Spirituality of the Psalms

Based on the bestseller, The Message of the Psalms, this condensed version offers readers simple insight for how the Psalms apply to every season of life.

The Psalms nourish and nurture. The Psalms provide voices of faith in the life of community. In this shortened version of The Message of the Psalms, Dr. Brueggemann provides an insightful perspective and a structured overview of the Psalms using three categories: orientation, disorientation, and new orientation. Orientation is the establishment of structure and order. Disorientation is a place of imbalance and nonsense even potentially unjust. New orientation is moving forward away from what was and toward new possibilities.

Spirituality of the Psalms brings together the Christian faith, expressions of suffering, hope, and seasons of everyday life. Brueggeman explains how Psalms of negativity, cries for vengeance, and profound penitence are foundational to a life of faith, and establishes that the reality of deep loss and amazing gifts are held together in a powerful tension.

In this succinct edition, Brueggemann encourages readers to look up specific Psalms for study and consider God's justice in an unjust world. Spirituality of the Psalms is a brief yet thought-provoking edition for any reader wanting to understand complex dynamics found within the Old Testament Psalms.

Walter Brueggemann is William Marcellus McPheeters Professor of Old Testament Emeritus at Columbia Theological Seminary and the author of numerous books including, from Fortress Press, The Prophetic Imagination; Theology of the Old Testament; and The Message of the Psalms. Brueggemann lives in Traverse City, Michigan.