The Psalms

THE PSALMS

It was a Saturday morning. Bryan was drifting in and out of consciousness. I sat by his hospital bedside holding his hand.

Slowly, I began to recite the words of psalm 121:

'l will lift up my eyes unto the hills:

from whence cometh my help.

My help cometh even from the Lord:

who hath made heaven and earth.

He will not suffer thy foot to move:

and he that keepeth thee will not sleep.

Behold, he that keepeth lsrael:

shall neither slumber not sleep'

Bryan slowly opened his eyes. His dry lips parted and in a quiet voice, he began to join in the psalm, with which he was familiar:

'The Lord himself is thy keeper:

the Lord is thy defence upon thy right hand;

so that the sun shall not burn thee by day:

neither the moon by night.

The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil:

yea, it is even he that shall keep thy soul.’

Bryan's voice faded away. His eyes closed. I continued the psalm:

‘The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in:

from this time forth for evermore.’

Bryan was the son of a Church of lreland clergyman. He had gone to church throughout his life. He was therefore very familiar with the psalms, and especially psalm 121, which gave him such comfort at the end.

He died shortly after I had said those concluding words,

‘The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in:

from this time forth for evermore.'

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Perhaps, the greatest change in the worshipping life of the Church of England, over the past century, has been the reintroduction of the Eucharist, as the focal point of Sunday worship.

This in turn has led to the disappearance, save in a few churches, of the former services of Matins and Evensong, with the subsequent decline in our knowledge of the Psalms.

Fortunately, our liturgical revisers have become aware of this, and so, in Common Worship, provision has been made for the saying of a Psalm between the scriptural readings.

Sadly, this is often ignored and this is a pity.

It is a pity for three reasons.

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Firstly, the Psalms are the gift of the Old Testament to the Christian Church.

The Book of Psalms can be found in our Bibles between the books of Job and Proverbs, and towards the end of the Book of Common Prayer between the services of Commination and Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea.

There are 150 psalms. Their authorship is commonly attributed to David who used to sing to a stringed instrument. However, many of them refer to the Temple which was not built in his lifetime, and others refer to happenings that took place long after his time. Most scholars, therefore, are agreed that they were written by a variety of writers over a long period of time, possibly between 400 and 250 BC.

They have often been described as the "Hymn Book of the Second Temple' since many were originally used in public worship, including the synagogue. Others were compiled for private use.

For instance, Psalm 122 was probably used by pilgrims going up to the Temple.

'I was glad when they said unto me

we will go into the house of the Lord.

Our feet shall stand in thy gates;

Jerusalem'

And Psalm 51 was probably used privately as a prayer of penitence.

'Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great goodness:

according to the multitude of thy mercy do away mine offences.

Wash me thoroughly from my wickedness:

and cleanse me from my sin.'

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Secondly, the Psalms link us with the worship of Jesus and the early church.

Jesus was brought up as a devout Jew attending both the Temple and the synagogue for public worship. Hence he would have been very familiar with the words of the Psalms which he would readily recall to mind.

Thus, when Jesus hung dying upon the cross feeling abandoned by God He cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me." These words echo the words of Psalm 22:

‘My God, my God, look upon me,

why hast thou forsaken me:

and are so far from my health,

and from the words of my complaint.'

And again, when he was about to die he cries out: 'Into thy hand I commend my spirit’, echoing the words of Psalm 81:

'Into thy hands I commend my spirit:

for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth.'

The disciples and early Christians were also brought up as Jews attending the Temple and synagogue public worship. They too would have been very familiar with the words of the psalms. Little wonder that there are over 90 references to the psalms in the New Testament.

It was therefore natural that the recitation of the Psalms should have become part oi regular Christian worship. Eventually, under the inspiration of St Benedict of the sixth century they became a definite part of daily monastic worship.

When Thomas Cranmer came to compile the Book of Common Prayer of 1549 for the English church, he reduced the seven daily monastic services to two, namely Matins and Evensong. During these services, he arranged for the 150 psalms to be recited on a regular pattern each month. The reciting of Psalms continues to be part of the Daily Office for clergy to say in Common Worship.

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Thirdly, the Psalms express our human needs, moods and emotions when words often fail us.

John Calvin, the sixteenth century reformer observed: 'There is not an emotion of which anyone can be conscious that is not here represented as a mirror,' when writing about the Psalms.

And the former Archbishop of York, Stuart Blanch, has written: 'We shall find in the Psalter, utterances which exactly express our needs and aspirations, whether we are Jew or Greek, labourer or laboratory assistant, football fanatic or photographer. Of the Psalter it may be certainly said that it is a 'book for all mankind'.

Yes, all our human needs, moods and emotions find expression in the Psalms, be they happiness, joyfulness and thanksgiving, or sorrow, sadness and regret. Even vengeance against one's enemies finds expression in the Psalms.

Take for instance Psalm 23, which is probably the best known of all the Psalms. It speaks of our human need for protection from the trials and temptations of everyday life. The author likens our protective relationship with God to that of a shepherd with his sheep.

'The Lord is my shepherd:

therefore I can lack nothing.

He shall feed me in green pasture:

and lead me forth besides the waters of comfort.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:

for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff comfort me.'

Or look again at Psalm 42. This speaks of our search for God when often his presence appears to be hidden from our sight.

'Like as the hart desires the water brook:

so longs my heart for thee, O God.

My soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God:

when shall I come to appear before the presence of God

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Finally, let me say something about the recitation of the Psalms in worship.

Firstly, you will notice that each verse of a Psalm is divided into two parts, indicated by the use of a colon. This is because the second part of each verse is a parallel or extension of the first part of the verse.

For instance, in Psalm 51 we read,

'Create in me a clean heart, O God:

and renew a right spirit within me.'

The second part of the verse, 'and renew a right spirit within me' echoes the first part of the verse, 'Create in me a clean heart, O God.'

Secondly, when the Psalms are said corporately, it is helpful in keeping the rhythm for them to be said alternately with the leader of the service pausing at each colon. This obviously involves having the full text in front of one.

If one has not got the full text in front of one, one can follow the practice of the Common Worship presentation, whereby, one person recites the Psalm, and the congregation join in at regular intervals by repeating a selected verse of the Psalm, which has been announced and repeated at the beginning.

And thirdly, if one is going to have a Psalm between the Old and New Testament readings, as suggested in Common Worship, it is appropriate for the Old Testament reader to lead also the Psalm, because the Psalms selected for use in the Lectionary are chosen to echo the Old Testament reading.

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So my plea to you is simply this, do not lose sight of the Psalms which have been part of the spiritual heritage of Christians, both corporately and privately, for almost two and a half thousand years.

I say this because the Psalms are a gift of the Old Testament to the Christian Church. The Psalms also link us to the worship of Jesus and the early Christian Church. And finally, the Psalms express our human needs, moods and emotions when words can otherwise fail.

Why not this week, read a psalm each day and rediscover their relevance to your spiritual life, as did Bryan, as he lay dying upon his hospital bed?