Skip to main content

Make the Words Your Own: An Early Christian Guide to the Psalms

Make The Words Your Own: An Early Christian Guide to the Psalms




Make the Words Your Own: An Early Christian Guide to the Psalms by Benjamin Wayman
http://www.paracletepress.com/make-the-words-your-own-an-early-christian-guide-to-the-psalms.html

The Psalms have been used since the beginning as an early guide to the faith for Christians.  The early church Father Athanasius has given us a guide to these psalms to help us in our journey of faith.  Benjamin Wayman, professor of religion at Greenville College in his introduction outlines the major points of Athanasius life, including the fact that in 367 he penned the earliest guide to the Psalms.  With intractable wit and devotion, Athanasius is a sure guide in helping us through the Psalter.

In the introduction, Wayman points out that, “Athanasius instructs us to personally apply the Psalms, the practice of which conforms our lives to Christ.  Through praying the words of the Psalter “as our very own,” we learn a new language that makes possible a new life in Christ.  Thus, we become what we pray (xxii).”  The range of emotions the psalmists deal with, the depths of suffering, the joys of worship, all these things lead the Christian to hold onto the psalms as our very own. 

The Psalms are divided into different sections; ones for suffering, betrayed, harassed, reflection, daily life, etc.  Athanasius provides a brief description or way to use the psalm in worship that is both encouraging and illuminating.  For Psalms 14 and 53, Athanasius writes, “Whenever you hear people speaking profanely against Providence, do not join them in their disregard for God, but intercede with God, saying Psalms 14 and 53 (90).”  These psalms point to those who denounce God but also to the psalmists trust that God is Israel’s refuge, that he is our refuge as well.  Furthermore, these psalms point to a restoration of Israel’s hopes.  Athanasius is wise to point us to these psalms as a way of contrast between those who fear God and those who revile Him.

The translation by Wayman gets to the heart of Athanasius message of how the Psalms are to be used in worship.  This book is one that will be used again and again as a way to pray to God in times of abundance and times of little.


Thanks to Paraclete Press for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saving Casper

Saving Casper: A Christian and an Atheist Talk about Why We Need to Change the Conversion Conversation by Jim Henderson and Matt Casper http://www.amazon.com/Saving-Casper-Christian-Conversion-Conversation/dp/1414364881 Many readers will quickly know the authors of this book from their previous release Jim and Casper Go to Church.  Jim and Matt’s new book entitled Saving Casper focuses on the way we talk about conversion in the church and the devastating ways we have pushed away atheists and other non-believers by our posture.  Both Jim and Matt traversed the national landscape, meeting in churches and asking hard questions about faith, conversion, and life. The basic premise of the book and travel is laid out here in their words, “Part of what Casper and I are trying to achieve when we speak to a group of Christians is to help people move a little bit on their “judgment meter.”  This capacity, while intellectually and often theologically uncomfortable,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Essential Christian Doctrine

  Essential Christian Doctrine , General Editor John MacArthur Pastor John MacArthur has for years been teaching the Word of God in both pulpit ministry, books, and conferences with an aim to displaying God’s revelation to his listeners in a winsome and foundational manner.  This new book, Essential Christian Doctrine takes an entire life of teaching and preaching and encapsulates the main contours of the Christian faith for its readers.  John in a systematic way highlights the most necessary teachings from Scripture including God’s Word, the Trinity, while also including sections on Man and the Future. One of the most helpful ways the authors bring to light biblical truth and theology is the way in which they group together particular themes.  In the section on the Holy Spirit, instead of a complex discussion of personhood, word pictures of the Holy Spirit are introduced in a discernible and profitable manner.  The metaphors for the Holy Spirit include fir...
Post a Comment
Read more

God's Grace for All of Life

The Romance of Grace by Jim McNeely III To be honest, when I received this book in the mail I had visions of what it might be like with a title like, ‘The Romance of Grace.’  The emotional rollercoaster and one-sided perspective on how our emotions fuel our faith was my presumption about the book, but this was the furthest thing from the truth as I started reading.  The Romance of Grace by Pastor Jim McNeely III is a careful look at the movements of grace in the way God pursues us with his love and his desire to get us to love him back.  McNeely writes, “We are entering a cosmic romance with a passionate lover, and He is interested in our heart’s truest desire.  His deepest objective isn’t to make us more moral; it is to get us to love Him back.  Virtue is the fruit, not the root” (18).  Why is this helpful?  For one thing, beginning with God’s initiating grace frees us from starting out on the wrong foot in the way we tell the story and...
2 comments
Read more