A Real Treasure Book

When I was growing up, I can remember a book that my mother kept by her night stand.  It was a cloth- bound, bright red book with very old images throughout it.  It looked kind of like an ancient treasure book- with it’s funny pictures and fancy lettering.   It wasn’t until I got older that I discovered that this mysterious treasure book was none other than an old book of Psalms.  One could say that the book of Psalms is a treasure book.  

The book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, and it contains the longest chapter of the Bible- Psalm 119.  Written over hundreds of years, many of it’s chapters are attributed to Bible giants like David and Moses.  It seems that the book of Psalms was written as a kind of hymn book (book of liturgies) purposed for worship, first in the Tabernacle and then in the Temple.  Most of the Psalms are set to song.  You may notice as you read through the book of Psalms headings that describe the type of instrument that would have been used for a particular psalm.  For example Psalm 5, “For the director of music.  For flutes. A psalm of David.”  For thousands of years people have been using the book of psalms as a song book for worship.  One of the founders of the Reformation movement in the 16th century, John Calvin believed the book of Psalms to be the perfect book of worship.  He wrote, “There is no other book in which we are more perfectly taught the right manner of praising God, or in which we are more powerfully stirred up to the performance of this exercise of piety.”   His beliefs on the book of Psalms lead some Protestant faith traditions to limit their hymn singing to the psalms.  Although we, as United Methodist, don’t limit our praise to the Psalms, many of the songs found in our hymn book and modern worship songs are inspired by or a direct quote of a psalm.  

But these scriptural treasures are not just songs of praise, they also include words of lament (passionate grief), prayers of confession, declarations of trust, and words of wisdom.  In essence it is a treasure book, a book filled with expressions of our deepest emotions, our frustrations, our victories, our hopes, and our dreams.  My mom still keeps that little cloth book on her self, she still reads from its pages, she still sings it’s songs, and she still prays it’s prayers.  Reading through and praying through the book of Psalms is a great way to connect to God.  So throughout the month of July I want to challenge you to read the book of Psalms and discover it's treasures for yourself! 

Blessings, 

Rachel