Wisdom from the Psalms

by Peter Kreeft

Overview

The Psalms make up the most popular, most universally loved and used book in the Bible, which is the most widely read book in the world.  They are hymns, songs, poems, and prayers—at once formal and informal, liturgical and spontaneous, communal and individual. As a result, they have many layers of meaning.

In this work, Peter Kreeft focuses on a dozen of the best-known psalms, including Psalms 23 and 51. He leads the reader through his personal explorations of this deep ocean of divinely inspired spiritual water, pulling up treasures for the soul along the way.

"What prayers did Jesus and his disciples pray? The Psalms! As all Jews have always done ever since they had them. The Psalms are God's answer to our plea, 'Teach us to pray.' Christ prayed them not only in the synagogue but throughout His life, and at his death."

— Peter Kreeft, from the Introduction

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781642291216
Publisher:	Ignatius Press
Publication date:	08/25/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	243
File size:	331 KB

About the Author

Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Boston College, is one of the most respected and prolific Christian authors of our time. His many bestselling books cover a vast array of topics in spirituality, theology, and philosophy. They include Wisdom from the Psalms, Practical Theology, Doors in the Walls of the World, How to Be Holy, Because God Is Real, You Can Understand the Bible, Angels and Demons, Heaven: The Heart's Deepest Longing, and Summa of the Summa.

Table of Contents

Foreword Scott Harm 7

Introduction 11

Psalm 1: "Blessed is the man" 21

The Twenty-Third Psalm: "The LORD is my shepherd" 54

Psalm 51: "Have mercy upon me" 71

Psalm 139: "O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me" 99

Psalm 103: "Bless the LORD, O my soul" 129

Psalm 19: "The heavens declare the glory of God" 156

Psalm 27: "The LORD is my light and my salvation" 175

Psalm 42: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks" 196

Psalm 24: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates" 214

Psalm 137: "By the rivers of Babylon" 220

Psalm 96: "O sing unto the LORD a new song" 228

Psalm 150: "Praise ye the LORD" 239

Editorial Reviews

"Peter Kreeft is the foremost living apologist for God's existence, and his work in this area has earned him a place with Newman and Pascal. He has been around a long time and yet can still write books that exude a young man's vigor and joy. Not only that, he can still ride a surfboard better than most of us could in our teens. But I have come to herald him, not to praise him or bury him. So I urge you to move now from promise to fulfillment, and admire the perennially youthful and always fresh craft of Kreeft."
— Scott Hahn, from the Foreword

"Peter Kreeft is our generation's C.S. Lewis, as he has demonstrated yet again with Wisdom from the Psalms. These wise, winsome, and lyrical commentaries will enthrall Christian students of Scripture—Catholic, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox alike—with their rich insights and luminous lessons."
— Patrick Madrid, Host, The Patrick Madrid Show on Relevant Radio

"What an inexpressible joy not only to  read but also to experience (and be charitably chastised by) this wise Midrash from one of the greatest of today's Christian writers. This fine reflection on the Psalms is indeed an outpouring from the reservoir of Kreeft's lifelong walk with Christ."
— Marcus Grodi, EWTN Host, The Journey Home;  Author, Life from Our Land

"At the turn of the millennium I read a book by Peter Kreeft called Prayer for Beginners, and it was exactly what I needed. How wonderful that, decades later, my master is back to take me to another level."
— Mike Aquilina, Author, A Joyful Noise: Praying the Psalms with the Early Church 

"Peter Kreeft has written a wonderful, wise book, clearly the fruit of his own deep spirituality and his love for prayer. Prayer demands no special talent nor training in techniques nor even so much time, but above all a very human heart capable of believing, loving, and suffering. God's immense desire is that we learn to love prayer; it is really an easy lesson if we plunge into the beauty of the ancient Psalms, these prayers that Jesus himself prayed and his saints loved."
— Fr. Donald Haggerty, Author, Contemplative Enigmas and Contemplative Hunger

From the Publisher