REVIEW: How to Read the Psalms by Tremper Longman III

How to Read the Psalms by Tremper Longman III

Genre: Christian, Non fiction, Theology

Read: 5th January 2025

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Published: 7th January 2025

★★★ 3 stars

DESCRIPTION:

The Psalms have been well-loved and frequently used by Christians throughout history. For directness, intensity, and intimacy, they are unrivaled in all of Scripture. Somehow the psalmists seem to have anticipated our own awe, desires, and frustrations.

Yet the Psalms also challenge us when we look at them closely. Their poetry is unfamiliar in form. Many images used are foreign to us today. And the psalmists sometimes express troubling thoughts that seem hard to reconcile with other teachings of Scripture.

In this volume of the popular How to Read Series, Tremper Longman III gives us the kind of help we need to overcome the distance between the psalmists' world and ours. He explains the various genres of psalms, the way they were used in Hebrew worship, their relationship to the rest of the Old Testament, and the characteristics of Hebrew poetry. Then he looks at how Christians can appropriate the message and insights of Psalms today.

Step-by-step suggestions for interpreting the psalms on our own are followed by exercises for further study and reflection, plus a helpful guide to commentaries on the Psalms. This second edition includes expanded content, updated sources, and a new appendix on the structure of the book of Psalms.

MY THOUGHTS:

The Old Testament is not easy to wade through let alone interpret. However, it was written for a different time with different ways of doing things. But the foundation remains the same throughout. God - the one and the only Creator of the Universe. And while the Old Testament books may well be difficult to get through we need to remember that as God's Word we also need God's guidance. He can help us to navigate the Scriptures and apply them to our daily lives.

This book was well out of my comfort zone as I generally read fiction. Non fiction is usually too bogged down in fact and long-winded words that make for difficult reading. And as a Scripture-based book, this one was full of theology as well how to interpret the most poetic book in the Bible - the Psalms.

I've written my fair share of poetry over the years but none of them are written like this. We have to remember that people had a different way with words in those days, using a different kind of language to what we use as common English today. And the Psalms are some beautiful poetry - heartfelt cries to God as well as praising God. Many Christian contemprary songs today incorporate the Psalms into them. Music and song has always been a wonderful way to praise our God. And the Psalms were written to be sung. And of course, the most famous Psalmist is David.

I admit, I struggled reading this. I wanted to understand it better and I went in wanting to know how to understand the Psalms better. What I found most challenging was the unformatted format of the book, making it hard to decipher clear breaks, beginnings and endings. I admit, I struggle when ARCs come in this format.

I want to understand the Psalms better but I think I may need a retail copy to refer to. That way I can bookmark where I want and refer back to. This one, you lose your place and you are swiping pages trying to find where you were up to again.

Thank you for the opportunity given to me to read this book (or what I could of it).

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Tremper Longman III (PhD, Yale University) is Robert H. Gundry Professor of Biblical Studies at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He is also visiting professor of Old Testament at Seattle School of Theology and Psychology and adjunct of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary. He lectures regularly at Regent College in Vancouver and the Canadian Theological Seminary in Calgary. Longman is the author or coauthor of over twenty books, including How to Read Genesis, How to Read the Psalms, How to Read Proverbs, Literary Approaches to Biblical Interpretation, Old Testament Essentials and coeditor of A Complete Literary Guide to the Bible. He and Dan Allender have coauthored Bold Love, Cry of the Soul, Intimate Allies, The Intimate Mystery and the Intimate Marriage Bible studies.