Praying the Psalms: Engaging Scripture and the Life of the Spirit

by Walter Brueggemann

In this thoroughly revised edition of a classic in spirituality, Walter Brueggemann guides the reader into a thoughtful and moving encounter with the Psalms. This new edition includes a revised text, new notes, and new bibliography. "The movement and meeting of God with us is indeed a speech-event in which new humanness is evoked among us. Being attentive to language means cultivating the candid imagination to bring our own experience to the Psalms and permitting it to be disciplined by the speech of the Psalms. And, conversely, it means letting the Psalms address us and having that language reshape our sensitivities and fill our minds with new pictures and images that may redirect our lives" -from Chapter 3

Genres: Theology, Prayer, Spirituality, Religion, Christian, Faith, Old Testament

116 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Walter Brueggemann was an American Christian scholar and theologian who is widely considered an influential Old Testament scholar. His work often focused on the Hebrew prophetic tradition and the sociopolitical imagination of the Church. He argued that the Church must provide a counter-narrative to the dominant forces of consumerism, militarism, and nationalism.

Reviews

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A somewhat coherent collection of essays by Brueggemann on the Psalms and particularly how they can be used as prayers in a Christian context.

The five chapters of the book set forth the general theme: the Psalter and experience (both in coming to the Psalter and allowing the Psalter's experience be a guide), the nature of the language of the Psalms, the language as used in its place and time, the Psalms as Jewish, and a discussion of the nature of vengeance as expressed in some Psalms.

There's much to appreciate and as much to doubt and question in this work. Brueggemann appreciates the Psalms for what they are and as they are and thus has an important exhortation to Christians to make sure they understand the Psalms both in their context and in their rawness. Christians must first grapple with a more concrete understanding of the Psalms before freely spiritualizing them. He accurately contrasts the modern use of language in its rather sterile, just-the-facts-ma'am way of approaching speech with the more evocative and hyperbolic expression of the Psalms, and does well in illustrating how we would do well to broaden our horizons and allow the Psalms to speak through us and in us unto hope. He rebukes any movement to "domesticate" the Psalms, to accept only what is consistent with "bourgeoisie" equilibrium and otherwise leave out the moments of lament and all that is raw, visceral, and uncomfortable in the Psalms. Our faith should be challenged by the Psalms to be more robust, true to life as lived in this reality, and raw, as opposed to attempting to force the Psalms to fit our often nice, neat, domesticated faith. His discussion of vengeance in the Psalms is compelling; he is probably right that the only way forward with the appeals for vengeance, etc., is through them, not around them, so that we can work through those impulses for vengeance that we all have to get to where we should be in giving it over to God and to get to the point where we can seek their good and not their harm.

Yet there remains much that is questionable. While it is wise to understand the Psalms in their original Israelite/Jewish context(s), we cannot become Jews nor as Jews nor would it be wise to do so. He thinks it unwise to have a robust Christological emphasis in the Psalms as well as to proselytize among the Israelites, two premises quite impossible to reconcile with the theology of the New Testament.

Much of what Brueggemann has to say has value, but it would not be wise to read him uncritically. Nevertheless it is good to consider what he has to say about Psalms if one is engaged in any study of Psalms in any decent depth.

[Scott Meadows · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of essays that assist in building a hermeneutic for the Psalms that speaks of deep human emotion, honesty with ourselves and to God, and how to meditate upon the historical-cultural context.

The first essay alone is worth the read as Brueggeman speaks of the: equilibrium, disorientation, and re-orientation cycle of the Christian life and the way that the Psalms fit into these categories.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the world needs more tension.

Look, Brueggeman is brilliant. I've seen him speak. I've gotten to talk to him. I've been amazed at his insight his shrewdness and his ability to say things that are flat inflammatory with a smile and a nod and really push an audience past there need to argue with him and just to think about what he said and what they believe.

So when I encountered that in "Praying the Psalms" I wasn't surprised. It's why I went to him for my study of the Psalms. But the thing that stands out to me about this work is just how comfortable Brueggeman is in leaving his audience - and I assume he himself doing the same - in tension that exists within the Biblical text that simply cannot be explained away. And I love it that he explicitly says not to explain it away.

The entire book is brilliant. I just finished Wright's "A Case for the Psalms" and this book was entirely different - it's upper level framework stuff, things to build into your brain so that when you go to read the Psalms little nuggets can pop up when you read them and think, "oh yeah, that!" Brueggeman's best work in this book is the last two chapters where he deals squarely with ideas of vengeance and God and our sanitized religion and how non-Jewish so much Christian reading of the psalms is. I'll go read that chapter 3 more times this week and let it just sink in and begin to inform my thinking in a ton of areas.

