I've been reading through the Psalms for the last few months. A couple things have struck me that never really struck me before. 1) People in old testament times lived externally. They lived among the particulars of life and when they asked God for something it usually had nothing to do with their internal landscape or their psychology. Their prayers are more about concrete things like real enemies, war, natural disasters, money, love from other people, etc. 2) They have an incredible sense of wonder about the physical world and God's role in it. They are freightened by billowing storm clouds, perplexed by the wind, scared of the limitless sea, etc.

I've been thinking quite a bit about what this should mean for me living as a Christian in the 21st century, and I've come up with a few things I'd like to share. The first and foremost is that I think we're guilty of internalizing our faith too much (see the Son Volt lyrics below). As moderns we live in our heads and tinker with our psychology until we're almost unable to act. Admittedly this is because we're quite fractured in this day and age, and I don't mean to discount therapy or anything like that (Lord knows it helps me). But I don't get the impression from the Psalmists that they struggled with these sort of things in their daily lives, and certainly not in their spiritual lives (you won't find Niehbur's serenity prayer in the Psalms). People in ancient times lived amidst their necessities, not their wants or their egos.

The second thing is that we've largely lost our sense of wonder at the world. We think that because we can describe or explain how something works that we've divested it of mystery and meaning. We look at the moon and it's small because we've been there. We watch the weather man describe a hurricane and we're not afraid any more. We look at religious people and we psychoanalyze their belief away reducing their thoughts of God to mere wish fulfillment. The Psalmists don't do this. They see the hand of God everywhere in nature. They don't spend too much time trying to divine why things happen, they just believe that God is in control, and that he's powerful and majestic beyond our wildest dreams. That he's something to be worshipped, something not to be trifled with.

Most importantly what I take away from the Psalms is something I heard Johnny Cash say a few years back, "There are many aspects of God, as He revealed Himself to many, but to bring it back down to earth and to keep it simple for all of us, God is a God to sing to or to sing about. Songs of praise, songs of wonder, songs of worship."

I can think of no other more fitting description of the Psalms.