Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness

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Every commentary on the Book of Psalms has had to face the issue that many of these prayers commemorate and celebrate wrath and vengeance. What is needed is not ingenious exegetical rationalization of ancient texts, but the kind of transformation into a work of piety and art that is provided here.Addressed are the needs of a world seeking to counter individual and societal injustices by a global peace born of personal peace through prayer and practice. In short, here is the Book of Psalms recast in the light of the continuing revelation and evolution of the authentic religious spirit of the scriptures.

Reviews

A much-needed resource for home liturgies and individual prayer.--Contemporary Spirituality
The very liveliness of the Psalms causes us to want to say them in our own language. Nan Merrill has doen this marvelously, and I'm grateful for this labor of imagination and love.--Madeleine L'Engle
Merrill allows the Psalms to be something new, fresh, contemporary, and yet themselves.--Walter Wink
"Psalms for Praying, 150 quasi-paraphrases by Nan. C. Merrill has been revised to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It pertains to people praying any or all of the Psalms less woodenly or bewilderingly or distantly than they otherwise might, being neither ancient Hebrews nor Bible scholars. She loosens things up. In Psalm 10 she turns the words "the wicked hotly pursue the poor" (and, on the face of it, causing trouble for us good guys) to I strike out against those weaker than myself." With her nimbly turning the tables, we pray-ers see ourselves on the other side of the picture. We may find ourselves more nimble and humble when next we open our Bibles to Psalm 10or to chapter 10 or verse 10 anywhere else in the inspired set of Books." - Philip C. Fischer, Review for Religious, Vol. 66, 2007 -- Reviews for Religious
Merrill has reworked the Psalms in a loving, contemplative manner, which betrays none of the book's original vigor or essence. Rather, in a mode that is fresh and eloquent, Merrill's psalms evoke that deep sense of reverence and soul-stirring dialogue with the divine that is often eclipsed by the fear of the divine. Highly recommended for all libraries.--Library Journal * Library Journal *

Author Bio

Nan C. Merrill is the author of Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, which has sold 50,000 copies and is in a tenth-anniversary edition. Her widely used Meditations and Mandalas: Simple Songs for the Spiritual Life is also published by Continuum.Merrill founded the monthly newsletter Friends of Silence, served with urban parish teams, facilitated retreats, and wasengaged in prison ministry for more than thirty years. She passed away in January 2010.