Author Topic: About reading the Psalter  (Read 344 times)

Perd Hapley

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About reading the Psalter
« on: October 24, 2021, 04:07:26 PM »
Maybe not a general interest thread, mainly for Bible-heads. Specifically, us thick-headed Bible readers, what ain't too quick on the uptake.

Something I've been doing for almost two years now is reading the same psalm every day for a week, before moving on to the next one. Pretty slow, obviously. I started in Nov 2019, and now I'm in the high 90s.

I've read through the Psalms at least twice, and one problem I have had is that each psalm is a different song or poem, so you're kind of starting over with each one. It's not like reading a narrative, where one chapter leads to the next, and you gain understanding as you go along. Or at least for me, it's not. So I felt like I was just plowing through each psalm, and not quite understanding what I had read, then moving to the next one and having the same experience.

I find I'm understanding the Psalms better than I have before, though again, it takes time to get through the book this way - roughly three years. Very short psalms I'm reading seven times per week, but for longer ones I'll read part of it one day, and the rest on day two, and then start over on day three. At least one psalm was long enough I split it into three parts, and kept reading it for a second week, to really get enough time with it. I expect to spend three or four weeks on Psalm 119.

Anyway, just thought it might be a useful suggestion for other Bible-readers. Or maybe if there's a book or something else that helped you understand or enjoy the Psalms, maybe mention it here.
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Ron

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Re: About reading the Psalter
« Reply #1 on: October 24, 2021, 05:30:27 PM »
I bet now you would really get a lot out of a commentary on the Psalms with your increased familiarity. There is a lot of prophecy in the Psalms, commentaries while not authoritative and containing another mans opinion can often open up more understanding.

Reading the Proverbs chapter for the day is something I've done consistently for a long time. I'll reference a commentary or other resources on occasion when there is something I'm not understanding.

*I read a Psalm commentary once that pointed out that nearly every time "Selah" appears it is in a verse(s) that references the timeframe of the second coming of Christ prophetically.
For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity, that they may be without excuse. Because knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, and didn’t give thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.