Reading and Praying the Psalms

Have you ever wondered what Jesus' voice sounded like? Was it deep and rich, like Morgan Freeman's? Was it soft and gentle, like the sound of a wise grandparent with nothing to prove? Was it a thick, heavy Nazareth accent? We will never know!

This thought spurs my curiosity as I wonder what Jesus sang on the night he was betrayed. Before Jesus went into the Garden of Gethsemane, he sang a hymn with his disciples. We can only wonder and imagine what heavens voice sounded like as he sang. We do not know what hymn they sang, but we can guess that the singing Savior crooned a psalm. 

Yes, Jesus sang the psalms. This we know well. More fully, I believe that Jesus lived in the psalms. I believe the psalter was so ingrained in his head that his shower thoughts were psalm 63 and 110. When he was riding on the donkey into town he had the "Songs of Ascent" flowing through his head. Jesus was so saturated with the words of the psalter as it guided his relationship with the Father.

In fact, Jesus quotes the Psalms more than any other book in the Bible!

So we know that Jesus read, sang, and lived in the Psalms. The question now for those who follow Jesus is... will you?

In reading and praying the Psalms, there are a few things that will help:
(1) Recognize that you are reading Hebrew poetry. The style and patterns in the text encourage a slow, thoughtful, and interrogative reading.
(2) Inhabit the psalms. Make the psalms your prayers to the Father. Think about it through the day, for a couple of days! Do not hasten through that which is meant to be slow.
(3) Pray in community. Just like we sing songs of worship on Sunday's in community, so too were the Psalms sung as community. We do not "sing" or pray these songs alone, but need the help of our community to pray them well.