Learning to love the Psalter

by Johnny A. Ramírez

This post is the first of what may become a series of journals from divinity and seminary students. At the end of the post there is a note requesting feedback on how interesting readers find this concept.

Called by Luther the little bible, the Psalms have sustained Christian life since its inception even forming a rich part of Christs own reflection up to and including His dying words.  Before Bibles were in broad circulation the Psalms would have been one of the best known segments of Scripture familiar to Christians as they formed a central part of early and medieval Christian liturgy. 

By the time John Wesley came onto the scene this sort of ritualized recitation of the Psalms had become routine to the point where (although he never left Anglicanism) his offspring churches seem to share his lack of any sort of aesthetic sensitivity.  The Puritans had outright contempt and scorn for 'high church' ritualized worship including the reading of the Psalms.  These outlooks have affected many American churches including our own American-born denomination.

Bonhoeffer, who in the secret seminary of his Confessional church instituted a regular reading of the Psalms, said that after praying the Psalms you could never go back since any other prayer seems woefully inadequate.  He also proposed that the Lords prayer is actually the summary of main themes of the Psalms.

Even if you read the Psalms regularly on your own you lose much as the Psalms were intended to form part of communal worship.  Indeed monastic recitations of the Psalms incite physiological changes in the part of the participant as they move, and breathe, with fellow readers as they go through the text.

My report is that my experience of the past few weeks of attending morning prayer at Kings College chapel has positively impacted my daily outlook in relationship to Scripture. The service has two regular leaders, Brian Brock and John Webster faculty members in practical theology and systematic theology respectively, who alternate in leading the prayers.  The leader reads one verse and we read  together the following verse. Brock has an American evangelical background and Webster is a life long Anglican.  This comes across as a marked difference as although Brock has been attending morning prayer for several years his readings lack the tempo, cadence and memorization of Webster who has, after years of this, obviously memorized quite a bit of these texts. 

I can't help but feel that such familiarity with Scripture should be present within all of us especially those who would pretend to make Christian ministry our life's work.  I've struggled to keep up with what feels to me to be a fast reading and also to pause at appropriate times and for the proper duration. I also had to be told how to find that mornings prayer in the book of common prayer (it's numbered by the day of the month). 

My deepest impression has been the experience of immersing myself in the Psalms and beginning my day with regular readings from Scripture. This is something that I had not experienced in the same way with private extemporaneous prayers following devotional readings on my own. I'm not suggesting that we take up a prayer book or structure our worship like "high church" denominations.  I do however think that a daily worship practice would be a positive addition to the life of any Christian. 

This is a practice which with time will become habit and in turn contribute to forming a character rooted in Christ and reflection on the word.  I have fast come to look forward to, and depend on, morning prayer to bring me closer to the word and the Word, Christ.

I hope that some readers can share how weekly morning worships look at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary on the campus of Andrews University, the seminaries at Southern and La Sierra and Adventist seminaries beyond North America.

I personally would love to read reports from Adventist seminary and divinity school students on the Spectrum blog.  Any volunteers please email our Campus News editor alexander [at] spectrummagazine [dot] org.  Thanks!

Comments

[TrudyJ]

They're interesting, those psalms. What gets me if you read them through (either individually or corporately) in a regular cycle, is how bloodthirsty and violent many of them are. This is especially true of communal reading because to be sitting in a worship setting hearing the voices of other believers praying to God to destroy your enemies in particularly nasty ways can be quite jarring. I think the Anglican BCP excises some of the worst bits, but it's still quite noticeable. You really have to grapple with how to read those texts -- that's my experience, anyway.

[Elaine Nelson]

Trudy, one should be very selective in reading not only Psalms but the entire OT. Too many ignore the violence and destructiveness which is lauded in those Scriptures. Yet, no one has solved the personal dilemma of how to read and interpret them.

[Lisa Clark Diller]

Johnny, I've been reading through the Psalms for my morning devotions lately.

I think you're so right about reading them OUT LOUD and seeking to pray them. I think all their elements are more powerful (including and maybe especially the violence) when you read them with other people. I have to really think through what I'm praying when I say it out loud with other people.
The fact is, I must confess that I often WISH violence and bad things on others, and maybe come close to praying them. So maybe praying those out loud in the Psalms can convict me of the sinfulness and awfulness of so much of my praying and thinking.

Anytime I worship in community it pushes me outside my littleness and limited vision. It makes me worship bigger.

Right now because of my schedule my worship is far too individualistic...

I'm beginning to think that reading a Psalm or two out loud with my husband on a regular basis might be one way to catch that blessing...

[Carrol Grady]

The Psalms took on a new meaning to me when I was first struggling with the knowledge of my son's homosexuality. Looking back through some of the verses I highlighted then, I find the pages crinkled from tears.

Verses like, "Be merciful to me, O Lord; for I am in distress; my eyes grow weak with sorrow, my sould and my body with grief. My life is consumed by anguish and my yers by groaning; my strength fails because of my affliction and my bones grow weak." 31:7-10

The violent passages remind me that we can pour out our anger to God, instead of acting it out on others, and he will understand. But I agree with Trudy that they don't seem appropriate for congregational reading.

[Bernard Brandstater]

Johnny: About those Psalms, I resonate strongly with you. There's nothing like them in the Bible. The earlier books are mostly narrative, telling us what happened to X, Y and Z, and how God dealt with his unruly creation. Then suddenly here comes David, allowing us to listen in as he actually talks to God. For the first time we get an inside view of a lively, intimate relationship, up close. This is the way to speak to God! It all simply pours out: Awe and praise, thankfulness, delight, shame and repentance, pleading. It's all OK....and totally honest, talking to a friend, who happens also to be God Almighty. Powerful stuff!
Bernard

[Johnny A. Ramirez]

Bernard,
I couldn't agree more. The Psalms deserve to be read and read again.

Lisa,
Yelling out the Psalms is a very interesting experience worth trying. It is amazing, especially if you're upset, how the Psalms reframe your view and provide perspective.

Carol,
The Psalms of lament are amazing. In one of my classes we're looking at the role those Psalms can address human suffering and loss. It is something I want to explore further.

Elaine,
Like Trudy said, some of the Psalms are so bloody that they are not included in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. While this post is centered on the Psalms you are correct we shouldn't limit ourselves to selective parts of the Bible. Even within the Psalms we seem to find texts we'd rather ignore.

Thanks!!