About three or four times a year I stop whatever else I’m reading in my morning devotions, (usually something from Martin Luther), and take a month to read through the Book of Psalms. In my Bible it means that I need to read about three to four pages a day to get through the entire Psalter in a month.

This is the first installment in a series that highlights what I’ve discovered in my reading of the Book of Psalms.The series is entitled, “Reasons to Love the Bible’s Book of Psalms.”

Since it is the largest book in the Bible and roughly in the middle of the Bible it is the easiest book to find. On most Bibles just close your Bible, find the center of the book and open it up to find the Psalter.

The early disciples took great care in writing down the teachings of Jesus which then became the New Testament. But they did not feel the need to develop a hymnal to guide people in the worship of Jesus since they already had one – The Book of Psalms.

Most of the Psalms were written by Israel’s King David, who started out as a shepherd boy and musician. As king, David appointed 4,000 singers to provide music for the worship at the tabernacle.

In the Psalter people experience every possible emotion from the greatest joy to the deepest pain and frustration:

Psalm 130:1 – Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.

Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

And the Psalter contains some of the most profound theology:

Psalm 50:10-12 –  For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.

No matter what people are going through in their lives, no matter what questions they may have about God and this world, they can find passages in the Book of Psalms to address all their questions and concerns. It’s no surprise that just about every devotional guide that’s produced recommends reading one or more psalms each day.

The images that accompany this series are all from The St. John’s Bible, Heritage Edition. You can read more about this remarkable work here: https://wordpress.com/post/mirrorneuronsblog.wordpress.com/1039.