Psalms and Practice

Adam and Eve weren't concerned about traffic jams as they strolled through the Garden of Eden. The Ten Commandments weren't delivered to Moses by e-mail. So how does the Word, written so long ago, fit into everyday life today? The Connections series offers today's readers and students of Scripture an answer to that puzzling question. Connections builds an understanding of the relationship between the Bible and everyday life by examining the individual pieces and how they fit together. It invites us to broaden our comprehension of the Bible and its applications to modern life by placing current Scripture scholarship within the concerns of other fields, such as ethical problems in light of Scripture, science and Scripture, contemporary social challenges and Scripture, and the Bible in non-biblical cultures.

This series reveals more of God's intent, encouraging us to study and reflect on the Word from the life experiences, outlooks, and wisdom of many people.

The essays in Psalms and Practice explore how the notion of practice helps contemporary readers understand psalms in a new way. Practice, according to the authors, is when faith seeks understanding through spiritual disciplines. These practices continue the work of the Holy Spirit -- faith seeking understanding, understanding seeking embodiment through practice, and practice nurturing faith.

Practice and the psalms is never far from the formation of the soul which takes place in a number of ways. The essays in Psalms and Practice look at three aspects of formation: prayer, how the psalms shape our faith through the process of liturgy, and how the psalms shape as preached word.

Formation then occurs in contemplation, liturgy,and preaching, but it occurs in other action as well. Psalms and Practice also explores those elements of practice and the psalms by looking at the practice of translation as a way of practicing the psalms and examining other ways to relate the psalms to our modern lives.Read less