Curious Psalms

For Psalm 86, Matt gets to have a conversation with David Narita as they explore this “Wednesday afternoon Psalm.” Together they talk about joy, the gift of God revealing himself to us as compassionate and the idea of an ongoing life of prayer. 

Jana Dykhuis returns to the podcast to talk about Psalm 85 with its vision of God’s shalom and an invitation to reflect on his unfailing love. Matt and Jana discuss how the Psalm calls us to pray in an embodied reality and wonder about a rarer way of describing God (they’re curious!). Enjoy this conversation.

In this episode, the Rev. Dr. Kevin Adams returns to discuss the beauty of Psalm 84. He and Matt talk about the beautiful orientation of the Psalm towards the love of God and how this psalm gives us a poetic and personal way to keep the 1st commandment (in Kevin’s words!). Enjoy this exploration of Psalm 84!

For this discussion of Psalm 83, we welcome Zach Tedrow for the first time. Zach offers a close read of the Psalm that reorients the conversation toward the possibilities of grace while still inviting us into complete honesty before God when it comes to our enemies. Enjoy this dive into Psalm 83!

In this episode, Rachel Timms joins Matt to discuss the strange world of Psalm 82. They explore who the “gods” are, who is talking at different parts in this Psalm, but more importantly discuss what it means for God to sit in judgment of powerful spiritual beings and how that might be a comfort to us. We hope this conversation is a helpful on-ramp to this Psalm!

Amy Langle returns for another conversation, this time about Psalm 81. Together, they discuss what it means to hear tones of God’s disappointment, the festival setting of this Psalm and how these words, spoken by God, can help us think about prayer. There’s even a poor fourth of July analogy - enjoy this conversation!

On this episode, Aaron Antoon joins Matt for a conversation about Psalm 80. They explore the rich imagery of the psalm and the way it deepens some of the lament, the ways the psalm gets specific about who it is addressing and how its boldness might serve as a model for our prayer. Plus, they cram a whole lot more into this short conversation - enjoy!

We’re back with our regularly scheduled programming as Joan Curry returns to discuss Psalm 79 with Matt. Together, they discuss the ways the whole Bible helps us understand the cries of this Psalm, its invitation to trust and rely on God as our foundation, and how it might move us out of an overly individualistic understanding of prayer. Enjoy this conversation!

For this special episode, Matt shares a couple of psalms that are a part of the Christmas lectionary and invites listeners to have some moments of reflection about the good news of Christmas in light of them. We’re praying the Psalms together!

Opening music: Dance Of The Sugar Plum Fairies - Tchaikovsky https://youtu.be/v57C_I1r5U4

Dr. Libby Backfish returns for the second part of her conversation with Matt about Psalm 78. If you haven’t listened to part 1, that’s a great place to start but then listen to this episode as Matt and Libby discuss the rhythms of this Psalm, the ways it shows God using both judgment and mercy to call his people back to himself and how we might think about praying our own stories.