A few years ago, I remember a young man—a professing Christian for a long time, I might add—saying without any qualification to me, “I don’t really like the Psalms.” And he had no interest in seeing why that might be a problem.
Now, if you claimed that other books were more impactful for you than the Psalms, that would be one thing. Or if you noted that the poetry of the Psalms was challenging and you were trying to grow in your understanding of it, that would be another thing. Or if you said that you were new to the Bible and you didn’t really grasp what was going on in the Psalms or why they mattered, even that would be acceptable.
But to simply state, “I don’t really like the Psalms,” well, that’s a sentiment you shouldn’t want to maintain. In fact, I hope that you not only come to like the Psalms but to love them. Consider five reasons why you should love the book of Psalms.
First, the Psalms are instructive for our theology. We learn about God from these 150 songs/prayers. We learn that God is supreme and that the wicked will be defeated. We learn that God’s people will be vindicated and that death itself will be overcome. The Psalms hold forth hope for a Messiah—a promised king from David’s line. There are Psalms which review Biblical history, and there are Psalms which connect the writer to a specific historical episode that prompts the composition. As readers and interpreters of Scripture, we are counting on the Biblical authors to teach us about God and about the world He has made. The psalmists occupy this role as instructors. They teach through what they sing. Their poetry is pedagogical.
'That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers' (Psalm 1v3).
Second, the Psalms are highly evocative. The language of the Psalms ignites the imagination. The varied styles and seemingly-endless images fill the reader’s mind. Similes and metaphors abound. The psalmists appeal to things in heaven and things on earth. The colourful prayers of the Psalms, then, are anything but dull. In the theatre of our minds, we picture suffering and relief. We picture God as our great fortress and refuge. We picture the deliverance from the mire and muck, from the waves and torrents. We should love the Psalms because our imaginations need pictures of true and hopeful things.
Third, the Psalms are emotionally in tune. John Calvin once said that the Psalms are an anatomy of all parts of the soul, and that there isn’t an emotion we’ll ever experience that isn’t somewhere represented in the Psalms. The psalmists, then, are emotionally in tune with what it’s like to follow God in a fallen world. The psalms are full of agonies and angst. There are distresses and despair. There are also resolves and defiance (defiance against evil, that is). There are praises and rejoicing. There are laments and remembrances. The psalmists don’t hesitate to express their fears, joys, sufferings, reliefs, questions, delights, and worship. The evocative imagery in the Psalms (which we discussed in Point two) is part of what achieves emotional responsiveness in the readers.
Fourth, the Psalms are historically beloved. Few books of Scripture are as loved and quoted and memorised as the Psalms. And this has been true throughout church history. Among the writings of theologians and commentators, and among the sermons from antiquity, the book of Psalms is consistently featured and treated. This historical embrace of Psalms should caution any Bible readers against dismissing it or considering it dull. If we said, “I don’t like the Psalms,” we would be massively out of step with the tenor of church history. The beloved status of the Psalms in history should provide some helpful—perhaps even needed—pressure to assess our response to this Biblical book.
Fifth, the Psalms are Christologically significant. The book of Psalms is the most-quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament. Given that there are 39 Old Testament books, this usage of Psalms by the New Testament authors confirms its significance. Moreover, Jesus loved the Psalms. Can you imagine Jesus ever saying, “I don’t like the Psalms”? By no means! The Lord Jesus delighted in the Old Testament, and thus He loved the Psalms. He said that the Psalms prophesied and testified about Him (Luke 24v44). The Psalms tell us of a suffering and vindicated king. David embodied this reality, and He was a type of the Christ who would come. Surely our love for the Psalms would increase as we behold the ways that the book patterns and foreshadows the person and work of Jesus.
This piece was originally published on Mitch Chase's blog, which can be read here.
Does Jesus hate people because of their ancestry?
I have been involved in reaching out to Muslim people for over 35 years and, surprisingly often, I hear Christians …