“This book is a personal plea. The psalms, which make up the great hymnbook at the heart of the Bible, have been the daily lifeblood of Christians, and of course the Jewish people, from the earliest times. Yet in many Christian circles today, the Psalms are simply not used. And in many places where they […]
Archive of posts tagged psalms
“Somber Doesn’t Sell”: Our Lack of Lament
I just came across this great quote on the lack of laments in most Christian worship settings. Except for denominations committed to singing every psalm in chant, paraphrase, or hymn, contemporary hymnists and hymnals prefer to celebrate God as creator and thank God as liberator rather than to lament to the God who listens. … […]
The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary
Bruce Waltke, James Houston, and Erika Moore The Psalms as Christian Lament: A Historical Commentary (Eerdmans) One of the way we demonstrate our lack of immersion in the Psalms is our lack of familiarity with lament, our lack of practice in doing it well and in being comfortable with others lamenting. This book is […]
Trueman, “Tragic Worship”
Carl Trueman’s First Things article, “Tragic Worship,” is wonderful reminder of our need for addressing the tragic realities of life and death in our worship. Drawing from our understanding of tragedy in drama, Trueman critiques our preference for distraction. This is what much of modern worship amounts to: distraction and diversion. Praise bands and songs […]
Luther, Value of Singing the Psalms
Looking back through the excellent volume, What Luther Says (an excellent resource!), I came across this passage where Luther extols the value of singing the Psalms. I have discussed previously Luther’s love of the Psalms. Here succinctly he mentions the comfort they give, how they “preach the Messiah,” and the added impact of singing them […]
Dennis Kinlaw, Lectures in Old Testament Theology
Last week I spent some time in Lectures in Old Testament Theology, by Dennis Kinlaw (with John Oswalt). This is a very useful summary of Old Testament teaching. It is essentially the transcripts of oral addresses and thus it reads very easily. Though aware of the academic issues, these addresses are pitched at a level […]
Invitation to the Psalms
I am not typically pleased or impressed with guides to the Psalms. The Psalms are examples of engagement with God meant to be used and most study guides treat them as objects of analysis. While the guides often make true statements, they end up with abstract categorizations rather than helps for making use of these […]
