A letter from the Rev. Norm Faramelli
Dear People of Christ Church,
On almost every Sunday we recite together portions from the Book of Psalms. Our readings come from a collection of sacred poems written over 25 to 30 centuries ago. These Psalms are read and sung daily by many people throughout the world. The are central and foundational for all forms of Judaism and Christianity.
The authors of the Psalms lived in a nation that saw itself as a ‘servant of the Lord’. God is at the center of all 150 psalms. These writers believed that life is not worth living unless it is connected with the Creator and Redeemer of the universe, the giver of life and the savior of all humanity.
Throughout history, the Psalms have made an indelible impression on the lives of many Jews and Christians, including St. Francis and many other saints. Martin Luther was deeply influenced by the Book of Psalms and once referred to it “as the Bible in miniature”.– We all have our favorite Psalms, such as Ps. 23: “The Lord is my shepherd…” or Ps. 24 : “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof….”, or Ps 121: “I will lift up my eyes to the hills..”, but we seldom engage the entire Book of Psalms, which is central for both personal devotion as well as corporate worship.
The 150 Psalms cover a vast range of human experiences, and address the woes and difficulties of the nation, the struggle for healing, the need for forgiveness, and all other aspects of human behavior. All of the various forms of prayer are found in the Book of Psalms, such as Praise and Adoration (from which the world “psalm” is derived– see Psalms 95, 100, 145 to 150), Confession and Penitence (see Pss. 51, 130), Thanksgiving (Pss. 103, 105, 107, 124) as well as many psalms that deal with Intercession and Petition. The Psalms address the God of Nature, the God of History, the God of Zion (the holy place), the God who brings health to individuals as well as to the nation. There are also the Psalms of Trust (Pss. 23, 27, and 121) and the God who seeks us out and searches our inner depths (Ps. 139). The Book of Psalms deals with national laments as well as personal supplications.
The Book of Psalms covers the full range of human emotions including the human inclinations toward anger, hatred, retaliation, and revenge. Sometimes these Psalms are sanitized for us, with the more objectionable passages removed, to make them more acceptable on a Sunday morning The entire Book of Psalms provides us with insights into how we deal with cultural decay, military disasters, human pain and suffering, and human sin and forgiveness Through and with God, we as individuals, as a society, and as a nation can cope with these realities, and not only survive, but also thrive.The Book of Psalms -written in a poetic form, provides us insights into our behavior and emotions that are ALWAYS in dialogue with a judging, loving and forgiving God.
Remember- the Book of Psalms is not only to be used for our corporate worship, it can also be central to our personal devotions as well.
This coming Sunday we will be exploring Ps. 85, which tells us a lot about God’s role in history and also spells out many of the qualities of the God whom we worship.
When we engage the God of the Book of Psalms we can discover: “O taste and see that the LORD is good, happy are those who take refuge in God”. (Ps. 34:8)
Peace,
Norm