Psalm Songs: Poetic Meditations on the Psalms

By Maury Miller

This book features a poem--a poetic meditation--on each of the Psalms. Many of the ideas of the Psalms, and words they are expressed in--are difficult for todays readers to relate to. Each of these meditations keeps the idea of the Psalm within contemporary words and ideas. These are valuable for daily meditations and are true to the biblical Psalms as they are written.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Aug 17, 2010
• ISBN: 9781449704728

Maury Miller

In his personal meditations on the Psalms, Maury Miller discovered that there was much that he really did not know about them. There was much in the wording of the Psalms that he was not sure he could relate to--enemies, kings, grieving. A 21st century look at them was needed--a look that kept the Psalmist's thoughts but framed in words that we could relate to from a current view. These poetic meditations keep the Psalmist's thoughts in mind but from contemporary meditations. Maury Miller has lived in the midwest--now in Terre Haute, Indiana--for most of his life. He has been a teacher and teacher educator all his adult life. He attends and is involved with a United Methodist church in Terre Haute. He is a father of two, and a grandfather of two. He teaches at a university--he has been a professor of teacher education, preparing special education teachers, for several years. His personal library is stocked with books of contemporary religious thought, and these have influenced the thoughts he has put into these poetic meditations.

Book preview

Psalm

             Songs

Poetic Meditations on the Psalms

Maury Miller

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Copyright © 2010 by Maury Miller

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-0404-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-0403-2 (dj)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-0472-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2010934059

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 8/3/2010

Contents

Psalm Songs

Psalm 1

Psalm 2

Psalm 3

Psalm 4

Psalm 5

Psalm 6

Psalm 7

Psalm 8

Psalm 9

Psalm 10

Psalm 11

Psalm 12

Psalm 13

Psalm 14

Psalm 15

Psalm 16

Psalm 17

Psalm 18

Psalm 19

Psalm 20

Psalm 21

Psalm 22

Psalm 23

Psalm 24

Psalm 25

Psalm 26

Psalm 27

Psalm 28

Psalm 29

Psalm 30

Psalm 31

Psalm 32

Psalm 33

Psalm 34

Psalm 35

Psalm 36

Palm 37

Psalm 38

Psalm 39

Psalm 40

Psalm 41

Psalm 42

Psalm 43

Psalm 44

Psalm 45

Psalm 46

Psalm 47

Psalm 48

Psalm 49

Psalm 50

Psalm 51

Psalm 52

Psalm 53

Psalm 54

Psalm 55

Psalm 56

Psalm 57

Psalm 58

Psalm 59

Psalm 60

Psalm 61

Psalm 62

Psalm 63

Psalm 64

Psalm 65

Psalm 66

Psalm 67

Psalm 68

Psalm 69

Psalm 70

Psalm 71

Psalm 72

Psalm 73

Psalm 74

Psalm 75

Psalm 76

Psalm 77

Psalm 78

Psalm 79

Psalm 80

Psalm 81

Psalm 82

Psalm 83

Psalm 84

Psalm 85

Psalm 86

Psalm 87

Psalm 88

Psalm 89

Psalm 90

Psalm 91

Psalm 92

Psalm 93

Psalm 94

Psalm 95

Psalm 96

Psalm 97

Psalm 98

Psalm 99

Psalm 100

Psalm 101

Psalm 102

Psalm 103

Psalm 104

Psalm 105

Psalm 106

Psalm 107

Psalm 108

Psalm 109

Psalm 110

Psalm 111

Psalm 112

Psalm 113

Psalm 114

Psalm 115

Psalm 116

Psalm 117

Psalm 118

Psalm 119

Psalm 120

Psalm 121

Psalm 122

Psalm 123

Psalm 124

Psalm 125

Psalm 126

Psalm 127

Psalm 128

Psalm 129

Psalm 130

Psalm 131

Psalm 132

Psalm 133

Psalm 134

Psalm 135

Psalm 136

Psalm 137

Psalm 138

Psalm 139

Psalm 140

Psalm 141

Psalm 142

Psalm 143

Psalm 144

Psalm 145

Psalm 146

Psalm 147

Psalm 148

Psalm 149

Psalm 150

Your Own Psalm Meditations

Psalm Songs

Reading each of the Psalms for my own daily meditations, made me aware of how unfamiliar I was with the book as a whole. I knew the most familiar passages—23, 100, 137—and I am sure I had read the others, or at least parts of the others. However, as I was reading them closely, many of them seemed strange to me. I was surprised by the number of Psalms that deal with suffering. At least 65 may be some form of lament. I was not sure I could relate to this theme in the same way the Psalmist did.

Further, many of the ideas simply seemed unconnected to my life. I do not relate to the term king in the same way the psalmists did, and I certainly do not have enemies in the same way. I determined to present poetic mediations on the Psalms in a more contemporary way. Several of the terms and ideas have been presented as 21st century thoughts. I have not retained the term king, though I have used Lord, even though we do not have a 21st century concept of that term equivalent to the Psalmist’s. Nevertheless, I have kept the term because I liked it, and I have no better substitute for that term.

Each of these poetic meditations begins with the first verse of the Psalm from the King James Version.1 Verse 1 from each Psalm succinctly expresses the theme of that Psalm. Minor wording changes have been made in some, primarily to avoid gender-specific pronouns, although the complete verse as printed in the King James Version follows the poetic meditation. The wording of these Psalms in the King James Version is well-remembered and well known by most readers, and some, such as Psalm 23, are already presented as some of the loveliest and most meaningful poetry. I began putting any different words to these with carefulness and apprehension—full of appreciation for what exists. My intent is not to change or paraphrase the Psalms as they exist. Instead, these are my thoughts and meditations on the Psalms.

I want to bring some new thoughts—bringing these ideas into the current mind and experience. Since we do not have a king, as the Psalmist thought of him, how can we bring this idea into our own mind frame? Since we do not have enemies, as the Psalmist viewed them, what will bring this concept into our own experience? I decided that the phrase we hear could be true—sometimes I am my own worst enemy. What, then, can I learn from the Psalm as I view enemy from this perspective? And I certainly did not intend to dwell in laments as the psalmists often did? My meditations are