I just finished an excellent book that I thought I’d share it with you. C.S. Lewis is the author of many books famous in the Christian community, including such widely-read classics as Mere Christianity, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Screwtape Letters. Despite his popularity, Reflections on the Psalms (Harcourt, Inc., 1986) was a book with which I was unfamiliar.
This book is aptly titled: it is a compilation of Lewis’ own reflections as he read and wrestled with the Psalms. As he put it, the “thoughts it contains are those to which I found myself driven in reading the Psalms; sometimes by my enjoyment of them, sometimes by meeting with what I first I could not enjoy.”
As to his intended audience, Lewis takes pains to point out that the book is not a scholarly work…it was written “for the unlearned”. I was particularly happy to know that! Reflections on the Psalms does not approach the Psalms in a chronological, orderly way, nor does it attempt to explain all the theological issues involved in the Psalms. Rather, it is an attempt to help the reader reflect on the Psalms through the application of two important perspectives:
- the cultural perspective in which they were written; and
- the philosophical perspective for which Lewis is so well known.
In Reflections on the Psalms, Lewis focuses on several aspects of the Psalms. He begins by reflecting on two things that can be perplexing to the modern reader of the Psalms: the Psalmists’ desire for judgment (compared to the modern Christian’s avoidance of it) and the violent and vehement curses they often pronounce on their enemies. He discusses the ancient Jewish perspective on life and death, worship and God’s law as pictured in the Psalms. He argues the manner in which a believer should (or should not) interact with those who are outside the kingdom of God. He observes the view of nature of the Psalmists as contrasted with both their pagan contemporaries and the modern reader. Finally, he spends some time outlining a philosophical defense for the validity of attaching “second meanings” to writings in general, Scripture as a whole, and the Psalms in particular.
I would wholeheartedly recommend the book, and would be happy to loan it to you if you don’t mind some highlighting and scribble marks!
