The Big Idea
Scripture is often touted as the foundation of our faith. But the practice of that foundation is one that is easy to lose in the torrent of our chaotic world and the busyness of daily life. Not only this, but Scripture should be more foundational than simply a mental or didactic framework. It should be our bread of life from which we draw sustenance as dependably as we eat our physical meals.
St. Athanasius located the Psalms as the core place to find such a Scriptural mooring. In his Letter to Marcellinus, he puts it this way:
Letter to Marcellinus, para. 14
If it is necessary to speak even more to the point,… the book of Psalms contains the primary pattern for how souls are to be managed. For just as one who comes before a king carries with him a certain comportment and demeanor in what he says, so that he might not be thrown out as uneducated when he talks, in the same way for those striving toward virtue and wanting to comprehend the life of the Savior in the body, when they read this divine book it first of all brings to mind the inner movements of the soul and in this way further models and teaches petitioners such words as they should use.
Therefore the Psalms are the bedrock for daily prayer and formation of all our inner and outer life. Athanasius continues in his Letter to note that the Psalms actually teaches one how to pray and act. These major aspects of Christian living are as follows:
- How to keep away from evil.
- How to repent of sin.
- How to bear afflictions and comfort those who suffer.
- How to give thanks to God.
- How to cry out under persecution and give thanks when delivered.
- How to praise the Lord and confess Him rightly.
Athanasius then continues to describe how one may approach the Psalms in this way:
Letter to Marcellinus, para. 12
It seems to me that these words often act like a mirror for the one who sings them. They allow him to see himself and the inner movements of his own soul in them. And when one recites them they produce that very effect.
Yet using all 150 Psalms in this way is quite overwhelming and unattainable. Athanasius seems to be aware of this and outlines 8 basic Psalms that can serve as a starting place for personal formation:
- How to recognize one’s own afflictions in Psalm 3
- How to speak with Boldness and Prayer in Psalms 12 and 17
- How to personally confess sin in Psalm 51
- How to handle being persecuted or hardships in Psalms 54, 56, 57, 142
These eight Davidic Psalms will serve as the backbone for Memorizing the Psalms in my personal practice.
Six of them (3, 51, 54, 56, 57 and 142) explicitly come out of difficult times in David’s life. They teach us how to seek the Lord and find true rest even in the midst of life’s darkness. Because of this, these eight psalms are the wellspring of wisdom and nourishment within which fasting and the other practices outlined later become meaningful.
A helpful memory aid that I have used to store a kind of small concordance of these Psalms is to think of them as the A-B-C---P-salms:
- A-ffliction (Psalm 3). Connected to David’s betrayal by his son Absalom found in 2 Samuel 15:13-17.
- B-oldness (Psalms 12 and 17). Psalm 12 is written according to the Sheminith that is connected to worship in the temple found in 1 Chronicles 15:16-21. While 17 is written as a general prayer.
- C-onfession (Psalms 51). David’s response to Nathan’s visit found in 2 Samuel 12:1-15.
- P-ersecution(Psalms 54,56,57, and 142). These four tell a liner story of David on the run from Saul until their encounter in the cave found in 1 Samuel 21:1 thru 24:22.
To help add an image for easer visualization I have also through of each section as a tower with a level for each Psalm.