Psalms are an essential part of a christian spiritual life. Psalm study is often recommended on retreats or when learning about christian communities, saints, or mystics.
These books have helped me engage with the psalms.
The Interpretation Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching is a great resource for lay leaders and clergy. This series deserves space in a church library. In fact, I’ve seen it in so many church libraries that I have sold my set (with the exception of the Psalms book). While I prefer to do my research and writing in a quiet space (usually in my home office), I don’t feel the need to keep resources that are easily found at churches. I’m also lucky enough to live close to Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and its great library that I don’t feel the need to keep large commentary series in my own collection.
The psalm book contains about a paragraph at the end of each entry that ties the psalm to a Christian interpretation. It’s pretty neutral. Like I said, any church.
The Bible study that goes along with this book is similar in style. It has 10 units which are labeled with theme and psalm for easy reference. A lay leader could easily use this resource for a bible study with questions at the end of each chapter for discussion. It would be good to have the commentary for reference if discussion goes deeper.
