The Songs of Jesus, by Tim Keller with Kathy Keller
In the Psalms, the heart of the believer encounters the heart of God.
John Calvin says the Psalms are an “anatomy of the soul.” You see gratitude and grief, confidence and confusion, discipline and doubt, victory and violence, longing and languishing, struggle and satisfaction—all as the psalmist pours out his heart to God. Those words can give voice to your feelings when your words seem to fail.
In God’s good design, these words that men wrote to God have become God’s word to man. The Psalms display the richness of his character: the beauty of his holiness, the power of his truth, the tenderness of his comfort, the depth of his mercy.
When the heart of God answers the heart of man and we rest in his character, there is comfort—a comfort that anchors our heart in the midst of whatever comes.
Tim and Kathy Keller’s The Songs of Jesus takes you into the heart of the Psalms. The series of daily devotionals walk you through all 150 psalms over the course of the year. Each day there are several verses in the Psalms, a very short devotional (one page!), and a prayer. You read, meditate, and pray.
As guides to the complex book of Psalms, Tim and Kathy shine their light on a particular theme in an individual psalm. Then they lead you into meditation and prayer. They are teaching you life-giving disciplines that have been practiced for generations—reading, meditation, and prayer. As these disciplines become habits, the ancient path of the Christian life becomes your daily rhythm and routine.
Tim and Kathy guide you into the “nourishing word,” “no intimidation,” “refuge in God,” “peace amid danger,” “joy apart from circumstances,” pouring out our heart,” and “praying for protection”—and that’s only the first week! As they lead you, you’ll learn about God’s heart and about your own heart.
Each day’s poignant insight may not be applicable to that particular day, but over time you will accumulate a rich and textured understanding of the heart of God. You’ll build a vocabulary for prayer, and you’ll become more conversant with the emotions, motives, and longings of your own heart.
The Songs of Jesus cultivates the rhythm of devotional life in the Psalms. As your heart encounters God’s heart, you will be led to worship—which is the heart of the Psalms and the goal of the Christian life.