How (not) to read the Psalms
By Josh VonGunten
I’ve been encouraging people lately to read the Psalms. Specifically, I’m recommending people read and reflect upon one or two a day as a way of observing and understanding what’s possible in conversation with God. I’ve been engaging in this practice of daily reading mostly on, but sometimes off, over the last 9 months and have found it to be a remarkably grounding, nourishing, and shaping experience through times good, bad, and ugly.
The Psalms are old, very old. This diverse library of poetry and songs (150 total) includes many different authors, contexts, stages of faith, and competing perspectives on God. They were written over a 1,000 year time period and get this, scholars date some of the oldest entries at around 3,500 years old! These are ancient expressions so no surprise, parts of them come across as weird, foreign, and confusing. Some of them feel like an uphill walk you weren’t ready for. Yet, there is gold in these hills. It takes some orienting and acclimating to the terrain but once your legs adjust, you’ll be striding through lands spacious, reverent, and enchanted.
In what follows I’ve shared three orienting tips on how (not) to read the Psalms. Of course, on this topic so much more could be said. If you are interested, let’s talk. Below is some guidance with an emphasis on how to navigate some of the particular difficulties you’ll encounter as you read.
1) Allow yourself the freedom to be in a different place, mood, or outlook from what you are reading. The point is not to merge with the author or sync with their mood. Sometimes this will happen, and in moments sweet and beautiful you’ll join their song with ease. Other times you’ll find yourself perplexed at how unrelatable or even troubling the mood of the poem may be. Simply allow yourself the freedom to be who you are and where you are while closely observing the emotion and experience of the writer.
If you are feeling happy and happen come upon a sad psalm as you advance chronologically, that’s ok. Pass through it. The constructive value of this approach, moving through rather than skipping ahead, will stretch and shape you to become ever more aware of what’s possible in conversation with God. The point is not agreement or feeling the same but rather to create space and appreciation for a vast and wide range of prayers, many of which only make sense to a person in crisis. As a reader, look for raw honesty and openness before God as the through line rather than correct or relatable thinking.
2) Building on the idea above, it is crucial to remember that the people writing these poems are humans situated in particular contexts, some of which happen to be times of war, crisis, and societal upheaval. What does it feel like to live in constant fear of imminent violence? How does an ancient, tribal person talk to God about their sworn enemies? Prepare to see through the eyes of people in deep distress who may or may not be thinking clearly.
Within these texts you will encounter dark unchecked cravings for revenge and startling pictures of God as violent. You will also hear from people who believe everything that happens, from a storm to a war, is a direct result of God’s determination. In all of this, remember these authors did not know Jesus, the visible image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:5) and their cravings for revenge or control are the cries of humanity in need of Emmanuel, God with us. As I have tried to place myself in their shoes, I’m reminded that craving revenge makes a whole lot of sense without Jesus’ revolutionary good news of the kingdom, cross, and resurrection. The Psalms help me see again and again how prone I would be to anger, revenge, and control if it weren’t for the saving guidance of Jesus.
3) Through the vast and varied terrain of the Psalms, keep looking for how the writers continue to look to God. Through high and low, feast and famine, times of laughter and depression, there is an enduring orientation of looking to God. Sometimes this look to God is through tears, disbelief, and a broken heart, other times through eyes of gladness and joy. The shaping work of the Psalms trains us to look to God as a refuge, come what may. While our lives are different from the authors of the Psalms in many ways, we surely have this in common— to be human is to encounter a wild mix of joy, surprise, danger, love, tragedy, gratitude, and loss. To learn to look to God through it all is what makes us strong.
Suggested resources: Nearing a Far God by Leslie Leyland Fields, Open and Unafraid by David O. Taylor
