The Big Idea
A collection of nice quotes about the Psalms.
“Now the Prophets teach certain things, the Historians, and the Law teach others, and Proverbs provide still a different sort of advice, but the book of Psalms encompasses the benefit of the mall.” - Basil (lived c. 330-379)
“History teaches, the Law instructs, prophecy proclaims, reproach chastens and moralizing persuades; in the Book of Psalms there is the successful accomplishment of all this along with a kind of balm of human salvation.” - Ambrose (lived c. 339-397)
“there are Psalms that speak in narrative form, in exhortations, in prophecies, in the form of prayer, as well as confession” - Athanasius (lived c. 295-373)
“The disciples want to pray, but they do not know how to do it. That can be very painful, to want to speak with God and not be able to, to have to be speechless before God, to discover that every call to Him dies within itself, that heart and mouth speak an absurd language which God does not want to hear. In this need we seek out mean who are able to help us, who know something about prayer… But that is precisely what Jesus Christ wants to do. He wants to pray with us and to have us pray with him, so that we may be confident and glad that God hears us.” - Bonhoeffer Psalms, pp. 11-12