Haiku), so rhyming really did not matter. Moving on.
A few things you should know:
They are called Psalms because “psalmos” (Greek) translates to “mizmor” (Hebrew), meaning song or praises.
We could say David wrote all the Psalms, but we have no proof of that. However, a lot of the Psalms correspond to things that David went through. Makes sense….the best songs are always from real personal experience.
There are a lot of emotions. And I mean… a lot.
Four main themes can be easily found in every single Psalm: (1) that there is one God and one God only, (2) the beginning of creation and the subsequent fall in Genesis 3, (3) God’s covenant to us and (4) eschatology.
Quick Christianese with the Rev. Dr.: “eschatology” is a fancy word for the “end times.” Ope. Didn’t think that would come up already? Well, buckle your seatbelts. Eschatology encompasses death, judgment and where our soul goes after that one and very final vacation. It doesn’t need to be scary, so don’t feel scared. Think of Eschatology as more of a 101 class where you get to learn the basics. Don’t worry…we will be going pretty deep into it.
If you have never read the Psalms, here is how to read them:
(in a British accent) ‘owever you bloody well want!
There is no specific way to read them. Think of them as poems if you need to. As a practical example, I tend to read a couple every day and write down verses that strike me with emotion. The Torah actually splits them into five books, but it’s only for readability. It has absolutely nothing to do with the content.
Now, logistically, if you are going to read Psalms, don’t read just a couple verses and call it good. Read a full Psalm. You will miss a lot of the information if you split them in half, especially because most of them are quite short.
“But Rev. Dr., how do I get the most out of them?”
Excellent question! Look at the titles of each Psalm and use it as a summary. Underline specific words or sentences that stand out to you. Look for themes. Consider moments in your life when you probably would have written a Psalm like this.
There is no wrong way to read them, other than to not read them.
I will say this: do not read them all at once. They will lose their flavor and their zest. Don’t read them in bulk, read them over time.
Some things to consider:
Most ancient religions had an anthology of songs. They were all organized by deity or theme (like happy song or sad song). However, the Psalms are incredibly unique as they give us an inside look at a huge chunk of history (i.e. portions of David’s life).
No other anthology from the ancient Near East has this big of a collection, nor one that is organized.
(if you have forgotten what the ancient Near East is, I wrote a Substack on it)
Here’s the deal though. These anthologies were songs about their gods, but never to their gods. Remember, they were afraid of their deities. They were told they were too unimportant to be given the ability to speak to their deities personally. They were belittled and told they were worthless.
Our Psalms and our God are both quite different from the ancient Near East’s culture.
Not only do our Psalms speak about God, but they are usually a song that was meant to go directly to God. From the lips of the Psalmist to the ears of God. Example: David wasn’t talking to himself in Psalm 22:
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
He was talking to God.
Why? Because God listens, and He listens intently to honesty. Some of the biggest moments in the Bible have been when people are screaming and yelling at God. God values when you talk to Him like a friend.
Does this mean you should yell at God to lower your mortgage? No. Do not yell at God, but when you feel that emotion of anger toward God, I would recommend doing a little yelling. He isn’t scared at your yelling. He created you with the ability to yell. Just do it.
That’s the Psalms. Definitely not rocket science, which is a perk because I am awful at science.
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
