As a young college student, I once had a conversation with both an Old Testament professor and the dean of our humanities department. I wanted to build a research paper around the works of C.S. Lewis. The dean spoke up:
“Well, I don’t know.” He looked at the Old Testament professor. “I think Lewis is really more of a popularizer. What do you think, Al?”
“Well, I don’t mind a reference to C.S. Lewis. He’s a worthy scholar. But his scholarship was more focused on literary criticism than it was on the Old Testament.”
Scholars are quick to point out the difference between scholarship–thoroughly researched, highly footnoted, and peer-reviewed–and everything else. Some works are SERIOUS. Some are not.
Much of the Bible is quite serious. Many of the books were written based on solid research. Others are serious discussions of highly intellectual, even esoteric topics. These works have been studied and researched for thousands of years. But a few Bible books are simple, emotional, and straightforward. Raw, even. The Psalms most of all. The book of Psalms contains 150 songs, each one showing us how to talk to God, and how he wants to talk to us.
The Old Testament covers various genres: history, law, prophecy, and wisdom literature. Yet the book of Psalms is unique. It is a hymn book. But it is a hymn book with no written music, and the ancient lyrics have been translated from Hebrew into English. It is not easy reading, but all is not lost. The poetry is not lost.
In fact, here’s something God did that’s pretty amazing: unlike English poetry, with its rhyme, rhythm, alliteration, and other features tied directly to the sounds made by English words, the most important technique in Biblical Hebrew poetry is tied not to sounds but to ideas: everything is conveyed in parallel statements, where the second statement conveys an idea that echoes the first statement:
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures,
He leads me beside the still waters” Psalm 23:2.
When such statements are translated, they remain parallel. Thus, the art in Biblical poetry is not—and cannot—be lost in translation.
Nevertheless, lyrics without music do not make for easy reading.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to have all 150 original psalms on Spotify and simply press play whenever we wanted to hear one?
And I wish all of us were fluent in Hebrew and could appreciate the songs as they sounded to the original composers. But God is sovereign and the translated lyrics—the libretto, if you will—is enough or he would have given us more.
Still, why songs? Why is the longest book in the Bible a difficult-to-read song book?
First of all, this huge collection of songs indicates that God places importance on singing.
God created music to play several roles: it connects us to our own emotions and it conveys emotions, it connects us to each other, and it can help us concentrate on routine tasks such as the work songs men sing to stay on the beat while swinging sledge hammers.[1] And of course, music is fun and entertaining.
But the most important role of music is to help us worship. And the book of Psalms, though it contains 150 chapters (songs) of words only and no music, is surely Christian history’s best source of hymns and worship songs. Composers and song writers have been setting the psalms to music since the book was compiled thousands of years ago. As Billy Graham famously said, “Ours is a singing faith.” God created music because it helps our faith grow.
The Bible is filled with facts and stories, with histories and biographies, with laws and doctrines and practical guidance for every area of life. But the Psalms is special:
Psalms is the one book that most clearly shows us how we are to relate to God.
When you read Psalms, you are not simply informed that God wants to hear your prayers. You are shown exactly how to pray—right down to the words you can use. You are not merely told that God will forgive, but you are encouraged to talk to him honestly, confessing your sins, and receiving his forgiveness. Like parents who teach their children to pray by praying with them, the book of Psalms models for us how to pray.
And how exactly are we to pray? Should we use big words? Try to sound smart or holy or religious? Are there special words, magical spells or incantations that work better than other words? No.
I can summarize the message of Psalms in a single word:
HONESTY.
Talk to God honestly. Be honest about your problems. Be honest about your sins. Be honest about your failures. Be honest about your unrealized goals. Be honest about your disappointments. Be honest about your hopes. Be honest about your dreams, ambitions, drives, and efforts. Be honest about your hurts, your anger, your lusts, your evil desires.
Be honest with God about EVERYTHING. Be honest about your own needs (prayers of petition) and the needs of people you care about (prayers of intercession). If you have doubts, then ABSOLUTELY—Be honest with God about your doubts.
“I acknowledged my sin to thee, and my iniquity I have not hid” Psalm 32:5.
“My iniquities have gone over my head, as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” Psalm 38:4.
PRAISE.
A second message of the Psalms is PRAISE. Talk to God about his greatness. Tell God how powerful he is. Tell God how holy he is. Tell God how strong and wise and loving and forgiving and merciful he is. Praise is a key to the Christian life. “He inhabits the praise of His people” Psalm 22:3. God is always near—but it is praise that helps us to REALIZE he is near. God enjoys our praise and he enjoys the good that praising him does for us. Nothing will do more to cleanse your mind and fill it with peace.
“Give unto the Lord, the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness” Psalm 29:2.
“How excellent is thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore, the children of men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings” Psalm 36:7.
THANKS.
Psalms teaches us to give thanks. God does everything for us—we know it is he whom we must thank. And again—we are the ones who benefit. Nothing will make us feel better faster than a heart filled with gratitude.
“I will give thee thanks in the great congregation. I will praise thee among the people” Psalm 35:18.
“Blessed be the Lord because he has heard the voice of my supplications” Psalm 28:6.
THE SACRED ROMANCE.
When you learn to talk to God honestly and to praise him for his incredible traits, and to thank him for all he has done, then you are well on your way to enjoying a RELATIONSHIP with God. Some have called that relationship “the sacred romance” because God pursues each of us, and he encourages us to pursue him in return. There is a romance to that pursuit, a passion or energy to following God and being his disciple. The Book of Psalms conveys that energy better than any other book of the Bible.[2]
Read the psalms as a book of love letters between you and God. Most of the lines in the book are either lines spoken from us to God or from God to us. As you spend time in the Psalms, you will learn to know God more intimately, and to love him more passionately.
“One thing I have asked of the Lord and that will I seek, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life and to behold the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” Psalm 27:4.
“I will wash my hands in innocence … that I may speak with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works … redeem me and be merciful to me” Psalm 26:6-11.
ΑΩ
[1] Swinging hammers is but one of dozens of tasks people have often done in groups while singing in order to work together efficiently. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MwQcm4eH18
[2] The Song of Solomon deserves a mention here too. The Song of Solomon is particularly dedicated to the Sacred Romance, but Psalms may do more to illustrate that romance, if only because the book of Psalms is so much longer. For further reading, consider the book THE SACRED ROMANCE by John Eldredge.
Household Words: 