Writing With the Psalms

For the writers of the psalms, God was an entity "out there" somewhere. God was to be approached with humility, fear, and obedience. Many of the psalms are poignant appeals for God's intervention, because their authors faced difficult circumstances of war, illness, betrayal, spiritual distress, and sin. There are also many psalms that address God's goodness and majesty and rule over all creation. Some psalms are written as descriptions of a life well lived in the service of God. Some ask God for the healing redemption for a faithful servant who may have strayed. Unity and New Thought teach me that God is within me, and that I do not need to reach out to the heavens to contact God. Unity also teaches me that I have a personal responsibility for the way I behave and live. When interpreting the psalms with these two factors in mind, their language becomes more inner-directed, and more of a search for that "still, small voice" within each of us.