A 4th-century church father by the name of St. Athanasius said, “Most of Scripture speaks to us; the Psalms speak for us.” Indeed, our faith is an exercise of receiving what God would have us to hear through scripture. But it is just as much an exercise of allowing scripture to say the things to God that rest deep in our hearts-- the hard and often unsaid things.
The Psalms are a unique collection of prose, songs and expressions of the heart that are directed to God. They use intense emotional expression to illustrate what pastor Eugene Peterson called, “a long obedience in the same direction--” a river of commitment winding through the hills and valleys of life, always in the direction of God. When life becomes a quickened flurry of excitement or a low lull of monotony, we can lose touch with the deep truths that we need to remember. So, this summer, we’ll look once again to the Psalms for the words to say to God and to ourselves about the hard and essential truths that anchor an obedient faith.
