From Whom No Secrets Are Hid: Introducing the Psalms
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
The Psalms express the most elemental human emotions, representing situations in which people are most vulnerable, ecstatic, or driven to the extremities of life and faith. Many people may be familiar with a few Psalms, or sing them as part of worship. Here highly respected author Walter Brueggemann offers readers an additional use for the Psalms: as scripted prayers we perform to help us reveal ourselves to God.
Brueggemann explores the rich historical, literary, theological, and spiritual content of the Psalms while focusing on various themes such as praise, lament, violence, and wisdom. He skillfully describes Israel’s expression of faith as sung through the Psalms, situates the Psalmic liturgical tradition in its ancient context, and encourages contemporary readers to continue to perform them as part of their own worship experiences. Brueggemann’s masterful take on the Psalms as prayers will help readers to unveil their hopes and fears before God and, in turn, feel God’s grace unveiled to them.
Learn more about biblical interpretation with Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church (6 vols.).
Key Features
- Explores the rich historical, literary, theological, and spiritual content of the Psalms
- Situates the Psalmic liturgical tradition in its ancient context
- Offers readers an additional use for the Psalms
Contents
- Introduction to the Book of Psalms
- The Counter-World of the Psalms
- Canaanite Tradition and Israel’s Imagination
- Doxological Abandonment
- The Enthronement Psalms
- The Creator Toys with Monster Chaos (Psalm 104)
- On Jerusalem, Secure and Sad
- Cries That Seek God’s Engagement
- The Rhetoric of Violence
- Psalms 22–23 in the Life of the Church
- From Guilt to Joy (Psalm 51)
- The Wise, Reliable Ordering of Creation
- Wisdom Psalms
- From Commodity to Communion (Psalm 73)
- Israel’s Powerful Remembering
- The Wonder of Thanks, Specific and Material
Top Highlights
“These, then, are my two opening questions: (1) Why do we cling to the Psalter and (2) why do we so aggressively limit the parts of the Psalter to which we cling? Or, put differently, we might ask: why do we have a love-hate relationship with the Psalms? Why are we so ambivalent about this script of faith?” (Page 9)
“This ‘though’ is a well-grounded, adamant refusal to participate in the anxiety that is all around.” (Page 17)
“Pennebaker has demonstrated that honest disclosure, especially in writing, has very real benefits for physical and mental health.” (Page xix)
“Second, our closely held world of anxiety rooted in scarcity evokes an ideology of greed” (Page 11)
“The fact that it is God who hears these secrets makes their telling that much more important, that much more fraught, that much more risky and dangerous. The divine presence is not always nonanxious, benevolent, and nonjudgmental!23 And so, telling secrets in such a presence makes disclosure that much more difficult. How far can we go? How much is permissible? The Psalms suggest that we can go the whole way, that it is all permissible: the praise, yes, but also the grief, the sorrow, the anger, the rage, the cursing. The Psalms disclose all that, and, in their reperformance, manifest it. They are the locus and script of and for our full disclosure before God.” (Page xxiii)
About Walter Brueggemann
Walter Brueggemann through his teaching, lecturing, and writing, has effectively demonstrated the significance of the Old Testament for our fractured world today. Recognized as the preeminent interpreter of the ancient texts in relation to questions posed by a variety of academic disciplines, he has shown the way toward a compelling understanding of the major components of the faith and life of ancient Israel, especially its Psalms, the prophets, and the narratives. His award-winning Theology of the Old Testament quickly became a foundational work in the field.
Brueggemann, who holds a ThD from Union Seminary, New York, and a PhD from St. Louis University, is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia. He was previously professor of Old Testament at Eden Theological Seminary, St. Louis. His many Fortress Press books, including The Threat of Life: Sermons on Pain, Power, and Weakness, exhibit a fecund combination of imaginative power, sound scholarship, and a passion of justice and redemption.
Sample Pages from the Print Edition
Reviews
2 ratings
Justin Orr
3/26/2021
Stephen Williams
1/27/2020
