Praying The Psalms (Luther & Ngien)

“Aurelius rightly recognizes the significance the Psalms have played in the religious life of the church since its beginning. “No other book of prayers is used so diligently and is so highly Beloved as the Psalter.” Wallace claims that “throughout its life the Church has maintained two equally important traditions relating to the psalms. One has to do with the use of Psalms in prayer and song to God. The other concerns the use of the psalms for the instruction and guidance of the faithful.”2 Bayer avows that Luther’s work was “embedded in the practice of praying the psalms daily,” and that he devoted much of his scholarly energy “in particular to the psalms.” Pelikan wrote: “Throughout his career Luther paid very much attention to the Psalter.… His attention to it was personal, devotional, political, exegetical, polemical—all at the same time.” With Melanchthon, Luther considered Paul’s epistle to Romans “truly the purest Gospel.”5 However, Luther adored the Psalms more than any other book in the Bible, regarding the Psalter as “a little Bible.” This he wrote in his Preface to the Psalter:

The Psalter ought to be a precious and beloved book. If for no other reason than this: it promises Christ’s death and resurrection so clearly—and pictures his kingdom and the condition and nature of all Christendom—that it might well be called a little Bible. In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible. It is really a fine enchiridion or handbook. In fact, I have a notion that the Holy Spirit wanted to take the trouble himself to compile a short Bible and book of examples of all Christendom or all saints, so that anyone who could not read the whole Bible but have here anyway almost an entire summary of it, comprised in one little book.

The Psalter was written in figurative and metaphorical language, evincing an expansive and evocative style that invites people, as Luther said, to “find yourself in it [the Psalter], for it is the true gnothi seauton (‘know thyself’) and above all God himself and all his creatures.” It has furnished believers in every generation with an invaluable source of prayer and praise, and with models for their own response to God. Luther accentuated:

Hence it is that the Psalter is the book of all saints; and everyone, in whatever situation he may be, finds in that situation psalms and words that fit his case, that suit him as if they were put there just for his sake, so that he could not put it better himself, or find or wish for anything better.

The Psalms are God’s address not only to the people of old but also to the saints in the present. The Psalter is timeless, as it bridges the gap between the past and the present. It is also timely, as it presents us with words that fit particular life situations. In the Psalter, human words that we speak to God, and God’s word, that by which we speak, are woven in an inseparable unity.”(1)

Throughout the centuries, across denominations, continents, and cultures, the people of God have routinely found life in praying through the Psalms. Join us Wednesday mornings as we corporately sit with God in the wrestling, lamenting, adoring, interceding, hoping, thanksgiving… of The Psalms.

(1) Ngien, Dennis. 2015. Fruit for the Soul: Luther on the Lament Psalms. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.