Psalms: The Prayer Book of the Bible

I love this little book. It is a beautiful insight to reading of the Psalms. I studied the Psalms as I read each chapter and it opened up my mind to another level of understanding. God is amazing!

This work is one of Bonhoeffer's great but oft overlooked contributions to Christian devotional literature. Many works have been written on prayer and call readers to greater prayer lives, but few succeed in offering a true methodology for doing so that is not mundane, legalistic, or self-centered. Bonhoeffer, ever the man of prayer, offers a unique method of approaching the throne of grace that empowers fresh, grace-filled, and God-centered prayers. Bonhoeffer's solution is not complex or mysterious. The writer offers the reader one of the simplest concepts this reviewer has ever seen - pray the Psalms!Relying on Luther's proclamation that the Psalms are really a book of prayers, Dietrich lays out some extremely practical methods of approaching each major type of Psalm and praying them. If one wishes to get an interesting little perspective on the Psalter or the topic of prayer, this little book written by one of the great saints of modern Christendom is worth every penny; however, if the reader is looking for a scholarly tome on the Psalms, then it is certainly not the book for this need. The book is short, insightful, devotional, inspiring, and convicting.

This is a very small book. It is too small to be a commentary on the Psalms. It is also too small to provide an adequate introduction to the Psalms.Nevertheless, I think it sufficiently accomplishes its purpose. It helps us to begin praying with the Psalms. Prudence must be exercised here because no book can actually teach us how to do this. We learn in the doing. The book does give us good reason for beginning to do this. It gives the reader insights into the reality of what is actually happening when we do this, for instance, "The Christian will find scarcely any difficulty in the praying of these Psalms. However, the question could arise as to how one is to think about the fact that Christ also prays these Psalms with us."The Master, Bonhoeffer also gives us situations wherein we can find prayerful help in praying the Psalms. The following are a sampling:SUFFERING: The Psalter gives us ample instruction in how to come before God in a proper way, bearing the frequent suffering which this world brings upon us.... They do not deny it or try to deceive us about it with pious words.... Because it happens with God's will, indeed because God knows it completely and knows it better than we ourselves, only God can help."GUILT: "There is such a thing as the confident leaving behind of sin for the sake of Jesus Christ."THE END: "... the Psalms request fellowship with God in earthly life, but they know that this fellowship is not completed in earthly life but continues beyond it, even stands in opposition to it."In these situations, Bonhoeffer points us to the Psalms most useful to us, for instance the Psalms of Lamentation.It's a very small book worth the read.

I'll give Bonhoeffer's short reflection on the prayerful and Christological nature of the Psalms four stars. I think I've learned a little bit more from Thomas Merton's short book than Bonhoeffer's. I do recommend both.

Surprisingly brief, this little book has some excellent insights into the Psalms, and can help us pray even the difficult ones. Clearly Bonhoeffer prayed and struggled through the Psalms and used them to relate directly and personally with God for decades. It reads like a book written 80 years ago. The courage of Bonhoeffer, in Nazi Germany, to write a book about the very Jewish book of the Psalms, and calling the Jewish people "God's chosen people," got him banned from further publishing and eventually contributed to his imprisonment. It is well worth reading both for its insights and its author and place in the history of Nazi Germany.

First, I highly recommend reading Eric Metaxas' biography ("Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"), as you read this little book. Then you will see the historical context. I am sure that Bonhoeffer intended the book to be a guide to Christian meditation and prayer, and the book still serves that purpose. But why was this book banned by the German government and why was Bonhoeffer banned from all publishing after the Nazi's saw this book? It was because of the strong connection made by Bonhoeffer of his faith to that of the Jews through the Psalms. This was at at the time of the early Nazi discrimination laws that would eventually lead to the Holocaust. When read in this historical context, the book has even more meaning. In the biography you will see how the "German Christian Church" sought to remove those parts of the Bible that were "too Jewish". In contrast, Bonhoeffer, as you will see in this book, places Jesus right alongside David as the Psalms are being written and being prayed. Reading "The Psalms, the Prayerbook of the Bible", alongside the Psalms strongly connects us to those who suffered greatly during this tragic period of history.

Not many of us have ever thought about singing the psalms or even praying the psalms. In this little volume, Bonhoeffer teaches us to recognize the psalms as revelations, the words of the Lord put in the mouth of the prophet for our benefit. Unlike any other scripture, the psalms are first-person orations from God and we can pray and sing them as if we were in his stead. Great idea. It would do us well to not consider this a dated book, but to recognize its application for any age.

Just did not enjoy this narrator's presentation of the text.

In this short book Bonhoeffer reminds that even the Psalms are a gift to us from Jesus as the Son of God give to us through the Holy Spirit to help us come before God in all situations of life.

This is a tiny book (I could probably read it in half an hour) but that does it a disservice. Bonhoeffer manages to condense everything that needs to be said into 56 pages and leaves the reader mulling things over long after the active reading has ceased. I've recommended it to several friends, and my copy has been labelled so I get it back. This book will be read again.

A Christmas present

Best book on prayer, it teaches our spirit, soul and heart, but the head may not understand so much.

It was needed for a course at Queen's College, at St.John's, Newfoundland, Canada. It is an amazing book!!!