Buy this book. It's brilliant. Own it and underline it and copy it and then do that every year.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class, but I enjoyed it so much it wasn't a chore for me, so I've counted it toward the 1000 books I would like to read before I die.

Not everything made sense to me. I was particularly confused in the sections about praying for, with, and as Jews. I did appreciate the fact that the author kept reminding the reader that God is the same throughout time.

I remember crying during the section entitled "Poetry Requiring Work." The author explains that metaphors are not limited to the experience of one person, but require all subsequent readers to incorporate their own experiences to give meaning to the words. Metaphors allow humans to take liberties in our relations with God.

I was also very thankful of the clarification that our experience does not allow us to be in equilibrium all the time, but that our passions are a part of being human. The strength we receive from the scripture allows us to give over our feelings and desires to God and let him take care of things we have no right or power to handle.

All in all, this was a thought-provoking book, and it has indeed inspired in me a desire to become closer to God through scripture. Whether or not I will follow up on this remains to be seen. :/

[Daniel Seifert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Psalms is filled with images and a diverse hard to understand psychological episodes. Praying the Psalms is a primer of sorts that gives a brief yet profound guide to the function of language and the Jewish character in Psalms. Brueggemann identifies a guiding motif of place and corresponding movement which is voiced liturgically by Israel's communication or "world of speech with the holy one." He persuasively charts the Psalms via a pattern of movement (a motif) from orientation to disorientation to re-orientation as a way to view life in the Psalms. In response, the final two chapters deal with the Christian response to the Psalms. Here one is offered some helpful understanding to begin to work through "modes of avoidance" and the harsh experiences of "vengeance: human and divine". In the end, the Christian (in post-Christian America) is better equipped to live like the lively Jew in exile--an accurate description of living in the Kingdom of God.

[Alan Beam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was really interesting at first, and had some solid nuggets throughout. But overall I was disappointed. My main hangup with it is that it didn't make me want to pray the psalms, or help me to pray the psalms.

Also I didn't really understand the bit about praying "as Jews", but I was starting to check out by that point so I may have missed something.

[Grant Klinefelter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and good read. I appreciated Brueggemann’s breakdown of the believer’s life (seen through the Psalms) as stages of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation. Recognizing the stage we are in and discovering psalms that relate to us. As Calvin says, the psalms are for the whole of the human experience.

His final chapter on the imprecatory psalms is phenomenal.

[Bethan Edge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful notes on how we can engage with the language of the Psalms. At times quite theologically heavy and academic for me but the summary paragraphs helped bring it all together.

[Jerry Hillyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant!

[Michelle Raybourn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent this one from Porter’s Gate to read before a conference.

It was helpful in thinking about honoring the Jewish roots of the Psalms and thinking about the concepts of grief and vengeance.

[Laure Hittle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our pastor is currently preaching a series on the Psalms which incorporates Brueggemann’s order-disorder-reorder schema. This concept is present in more than one of his books, i gather, but i’ve started with this very helpful and characteristic little chapbook.

i appreciate Brueggemann’s consistent refusal to flatten and prettify complex and challenging matters. This approach is necessary in a complex and emotionally authentic book like Psalms. The first three chapters are a solid introduction and cover the sorts of reading techniques found in many books on the Psalms, with of course the order-disorder-reorder schema taking a controlling place. The last two chapters are where things get interesting.

i appreciate Brueggemann’s attempt to speak to the dangers of appropriation in his chapter “Christians in ‘Jewish Territory.’” i hope it’s a helpful chapter but feel myself very inadequate to judge whether he’s answered this concern well. i think actual Jewish readers would have to make that determination. (The section on praying “as Jews” especially gives me pause.)

The last chapter, on vengeance, is extremely pertinent. i have to wonder whether he’d change anything in his approach if he was writing this after 2015 (the book was published in 1980 and 2007), as his thesis is that violent words have no actual power and thus it is safe as well as necessary to give vent to feelings of vengeance. (In a liberation context, i agree, but it is nearly inevitable that those not marginalized will appropriate the concept.) He follows this immediately with the need to surrender vengeance to G-d, and with G-d’s own taking of vengeance into Himself (in the flood, for example, and in the crucifixion), but more recently i see enough of words creating space for emboldened violence to be fully comfortable with the statement that words of violence are safe to express.

More thoughts are needed but i don’t have the time now to work them out. At any rate, this is a helpful book and a largely accessible one, as is typical for Brueggemann.

