Psalms - a different view ...

Tuesday, Jan 5, 2010. We are reading the psalms this week. The biblical book of psalms has 150 songs. Some of them are very short, some of them are quite long. They are full of joy and full of sadness. They touch key experiences of the human life, struggle and joy, thankfulness and anger. It is a fantastic experience to read the psalms … when we understand what we read.

The psalms are written to take faith into our daily life. They are written by people who go to God in these psalms with their difficulties, with their hopes, with their needs. God, here I am with all I have and with all I am. Come into my pain, into my suffering. Come into my joy. Come!

The psalms contain a lot of wisdom. It is a wisdom of faith. The world does not know faith, it does not know the wisdom which the Holy Spirit gives those who seek the Lord. This is why the world asks: what do you need religion for? They do not know the Lord, his presence, his beauty, his mercy and love, his justice and wonderful purity. They cannot tell the difference between this or that religion. But the world will perish - the righteous will stay forever!

The psalms are impertinent to the usual mind. They are as impertinent as the beatitudes spoken by Jesus in his famous sermon on the mount. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those with a pure heart …! Jesus has brought the psalms to completion.

The psalms are difficult for modern reason. They know about the resurrection. They know about the power of God. They know justice. They know judgment. They know that there is a future beyond the this world. “The way of the wicked will perish.” How could we say this without immediately leaving all standard experiences? Where the Lord speaks, there is a new reality which is taking over. If the righteous bear their fruit in their season, then this is the power of the Lord, his mighty hand, who is generating justice everywhere on this planet. If the leaves of the righteous do not wither, it is the power of the Lord who keeps them and holds them. If the righteous prosper, it is his love which holds them and gives them open doors and freedom.

The psalms know the presence of the Lord. The Lord knows the ways of the righteous. He is there. He is wonderful and mighty. The psalms take us into his presence. We want to read the psalms to learn from him and to get to know him better. We want to read these songs, such that we can change our life, step by step. Lord, renew our hearts using your eternal songs! [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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