The Psalms have always been sung by God’s people. Therefore, when we sing them, we are uniting with God’s people over the earth and over the ages. Even though the languages are different, God’s people from Lusaka to Chennai to Sydney sing Psalms together. In doing so, we are united with all who’ve gone before and all who will follow.

Summer is a great time of the year. We go to the beach, watch cricket and catch up with friends. Many churches also use the opportunity to spend time in the Psalms—and what a wonderful idea! The Psalms are full of emotion, hope, drama and music, and are always enjoyable. Here are some ideas for how to enjoy the Psalms even more this summer.

Savour the imagery.

Imagery is one of the chief delights of literature. One can hardly read Dickens’ description of looking into a London shop on Christmas morning without smiling at the ‘great round, pot-bellied baskets of chestnuts, shaped like the waistcoats of jolly old gentlemen, lolling at the doors, and tumbling out into the street.’ Or consider Herman Melville’s Ishmael, who, sheltering in the muffled silence of a chapel on a stormy night, thought that ‘in looking at things spiritual, we are too much like oysters observing the sun through the water, and thinking that thick water the thinnest of air.’ Good images convey truths which plain description cannot easily express, but they also make us feel. The Psalms are full of divinely inspired images:

As fire consumes the forest,
or a flame sets the mountains ablaze,
so pursue them with your tempest.
(Psalm 83)

My tears have been my food day and night.
(Psalm 42)

Let the rivers clap their hands,
let the mountains sing together for joy.
(Psalm 98)

It doesn’t matter much whether or not you can describe the difference between simile and metaphor; hyperbole and personification. I couldn’t tell you which cut is the back-strap and which is the tenderloin, but I know they’re both delicious!

Try it—go to almost any Psalm and see if you can find poetic use of imagery. Meditate on these to enjoy the Psalms even more this summer.

Pay attention to the arrangement of the Psalter.

The Psalms were not thrown into a bag, picked out at random, and numbered wherever they ended up. Rather, they were carefully arranged into five “books”:

Book 1—Psalms 1-41
Book 2—Psalms 42-72
Book 3—Psalms 73-89
Book 4—Psalms 90-106
Book 5—Psalms 107-150

The evidence for this is in the text of the Psalter itself. Look at the ending of each book:

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
(Psalm 41:13)

Praise be to his glorious name forever;
may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
(Psalm 72:19)

Praise be to the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
(Psalm 89:52)

Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, “Amen!”
Praise the Lord.
(Psalm 106:48)

Each of these passages is something like Handel’s Hallelujah chorus—a climactic ending to a section of music. Psalms 146-150 are an extended five-fold Hallelujah which concludes the Psalter as a whole.

Perhaps the book demarcations in the Psalter do not receive as much attention as they might because they do not appear to make much difference. But knowing the broader theme of the ‘book’ in which a given Psalm has been placed can add an extra layer to our enjoyment of it.

Read More