Sunday, December 28, 2008

A Schedule for Reading Through the Psalter in One Month

Richard at תהלים (A blog dedicated to the Psalms) has offered a challenge to join him in reading through the Psalter. He has provided a link to the Psalter of the Book of Common Prayer which follows the following reading schedule:

Week 1: Days 1 through 7, Psalms 1 through 37.
Day 1

Morning Prayer: Pss 1-5
Evening Prayer: Pss 6-8

Day 2

Morning Prayer: Pss 9-11
Evening Prayer: Pss 12-14

Day 3

Morning Prayer: Pss 15-17
Evening Prayer: Ps 18

Day 4

Morning Prayer: Pss 19-21
Evening Prayer: Pss 22-23

Day 5

Morning Prayer: Pss 24-26
Evening Prayer: Pss 27-29

Day 6

Morning Prayer: Pss 30-31
Evening Prayer: Pss 32-34

Day 7

Morning Prayer: Pss 35-36
Evening Prayer: Ps 37

Week 2: Days 8 through 14, Psalms 38 through 74.
Day 8

Morning Prayer: Pss 38-40
Evening Prayer: Pss 41-43

Day 9

Morning Prayer: Pss 44-46
Evening Prayer: Pss 47-49

Day 10

Morning Prayer: Pss 50-52
Evening Prayer: Pss 53-55

Day 11

Morning Prayer: Pss 56-58
Evening Prayer: Pss 59-61

Day 12

Morning Prayer: Pss 62-64
Evening Prayer: Pss 65-67

Day 13

Morning Prayer: Ps 68
Evening Prayer: Pss 69-70

Day 14

Morning Prayer: Pss 71-72
Evening Prayer: Pss 73-74

Week 3: Days 15 through 21, Psalms 75 through 106.
Day 15

Morning Prayer: Pss 75-77
Evening Prayer: Ps 78

Day 16

Morning Prayer: Pss 79-81
Evening Prayer: Pss 82-85

Day 17

Morning Prayer: Pss 86-88
Evening Prayer: Ps 89

Day 18

Morning Prayer: Pss 90-92
Evening Prayer: Pss 93-94

Day 19

Morning Prayer: Pss 95-97
Evening Prayer: Pss 98-101

Day 20

Morning Prayer: Pss 102-103
Evening Prayer: Ps 104

Day 21

Morning Prayer: Ps 105
Evening Prayer: Ps 106

Week 4: Days 22 through 28, Psalms 107 through 138.
Day 22

Morning Prayer: Ps 107
Evening Prayer: Pss 108-109

Day 23

Morning Prayer: Pss 110-113
Evening Prayer: Pss 114-115

Day 24

Morning Prayer: Pss 116-118
Evening Prayer: Ps 119:1-32

Day 25

Morning Prayer: Ps 119:33-72
Evening Prayer: Ps 119:73-104

Day 26

Morning Prayer: Ps 119:105-144
Evening Prayer: Ps 119:145-176

Day 27

Morning Prayer: Pss 120-125
Evening Prayer: Pss 126-131

Day 28

Morning Prayer: Pss 132-135
Evening Prayer: Pss 136-138

Week 5: Days 29 through 31, Psalms 139 through 150.
Day 29

Morning Prayer: Pss 139-141
Evening Prayer: Pss 142-143

Day 30 (and 31)

Morning Prayer: Pss 144-146
Evening Prayer: Pss 147-150

This is a great plan!
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7 comments:

  1. I have found the practice of immense help, both in terms of my spiritual life but also in seeing the big picture within the canonical shape of the Psalter.

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  2. This is very true. I began this plan on Jan. 1 and have enjoyed tracing connections between the Psalms as I read. In the past I normally read each psalm as a separate poem mostly detached from its neighbors. Looking to discover how each psalm depends on others has been very illuminating.

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  3. When I started doing it in Sept 2008 I was struck by how dissimilar Books 1-3 of the Psalter are to Books 4 & 5. Whilst I don't agree with Wilson that Books 1-3 are an early Psalter to which Books 4 & 5 were added (why would it have neded on the dispair of Ps. 89?) I can certainly see where he was coming from.

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  4. I've noticed the differences between 1-3 and 4&5. However, I understand what you're saying about 89. That's a good observation. I wonder if the note of despair had to do with the exile. I haven't figured out the dating, yet.

    You got me looking back through my notes and I see that I've made a couple of errors that need to be fixed. I had also forgotten about the "Elohist Psalter" including 42-83. I need to figure this out again.

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  5. Okay, I don't have Wilson's Editing of the Hebrew Psalter, but I do have his commentary packed in a box (while we look for a new home). In the meantime I browsed through Grogan's new commentary on the Psalms and found these notes pertaining to your observation:

    "Wilson regards book 4 as the Psalter's theological center, focusing on the divine King, not the human one, an emphasis that continues into book 5, where the main psalm of a human king (110) is clearly, Wilson says, not about a Davidic king at all, but somebody somewhat like the priest-kings of the Hasmonean/Maccabean line. ... Here then is the message of the final redactor to the readers discouraged by the demise of the Davidic dynasty: 'Focus on Yahweh, your Sovereign God, rather than on the human monarchy.'" (Psalms, 22-23)

    Then he notes:

    "The division between books 1-3 and books 4-5 comes out clearly when one compares Psalm 89 and 90. Psalm 89 first of all emphatically affirms the Davidic covenant, but concludes with a most poignant passage bemoaning its apparent demise. How significant then is the placing of 90 after this! It is Mosaic, as if to say, 'God's purpose is far older than the Davidic covenant'; it reminds the reader of Yahweh's eternity and his close relationship with his people...and it encourages prayer for a revelation of God's unfailing love to his people. What a marvelous means of grace!" (23-24)

    He goes on, but this seems clear to me.

    His concluding comment on Ps. 89 is with reference to the doxology. He writes, "Knut Heim has argued that the editors of the Psalter would have felt this quite incongruous at this point unless they believed that the prayers that preceded it would be answered" (p. 157).

    What do you think?

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  6. I have enjoyed reading Grogan's book and I think he raises some valid points. I do think that the 'centre' of the Psalter is Book V, with Pss. 110, 118, and 132 bringing to mind the Davidic covenant. Have you read Mitchell's The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms?

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  7. No, I wasn't aware of this book, but a quick Google search shows that it is cited often. I also read a brief passage in Grogan's commentary where he interacts with Mitchell approvingly. I'll have to put this book on my shopping list. Thanks.

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