Penitential Psalms
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‘The Penitential Psalms’: A Content’s Page
A number of people have asked me about the structure of The Penitential Psalms: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Seven Psalms. Others have asked about the contributors. In answer to these questions the contents of the book are laid out below. Clicking on the named individuals will provide a link to their biography Continue reading
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Stephen I. Wright Preaches Psalm 32
The Penitential Psalms: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Seven Psalms has just been published. It is available directly from the publisher, Wipf and Stock, and is a project in which eleven authors contributed chapters—producing a book aimed at reigniting interest in Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143. The final four Continue reading
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Cover Reveal for ‘The Penitential Psalms’
Publication of The Penitential Psalms: The Rise, Fall, and Future of the Seven Psalms is imminent. So now seems like a good time to reveal its cover. The cover was designed by Savanah N. Landerholm of Wipf & Stock. The cover photograph is of Roger Wagner’s The Flowering Tree, a stained-glass window installed in St. Continue reading
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The Origin Story of the Penitential Psalms: The Seven Assemble
This post is as much a call for comment and expert feedback as it is informative. It explores the question of when was it that the Seven Psalms – Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143 – were fixed as a group and designated the Penitential Psalms. It might sound like an odd Continue reading
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Psalm 51: Psalm of Psalms
Readers of the Psalms have their favourites. There are, however, a small number of psalms that have had much greater popularity and significance over the centuries. Today, Psalm 23 is arguably the Psalm of Psalms, at least in Western Christianity. This has not always been the case. For much of Church history it was eclipsed Continue reading
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My Booklet on the Penitential Psalms
I am pleased to say that my Grove Book on the penitential psalms was published this week. It’s titled The Penitential Psalms Today: A Journey with Psalms 6, 32, 38, 51, 102, 130 and 143 and is available from Grove by clicking on this title. The booklet was written for the simple reason that after Continue reading
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Psalm 102: Bird on a Wire
This is the third of a series of occasional posts on the penitential psalms. Here we will focus on a single aspect of Psalm 102: its use of ornithological imagery. Pictorial language is not only central to the very nature of the psalms, but it is also key to understanding them. Focusing on the threefold Continue reading
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Psalm 6: The First Penitential Psalm Today
This post will provide some examples of penitential commentary on Psalm 6 from the likes of Augustine, Cassiodorus, Denis the Carthusian, Luther and Calvin. In this way it introduces the reader to ancient readings and a facet of psalm interpretation which is unpopular today but was once immensely generative in doctrine, personal piety, Lenten practice, Continue reading
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Y is for Yerushalayim
Despite Psalm 51’s focus on personal repentance, the city of peace, Yerushalayim features towards the psalm’s conclusion: Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, then you will delight in right sacrifices, in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings; then bulls will be offered on your altar. Psalm 51:18–19, NRSV Continue reading
About Me
This blog’s central aim is to explore all aspects of how the Psalter (the biblical psalms) functions as Scripture today.
To this end it will also include book reviews on the Book of Psalms and related topics.
Some posts will reflect more broadly on biblical interpretation or hermeneutics.
If you like what you see here and want to arrange for me to give a lecture, run a teaching event or a short retreat based around The Psalms then contact me so we can discuss how this might work.
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