The Language Of The Psalms - Guest Post

This week's guest post comes from Faith Baptist's student minister and last Sunday's preacher, Lic. Erica Corbin.

Throughout my sermon prep of “Darkness is my Closest Friend” the psalms and how we use and read them have been on my mind a lot. (Find that message in various formats here.)

Maybe it is because I'm currently taking a course on the psalms as well as a spiritual formation course where we have been talking about meditation on scripture and using the psalms to do this. Still, I am finding myself more and more these days drawn to the psalms.

One of the books that I have been reading on the psalms mentions Kathleen Norris's memoir "the Cloister Walk." She talks about psalms as words that showcase the highs and lows of life and everything in between. Not only that, but through the psalms incorporated into her prayer life she was able to come to God not dressed up but as she was. I think that there is something incredibly freeing about reading through the psalms, praying them, applying them to our situations, our pain, joy, ups and downs. They give us the “grammar to crawl, walk, and run, in faith” (Psalms a grammar for faith by W.H. Bellinger)

And that is the great thing about the psalms. They relate to every part of life. Those beautiful moments, the joys in life where we come to God in praise and the dark and sad moments in life, like Psalm 88, where all we can do is cry out to God to help!

The psalms do not fit our culture of optimism only and the denial of the hardships of life. They are honest words laid bare, addressed to God, to express the vast array of human experience. They allow us to connect with God more deeply, share our lives with him more completely.

Rather than just speak more at you, I would like to offer some resources and suggestions to reflect on that can help you dig more into the psalms. And maybe even incorporate them into your daily life and offer a way to pray and meditate through the psalms.

Overview of the psalms - https://bibleproject.com/explore/video/psalms/

I've mentioned it before, but the Bible Project is a great resource. They have a video that gives a good overview of the book of psalms that can help you understand them a bit more. It also has the added bonus of being great for visual learners like myself. They even have downloadable posters of each book of the bible that you can keep for reference, which I find to be helpful.

Meditation:

One big thing that I have been trying to put into practice in my devotional life is meditating on scripture. This can be a challenging thing for us today. It goes against the busy culture that we live in. Still, it is a spiritual discipline that helps us really listen to what God has to say to us through these words. One book that I have been reading talks about using Lectia divina (Divine reading) in our devotional reading. The whole point of Lectia divina is not to critique or exegete the text in a head sense, but it is meant to bring the words of God into a lived experience. Moving from the head into the heart. It is a practice that invites us into God's presence to listen to what he has to say in that particular moment.

The practice is broken up into 5 movements that I would encourage you to try out yourself.

1. Silence – Coming into God’s presence and slowing down, letting go of the chaos and noise that is going on in your mind and around you. Find a comfortable place to sit and spend time with God

2. Reading the word – Read the passage out loud, or if you have an audio of that scripture, listen to it. Linger on the words or phrases that catch your attention.

3. Meditate – Read that passage a second time out loud. And then listen for any thoughts that God is giving you. Reflect on the things that seem important to you.

4. Respond – Read the scripture a third time and then talk to God enter into a conversation with him. Be as authentic and open as you can, talk about the feelings that emerge for you, speak to him about the things that seem to be giving you resistance.

5. Contemplation – Rest and wait in the presence of God. Let the words that you have read sink into you. You may want to journal some of these thoughts that you have had during this time.

I like to follow this set of practices because it really helps me be intentional about slowing down. Not just reading through a psalm quickly to understand it and get through it but to read it slowly, over and over again, letting the words sink deeper into me. And then listening for what God is trying to say to me, allowing me to open up and speak more honestly to God in those moments. Which I believe just deepens my relationship with God, using the psalms in these moments to reflect what situation I am facing at that moment and converse completely honestly with my God.

Here are two passages from the Psalms you might consider reflecting on today:

Psalm 91

Psalm 63