Reading the Psalms

The Bible can be a pretty intimidating book for many people. Christians may experience a bit of guilt because they don't spend as much time reading Scripture as they think they should. Their reasons, often, are that it's difficult to understand, or they can't relate to many of the ancient names and places in the Bible, or they get bogged down when they "start at the beginning" and try to read straight through. People who are "seekers," not yet committed disciples, also may find the Bible a little tough to deal with. However, I have known of folks who have actually come to faith in Christ through reading the Bible in a hotel room. So Scripture certainly can be read and understood without any special clues or keys.

I enjoy reading the Psalms, but they too aren't all that easy to digest in some cases. One way to approach reading them, as suggested by the 20th century theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, is to read the Psalms through the eyes of Jesus. Some of the Psalms are especially meaningful when read that way. For instance, Psalm 22 begins with a phrase some will remember Christ quoted from the Cross: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The remainder of the Psalm describes a kind of human suffering and torment very reminiscent of the experience of the Cross. And then there is a verse in Psalm 30 that makes me think of Christ's resurrection, perhaps because it is written in first person singular: "O Lord, thou hast brought up my soul from Sheol, restored me to life from among those gone down to the Pit." There are other passages, too, which seem to me to be particularly associated with the life and ministry of Jesus. I think Bonhoeffer used the phrase, 'praying the Psalms with Jesus.'

When I consider it, that's a pretty good way to approach all the Bible. After all, we refer to the Bible as being the Word of God, and our understanding of Jesus Christ is that he is the "Word made flesh."