Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible

by Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Book Overview

Dietrich Bonheffer gives one of his secrets behind the powerful witness of his own life. He had learned to pray the Psalms and from them drew on the power of God in his years of imprisonment. In a brief biographical sketch, Eberhard Bethge, friend and biographer of the author, helps us understand the man who used the Psalms as his prayer book.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0806614390
• ISBN13: 9780806614397
• Release Date: January 1974
• Publisher: Fortress Press
• Length: 88 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 4.2" x 5.9"

Customer Reviews

A joy!

A must read for a true understanding of the Psalms. Have your Bible handy while you work through this little book.

Bonhoeffer, again, at his best!

Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible Though a small book in size, a powerful presentation of prayer in various settings. Additionally, for those who perhaps stumble around about prayer, Bonhoeffer blesses such that the relationship with God is personal and precious. The power of Bonhoeffer's witness reminds one that we live a privileged life. Christians ought to have this in their library for rereading and rereading.

Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible

An amazing way to read and understant the Psalms.

Praying with Christ

In this beautiful little book, Bonhoeffer guides the Christian to the Scriptures for lessons in how to pray. He affirms that the Lord's Prayer is the primary prayer of the Christian, which he asserts contains every prayer that a Christian ought to pray. Bonhoeffer also makes a startling but wise claim that jolts us out of the narrowness of our focus in prayer: "The richness of the Word of God ought to determine our prayer, not the poverty of our heart." Thus we find the book of Psalms to be a rich treasury of prayers that are part of God's inspired word, and therefore a true place to learn how God would have us pray. The book proceeds to give some general background on the history and use of the Psalms as the prayer book of the Bible. In the main part of the book he presents one possible system of categorizing the Psalms according to their petitions, and also points out that they can be organized according to the petitions of the Lord's Prayer. But the most valuable part of the book, in my opinion, is how he shows us how the Psalms are to be prayed in Christ, of whom the Psalms also testify (Luke 24:44). As Bonhoeffer says, "It is the incarnate Son of God, who has borne every human weakness in his own flesh, who here pours out the heart of all humanity before God, and who stands in our place and prays for us."This is a fine book for the devotional/prayer life of the Christian.

How to pray the psalms with confidence and love

Dietrich Bonhoeffer, hung by the Nazis for his principled resistance to perversion of Christian life, leads us through the themes and value of psalms. These song-prayers, brought forth from thousands of years of human longing for connection with God, are just as powerful in their meaning of human life, today. Use this tiny volume as a study guide to psalm themes for better prayer life.