John Goldingay on the Psalms as Full of Theology and Straight Talking

Nancy L. deClaissé-Walford on the Shape and Shaping of the Psalter

Old Testament scholar Nancy deClaissé-Walford has spent her career studying the ordering of the Psalter. Most of the psalms, she says, are not tied to a particular situation, allowing us to sing and pray them honestly in our own contexts. CONTACT US [https://worship.calvin.edu/about/contact.html] | WORSHIP.CALVIN.EDU [https://worship.calvin.edu/]

Andrew Wilkes on Doing the Work of Liberation and Justice with the Psalms as Our Guide

Pastor-scholar Andrew Wilkes shares how his worshiping community, Double Love Experience Church, prayed and sang the psalms during the troubling times of 2020. The psalms gave them language and support for praise and lament, and Wilkes asserts that lament is the evidence of faith because we are bringing our troubles to God. CONTACT US [https://worship.calvin.edu/about/contact.html] | WORSHIP.CALVIN.EDU [https://worship.calvin.edu/]

W. David O. Taylor on the Psalms and Praying the Unedited Life

Author and pastor-scholar David Taylor shares how he came to appreciate the psalms and how he encourages people to bring their full, unedited selves to God in prayer and experience a richer and more honest life of faith.  CONTACT US [https://worship.calvin.edu/about/contact.html] | WORSHIP.CALVIN.EDU [https://worship.calvin.edu/]

John Goldingay on the Psalms as Full of Theology and Straight Talking

JOHN GOLDINGAY, AN ANGLICAN PRIEST AND THE SENIOR PROFESSOR OF OLD TESTAMENT AT FULLER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, POSITS THE PSALMS ARE THE DENSEST MATERIAL IN THE ENTIRE OLD TESTAMENT. THEY EXPOUND THE NATURE OF GOD AS THE COMPASSIONATE, FAITHFUL, AND COMMITTED ONE, BUT ALSO AS THE ONE WHO MAKES DEMANDS UPON US. THE PSALMS HELP US TALK TO GOD, EVEN ABOUT DIFFICULT THINGS—AND WHEN WE DO, WE ARE TALKING TO SOMEONE WHO IS IN A POSITION TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. CONTACT US [https://worship.calvin.edu/about/contact.html] | WORSHIP.CALVIN.EDU [https://worship.calvin.edu/]

Vinroy D. Brown Jr. on Black Psalmody is for Everyone

Vinroy D. Brown Jr.—conductor, musicologist, educator, and minister of creative worship and music at the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City—explores the vibrant intersection of Black sacred music and the psalms. He talks about Black composers and how they have reimagined the psalms through choral music, spirituals, and the gospel tradition for the benefit of everyone. CONTACT US [https://worship.calvin.edu/about/contact.html] | WORSHIP.CALVIN.EDU [https://worship.calvin.edu/]