All human life is here: exploring the Psalms
The 150 poems that make up the book of Psalms in the Bible are a wonderful treasury of thousands of years of human experience and the search for a hidden God, which are still relevant today. In poetry which has entered our language and literature over centuries, they express deep feelings of both love and hatred, suffering and joy, despair and hope – often carried within a sense of isolation and alienation with which we too can identify, as they seek to give voice to our longing for meaning and purpose.
Although there are parts of the psalms which may be repugnant to us, especially those which call down retribution on one’s enemies, these can enable us to become aware of our own less worthy emotions – and when used prayerfully, can be interpreted in a spiritual sense.
In a series of talks and concerts during Lent, arranged by Churches Together in Charlbury, we shall explore many aspects of the psalms, including the story of why they were preserved over many centuries as part of the Jewish scriptures – encapsulating their self-understanding as God’s people. We know from the Gospels that the psalms formed a significant part of Jesus’s own spirituality, and it was St Augustine who propounded the idea that through the psalms, we can participate in the journey of the soul of which Jesus himself is the pioneer. Ever since then, the psalms have been sung and memorised by people in this country and all over the world, particularly in the monastic tradition, and they form an important part of the liturgy in many of the churches. And indeed the book of Psalms was the first part of the Bible to be available in English, long before a complete English Bible was authorised for public worship.
So on Tuesdays from 28 February to 20 March at St Mary’s, we will be finding out what psalms are, why they are important, how they came to be written and preserved, and how they have been used in different cultures and different centuries – including by us. And because psalms are poetry and have been set to music, we will be holding two concerts. On Saturday 3 March the choir of Somerville College will sing settings of psalms and other sacred music. On Friday 23 March, to finish the series, the choir of St Mary’s church will demonstrate ways of singing psalms from different musical traditions, and encourage us to join in singing some of the well-known hymns which are based on the psalms. We will probably find that we know the psalms better than we realise – but at the same time understand them less well than we knew!
Jenifer Wates, Society of Friends.
