The Psalms can serve as a treasure trove of single verse or single-phrase jewels. For example, ‘The Lord is my shepherd’ (Ps 23:1) or ‘Dominus illuminatio mea’ (Psalm 27:1: ‘The Lord is my light’—the motto of Oxford University). That said, most Psalms are read all the way through (except for longer Psalms such as 119), and each Psalm is usually considered as a unit. Recent scholarship has tried to make more of how the Psalms make up one of the five ‘books' of the Psalms and ultimately the whole Psalter. In both the Jewish and the Christian tradition, the Psalms have been set to be read, performed, and received as inspiration. The Psalms naturally supply powerful words for meditation, maybe even for reorientation, and music and art can supplement this effect. But perhaps the Psalms exist also for explanation if we take a biblical-theological approach by looking to see how certain themes are articulated across the Psalter. The wider challenge of how to preach and write commentary as well as how to make Psalms digestible by modern worshippers will provide the heart of our talks and discussion.
