The Psalter

I have rediscovered the Psalms.

It's not as if they were lost - they have been that huge book in the middle of my Bible for a while - but they had been lost on me.

The reason is because if you are at all like me than the Psalms have sort of been relegated to "the book you read when you only have 5 minutes to spare for devotions or aren't really in the mood."
Maybe you've done the classic "open the Bible at random and see where it lands" devotional time - if so, you had a good chance of landing on a Psalm.

Now I think the largest book in the Scriptures being relegated to such a role in many of our lives is a direct betrayal of our society's mindset. We herald "facts" or pragmatic rational knowledge as the end all, be all.
All too often I carry the same approach to my Bible - I want to read a book where afterwards I possess "knowledge," some historical or theological "fact" that I can recite back to someone.

Give me the book of Romans or a Gospel.

Psalms?

It's like reading a Chris Tomlin lyric booklet from thousands of years ago.

You see the Psalms don't systematically teach about given topics, rather they are honest, raw, poignant, sometimes offensive hymns, journal entries and prayers.

But they are beautiful.
And they are inspired.
And they constitute more space in our Bible than any other book.
And Jesus often quoted from them.

And I have discovered them anew.