Psalms for Praying

by Nan C. Merrill

Book Overview

Every commentary on the Book of Psalms has had to face the issue that many of these prayers commemorate and celebrate wrath and vengeance. What is needed is not ingenious exegetical rationalization of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0826410456
• ISBN13: 9780826410450
• Release Date: January 2001
• Publisher: Continuum
• Length: 322 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.5" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

One of my most used devotional books

Some people are uncomfortable or annoyed with using modern language in traditional scripture. For me, re-imaging gives not only a sense of presence but of perspective. Nan Merrill is a master of providing the essence of the language used originally, or perhaps used more traditionally would be correct, as she maintains a cadence and emotion of the psalms. This is a book I use over and over in my personal spiritual practices. I highly recommend it, as well as the author.

Psalms for Praying by Nan C Merrill

This book is captivating. Since buying Psalms for Praying in 2002 I have hardly let a day go by without reading it. I have read exerpts to others and this has enabled healing and change to come. The names for God are very enticing and the subtitle "An Invitation to Wholeness" is very apt.

This book got me through a terrible time

About two years ago I got the shock of my life when what I thought was appendicitis turned out to be cancer. As soon as I woke up from the anesthesia and learned the truth I knew I needed to reconnect with God at a level I never had before. I have always loved the Psalms but they seemed a little too far from my experience in my situation. Then I found this book. It is a wonderful recasting of the Psalms in a way that opened my heart and my soul to the love of God in exactly the way I needed. When you are going through cancer treatment, one of the hardest things to deal with is fear. It can easily take over your spirit. This book recognizes that fear is a bigger enemy to most modern people than invading Philistines are. It also makes the reader think about God in a new way by avoiding a lot of the titles for God that we all have heard so many times they have become meaningless, and recognizing that God's very nature is love. If you are suffering through a difficult time, or know someone who is, this book is a valuable help. I have found such comfort in it in some of the scariest times of my life. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Merrill's psalms serve as a healing, peaceful, restful balm

I have been a fan of Nan Merrill's book, Psalms for Praying, since it first came out in hardcover edition. I recommend it in the list of suggested reading in the back of my book, The Pocket Guide to Prayer. I also highly recommend it at the various prayer workshops I faciliate. As I have spent time with her rendition of the psalms, I have repeatedly discovered a timely phrase to help me prayerfully rest in God's abiding peace and experience God's love more fully. Just today, in fact, the phrase from Psalm 38, "Be my strength and uphold me," is one that has provided a resting place for my troubled spirit and served as a healing balm. I am grateful to Nan for interpreting the psalms in such a way that I, and I suspect many others as well, are able to re-connect with the One who desires that we come away for a while and rest peacefully in God's tender embrace.