January 8, 2025

The Psalms: An Introduction by parishioner Dick Fichter with assistance from Rev. Dina

One Sunday during the service in Advent, we recited a psalm by alternative verses. The Lectionary in the Book of Common Prayer indicates the psalms to be read each Sunday of the three-year lectionary cycle along with the lessons to be read on a given Sunday. I have always enjoyed the psalms during the service, but I have never given them much consideration outside of the service liturgy. 

I was aware of the Psalter in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) which contains all the psalms in the Old Testament portion of the bible. I know that they are songs of praise.

Tradition says the psalms were written by David. However, there is no credible historical grounding supporting this idea, though maybe he wrote a few of them.

The psalms were written over centuries, likely between 996 to 586 BCE. The editors over that time ascribed psalms to different poets, David, certainly, and also Asaph, Ethan the Ezrahite, Heyman the Ezrahite, the Korahites, and others.

I have individually considered from time to time but never considered them, as a unit, neither as part of the bible nor as part of our service, until now.

In the Book of Common Prayer, the psalter is divided into five books, with each book containing a specific range of psalms. Its division enables one to read the entire psalter systematically over a period of time, usually a month, by rotating through the different books for both Morning and Evening Prayer. I never appreciated that before.

Why would one want to read the entire psalter? How does it serve? There are likely many answers. One might be about their capacity to connect us to God and to our siblings in Christ and to our siblings of the Jewish faith.

Theologian Walter Bruggemann says: “The Psalms, with a few exceptions, are not the voice of God addressing us. They are rather the voice of our own common humanity—gathered over a long period of time, but a voice that continues to have amazing authenticity and contemporaneity.” They are a critical part of our worship as it connects our current day experiences with those of our ancestors. (Brueggemann, Walter. Praying the Psalms, Second Edition: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit (pp. 1-2).)

In next week’s HDM, we will explore five-book structure of the psalter. Come and See!  In the meantime – check out the psalter in the BCP: The Online Book of Common Prayer and click The Psalter from the list.