Blog by Rob Vandeman
We love to read the Psalms and rightly so. While Psalms may be the most popular book of the Bible, the Psalms are often the most misunderstood and misinterpreted. Many of us choose a few favorites and ignore others that strike us as bizarre or even cruel. Yet all the psalms were written for our benefit. To understand and appreciate the whole collection, we need solid principles of interpretation that will guide us to a proper reading and application of this riveting part of God’s Word.
There are several principles that we should keep in mind as we read the psalms. Not only will they help us understand God’s message in the psalms, but the principles will also allow us to see them in all their richness. As we meditate on the psalms we think, feel, imagine and choose in increasingly godly ways.
In order to illustrate each of these principles, we will apply them to Psalm 131:
A song for the ascent to Jerusalem A psalm of David
1. My heart is not proud, O Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
2. But I have stilled and quieted my soul;
like a weaned child with its mother,
like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
