PREFACE
Iör millennia people have been singing reading. praying and meditating on
the Psalms Ihrough all ages, belieTers have rejoiced in the Psalms, repented
through them, and found immense comfort in them. In the sixth century HC,
Jews in captivity sang them tearfully in Babylon. Five hundred years later
Jesus and his disciples sang them in the upper room. Christians in Rome,
meeting in secret, began the day by singing Psalm 73 and closed it by
singing Psalm 141.
After the persecution of Christians ceased, one church father remarked,
"Of other Scripture, most men know nothing, but the Psalms are learned
by heart and are repeated in homes, streets, and shops." In 1512 Martin
Luther began his public career with lectures on the Psalms, In 1620 Pil-
grims launched the Mayflower by singing a psalm and landed in the New
World singing another one. One of the first books printed in America was
the Bay Psalm Book.
•Ihe Psalms are exquisite poetry, crisp theology, and stirring history,
but they are far more than all that. Most of all, they are intensely per.
sonal. The Psalms meet us where we are, and they take us to where we
ought to be. You don't have to dress up for the Psalms. Come as you are.
lhe writers were honest, sometimes embarrassingly honest, about their
thoughts and feelings. They were often baffled by what was going on,
just as we are. lhey (ell short, just as we do. They• got discouraged and
disheartened—so what else is new! The Psalms mirror life as it really is,
presenting the whole drama of humanity in a few pages. And somehow,
when you finish, you end up trusting and praising a God who is your
protector, your hope, and your friend.
In preparing this book we tied to capture the diversity of the Psalms.
Besides the Scripture portion from the New Living Translation and the daily
devotional reading you will find an appropriate hymn stanza. We have also
added other tidbits, quotes, and facts about particular psalms.
We trust that when you finish this One Year Book of Psalms, you will say
along with Martin Luther, "l love them all."
We join with the psalmist in sayiny "How good it is to sing praises to
our God," and we thank him for his blessing upon us as we wrote these
devotionals. We also want to thank Ardythe Petersen, researcher, collabo-
rator, and organizer, David Barrett, editor; and Warren Wiersbe, encour-
ager and bibliographer,