Reflections on the Psalms...

If we have any taste for poetry we shall enjoy this feature of the Psalms.  Even those Christians who cannot enjoy it will respect it; for Our Lord, soaked in the poetic tradition of His country, delighted to use it.  "For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again" (Matthew 7, 2).  The second half of the verse makes no logical addition; it echoes, with variation, the first, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;  knock and it shall be opened unto you" (7, 7).  The advice is given in the first phrase, then twice  repeated with different images.  We may, if we like, see in this an exclusively practical and didactic purpose; by giving to truths which are infinitely worth remembering this rhythmic and incantatory expression, He made them almost impossible to forget.  I like to suspect more.  It seems to me appropriate, almost inevitable, that when that great Imagination with in the beginning, for Its own delight and for the delight of men and angels (and in their proper mode) of beasts, had invented and formed the whole world of Nature, submitted to express Itself in human speech, that speech should sometimes be poetry.  For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible. (CS Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms, p. 5)


I really, really, really like Lewis' book.  I am sipping it like a fine wine, so I cannot delve into the fullness of its greatness at large yet.  But I wanted to revel in this one little section.  Actually, that last sentence:  For poetry too is a little incarnation, giving body to what had been before invisible and inaudible.

When I read this, it suddenly struck me how some of the prayers of the Psalter are the embodiment of Romans 8: 26-27: In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Consider Psalm 43

Vindicate me, O God, and plead my case against an ungodly nation;
O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
For Thou art the God of my strength; why hast Thou rejected me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?

O send out Thy light and Thy truth, let them lead me;
Let them bring me to Thy holy hill
And to Thy dwelling places.
Then I will go to the altar of God,
To God my exceeding joy;
And upon the lyre I shall praise Thee, O God, my God.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?
And why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him,
The help of my countenance, and my God.

Why are you in despair, O my soul?  Certainly that is a cry from deep within.  I started to think about all the psalms of anger and doubt and despair and longing and that sentence leapt out at me, the Psalter shows the invisible and inaudible.  I have written before about how the Psalter shows us how well God knows us.  I hadn't thought about it, though, in those terms.  How the Psalter shows us the fullness of Romans 8 26-27.

It's funny.  I am so very terrified of my emotions.  And yet the Psalter shows me that God is not afraid of them.  He pours them out on the page and tells me it is okay to pray them.

Alas, I digressed.  The point is that I have enjoyed pondering even just this little bit of my birthday present.  I like the simplicity of Lewis' writing.  Simplicity and depth.  It pulls you in and causes you to think.  And I do not get to think much these days.

In the introduction, Lewis says that he is using the Coverdale translation.  I do not have that and immediately wanted to order a copy.  However, as I said, I put the brakes on buying birthday gifts.  Amazon conveniently has a copy for when I am ready.  I would much prefer hardback, but beggars can't be choosers.  

I'd like to point out one other segment of the introduction:

What must be said, however, is that the Psalms are poems, and poems are intended to be sung:  not doctrinal treaties, nor even sermons.  Those who talk of reading he Bible "as literature" sometimes mean, I think, reading it without attending to the main thing it is about; like reading Burke with no interest in politics, or reading the Aeneid with no interest in Rome.  That seems to me to be nonsense. But there is a saner sense in which the Bible, since it is after all literature, cannot properly be read except as literature; cannot properly be read except as literature; and the different parts of it as the different sorts of literature they are.  Most emphatically the Psalms must be read as poems; as lyrics, with all the licenses and all the formalities, the hyperboles, the emotional rather than logical connections, with are proper to lyric poetry.  They must be read as poem  if they are to be understood; no less than French must be read as French or English as English.  Otherwise we shall miss what is in them and think we see what is not. (pp. 2-3)

Good advice, I think.