A Joyful Noise Praying The Psalms With The Early Church

We hear often that “the word of God is living and effective” (Heb 4:12). But what does that really mean for our day-to-day lives? A Joyful Noise reveals how the Psalms, sung by everyone from King David to Jesus to the Early Church Fathers to your church choir, are deeply rich and meaningful for our lives today. Author Mike Aquilina shows how to “change the racket” of modern life—to turn from noise that distracts us toward the Psalms, those ancient songs that ring with eternal truths to this very day. Each of the thirty-five Psalms found within are paired with easy-to-read modern translations of meditations from the Fathers of the Church. The text includes questions to help reflect on the Psalms and apply these meditations to everyday life. Mike Aquilina invites you to participate more fully in a tradition as old as the People of God: to turn from the clamor of life to make a joyful noise to the Lord!

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

Lives are not lived on the mountaintop. All pathways wind around boulder-sized problems, past treacherous crevasses of decisions, through dark valleys of sin, and across arid desert times of turning away, as well as over lush hills of obedience. But through it all, our Lord walks with us. God offers holy support, whether we choose to accept it or not. He yearns to hear our prayers. In the good times, we find it easy to sing our praises and to thank the Lord. But let us not be silent during the difficult times. Remember to praise with the promises and thank our God in all circumstances. Fill your prayers with thanksgiving for blessings. Who am I to have written this book? I am a child of God.

In Praying the Psalms in the Voice of Christ, Frank J. Matera offers a way to pray the psalms within the Liturgy of the Hours rooted in the New Testament and the great writers of the early church. Taking his cue from Saint Augustine, Matera demonstrates how to hear the voice of Christ in the psalms so that they can be prayed in the voice of Christ and his Body, the church. In addition to this introduction to a christological reading of the psalms, Matera also provides a commentary on the psalms as they occur in the four weeks of the Divine Office.

A leading authority on the Psalms and a seasoned teacher presents a new edition of an already successful book. W. H. Bellinger takes account of the latest developments in Psalms studies and presents a nuanced approach in this accessible and concise primer. Not only will students of the Psalms appreciate these studies but church leaders teaching from the Psalms will also gain new insight from this classic text.

Presents four psalms frequently read aloud in church services--the eighth, twenty-third, forty-sixth, and hundredth--accompanied by details from great landscapes and genre paintings based on them.