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Article: A howl of despair.(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- The Christian Century
- Article date:
- June 6, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Christian Century Foundation. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Sunday, June 24 Psalm 42
THE PSALMS HAVE always functioned as a book of common prayer. But there is also a long history of turning to the Psalter as a sourcebook for poetry. It is not difficult to see why. Many of the psalms foreground the act of speech or song--the activity of utterance itself--as the chief end of everything that has breath. In this universal work of praise the poet leads the cosmic chorus in giving voice to "Kings of the earth and all peoples" and to "Mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars" (Ps. 148:9, 11).
In addition to discovering the joyful noise of words and music in thanksgiving, we are confronted in the Psalter ...