[Ben Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brueggemann helped me to read the psalms on their own terms and, while respecting their integrity as Hebrew literature, read them in a Christian way. A quick and edifying read.

[Anna Norvele · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great analyses on psalms, their place in Christian tradition and Christianity's relationship with Judaism, as well as possibility for different kind Christian spirituality. But I enjoyed the last part the most- it was troubling yet somehow very hopeful reflection on God's vengeance and violence in Bible.

[Damien Rappuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great study of the Psalms and the common issues Christians would have praying them. It's brief and makes for great introductory material for any Christian to take on the Psalms as Christian (and, honestly, as Jewish) spiritual literature. A must-read.

[David Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the best primer on the psalter and personal prayer. Very helpful and very good. I give 4 stars because of some either incorrect or at least unclear statements about seeing Jesus in the Psalms in ch. 4 and about God's changing heart in ch. 5.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Psalms have always touched me deeply. I’ve had to ignore some of them because the desire for vengeance, a characteristic I considered ungodly, is expressed so powerfully. Brueggemann’s Praying the Psalms enables me to embrace the all the psalms. I highly recommend this fine book.

[Dave Pettengill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book on understanding the Psalms! Many great connections on how they help us understand our lives and God in a deeper way.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating engagement with the psalms by a man known for his fascinating engagements with scriptural material (especially Old Testament). Lots of insights and a few awkward moments.

I enjoyed his explorations of how the expressions of the psalms might be psychologically healthy, and his investigations into the functioning of metaphor.

Implicit in the material is the leitmotif found in much of his work of truth-telling, grief and hope through the use of the poetic / prophetic imagination... a recurring theme of his that I love and always end up feeling personally invested in at multiple levels.

He works hard to make sense of the vengeance aspects of the psalms and bring a positive slant to these - and I found there to be some compelling ideas in there. But he tends to leave the vitriolic material in the realms of personal self-expression and hyperbole - leave it in the realms of abstraction, without acknowledging that fundamentalisms and the powers that have had their cultural and/or theological imaginations shaped by this material might support and/or carry it out in real world situations, actualise it as literal, very concrete, non-metaphorical actions and events of real and devastating violence.

All up an enjoyable read with the right mixture of smarts and accessibility, scholarship and personal, psychological, spiritual application.

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Brueggemann's little book on the Psalms somewhat helpful. My only complaint is that the first 3 chapters are advocating a conventional hermeneutic (what may be called the "hermeneutic of a contemporary analogy") with poetic flourish. In essence, B shows that the Psalms' language, though ancient, has some analogy with our present situation. This is fine so far as it goes, but did it need to be stated? This seems to be the starting point for evangelical reading, anyway.

Where B earns his stature is in the final 2 essays: the penultimate, a discussion of the awkwardness of Christian usage of Jewish prayers and songs; the final a reflection on the modern discomfort with the Psalter's comfort with vengeance. I think B does well to bring up the Christian understanding that their heritage derives from Jewish expectations of the eventual universal loyalty to Yahweh (as seen throughout the OT), without permitting supersession as a viable answer to the difficulty. Further, B's argument regarding vengeance is given helpful examples, showing clearly that vengeance, though a human desire, belongs ultimately to God, and it is taken on in his mercy.

[Ben Vore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brueggemann roots his exploration of the Psalms by first noting they are prayers and songs about “experiences of dislocation and relocation.” As such, people striving for lives of equilibrium (his term, and a term he suggests applies to “much of the middle-class Church”) may not identify with or appreciate the raw, liberating language of the Psalms. “This means,” Brueggemann states, “that the agenda and intention of the Psalms is considerably at odds with the normal speech of most people, the normal speech of a stable, functioning, self-deceptive culture in which everything must be kept running young and smooth.” He also explores the “Jewishness” of the Psalms and puts that in context for a primarily Christian audience, ending the book with an exploration of the Psalms’ unabashed desire for vengeance. As with all Brueggemann, this book is lucid and insightful though better approached as a complementary (rather than definitive) text on the Psalms.

[CJ Parmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I do not agree with everything this book says. I take issue especially with parts of chapter four. And yet it was so poignantly refreshing. It issues the reader the discomforting challenge to take the psalms with full seriousness—something we so seldom do. The psalms are not “pious” or “proper” in so much of what they say. We go wrong mainly when we try to soft or even ignore the abrasive language that the Psalms so often employ towards God no less than “enemies.” Brueggeman does an excellent job showing how the Psalms help us the voice the abrasive language within our own souls in a way that enables us to heal, to know and commune with God, and to forgive and love those we hate. Also, the book is chock full of horrifically quotable lines. You might have an easier time highlighting what doesn’t stand out to you. Brueggeman is almost as stirring, poetic, and irreducible as the psalms about which he writes. Highly recommended.

[JennanneJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought I was just getting into this book when it was over! It includes the full text of the Psalms, so the end of the book surprised me. Not too long.

Ps 71:5,15 “Notice the hope is rooted in God, not in the situation.“

“...even the lament Psalms are acts of hope. They articulate the deepest hurt, anger, and rage of Israel. But they are not statements of resignation which accept a bad situation. Rather, they are insistences upon and expectations from God, who can and will, May and must, keep promises.“

“These events we may not notice unless we practice the language of praise and thanks.“

“Thus I suggest that most of the Psalms can only be appropriately prayed by people who are living at the edge of their lives, sensitive to the raw hurts, the primitive passions, and the naïve elations that are at the bottom of our life.“

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

This a collection of five essays on the Psalms by Walter Brueggemann: “Letting Experience Touch the Psalter,” “The Liberation of Language,” “Language Appropriate to a Place,” “Christians in ‘Jewish Territory,’” and “Vengeance—Human and Divine.”

There are some good thoughts here. Brueggemann pushes back against an evangelical, “bourgeoise,” selective reading of the Psalms and advocates for the “Jewishness” and “earthy” nature of the Psalms.

There are moments, however, there are problematic. Brueggemann advocates for a treatment of the Psalter that is contrary to the New Testament. While the NT sees Christ in the Psalms (particularly Ps 2, 110), Brueggemann says modern Christians should not. In this he essay on praying the psalms, he argues for three modes of praying the psalms: praying for Jews, praying with Jews, and praying as Jews. This last point was downright cringey.

[Clancy Cramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prayer can be rewarding as well as dry and boring. People don't pray because of a lack of expectation or resignation that they can't handle putting up another false face of optimism.

The psalms offer a place for your experience, what's in the newspaper, and the prayers of generations previously who've gone through much more.
This book encourages me to dig in and expect more from scripture through prayer.

Two main revelations for myself:
If
"That which has been is what will be,
That which is done is what will be done,
and there is nothing new under the sun." Ecclesiastes 1:9
then what I'm trying to avoid in heartache, expectations, and excitement can be engaged in the Psalms.
It's like a social media of depth, counseling, and hope for my soul.

Cry, yell, dance, and be thankful.

[Monte Hickingbottom · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brueggemann opens with an interesting phrase: "The Psalms, with a few exceptions, are not the voice of God addressing us. They are rather the voice of our own common humanity..." I'm not sure how I feel about that statement. This work had some hidden gems, but there was a point when I wasn't sure that the meat was worth the hassle of the bones. Brueggemann's liberal theology leaks all over the pages of his book, leaving readers to question if the Bible is indeed the Word of God or just literature. His idea of praying the Psalms focuses more on identifying with the psalter than communicating with God. I would not recommend this work to those not grounded in their faith.

[Evan Hoekzema · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I’d say this book has one major goal: to recapture the intensity of the psalms and to push against a strong desire to desensitize them, water them down, or over spiritualize them. Their inherently “Jewish” language reveals something true in all of us. And it speaks of God unapologetically in a way we could learn to be more challenged by. I was thankful for Brueggeman’s insights into the nature of language and how our deepest emotions need to be expressed without restraint (though not acted upon). Overall a good read!

[Whitney Dziurawiec · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. It's difficult to rate this. 4 of the 5 chapters were really great. Meaningful, thoughtful, and helpful ways to understand and pray the Psalms. I underlined and resonated with a lot. But chapter 3 was bizarre. I guess I may have misunderstood it but I don't really want to go back and reread it to check because if its first impression holds, I cannot put myself through that chapter a second time. But the other four chapters were so good that I might still recommend it??

[Ely Martinez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely enlightening read describing how the Psalter enriches our understanding of how humanity relates with God. By reminding the Christian household of its roots in Judaism, Bruegemann encourages his readers to rediscover a truly “human” and faithful way of prayer. My favorite chapter has to be be his bit of discussing vengeance and how God ultimately acts upon it through the cross. Truly a remarkable read that I will return to.

[Jesse Thorson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved Brueggemann's overall approach to letting the reader locate themselves in the Psalms... really helpful. I thought his commentary on the vengeance themes and the continuity between the 2 testaments were a bit less nuanced than I would have hoped.

[Nicholas Varady-szabo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was better than I expected. It is a short exploration of the attitudes the psalmists have towards God, and an encouragement to come to God with that same attitude. I found it surprisingly insightful, challenging and encouraging.