Psalms for Praying - 10th Edition by Nan C Merrill (Hardcover)

About the Book

Every commentary on the Book of Psalms has had to face the issue that many of these prayers celebrate wrath and vengeance. Merrill has re-examined the Psalms and transformed them into a work of piety and art. Taking each psalm in turn, she brings a vivid brilliance to some of the world's greatest prayers.

Book Synopsis

Every commentary on the Book of Psalms has had to face the issue that many of these prayers commemorate and celebrate wrath and vengeance. What is needed is not ingenious exegetical rationalization of ancient texts, but the kind of transformation into a work of piety and art that is provided here.Addressed are the needs of a world seeking to counter individual and societal injustices by a global peace born of personal peace through prayer and practice. In short, here is the Book of Psalms recast in the light of the continuing revelation and evolution of the authentic religious spirit of the scriptures.

From the Back Cover

Every commentary on the Book of Psalms has had to face the issue that many of these prayers commemorate and celebrate: wrath and vengeance. What is needed is not ingenious exegitial rationalization of ancient texts, but the kind of transformation into a work of piety and art that Nan Merrill provides.

Review Quotes

"Psalms for Praying, 150 quasi-paraphrases by Nan. C. Merrill has been revised to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It pertains to people praying any or all of the Psalms less woodenly or bewilderingly or distantly than they otherwise might, being neither ancient Hebrews nor Bible scholars. She loosens things up. In Psalm 10 she turns the words "the wicked hotly pursue the poor" (and, on the face of it, causing trouble for us good guys) to 'I strike out against those weaker than myself." With her nimbly turning the tables, we pray-ers see ourselves on the other side of the picture. We may find ourselves more nimble and humble when next we open our Bibles to Psalm 10?or to chapter 10 or verse 10 anywhere else in the inspired set of Books." - Philip C. Fischer, Review for Religious, Vol. 66, 2007--Sanford Lakoff

A much-needed resource for home liturgies and individual prayer. Contemporary Spirituality

Merrill allows the Psalms to be something new, fresh, contemporary, and yet themselves. Walter Wink

The very liveliness of the Psalms causes us to want to say them in our own language. Nan Merrill has doen this marvelously, and I'm grateful for this labor of imagination and love. Madeleine L'Engle

About the Author

Nan C. Merrill is the author of Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, which has sold 50,000 copies and is in a tenth-anniversary edition. Her widely used Meditations and Mandalas: Simple Songs for the Spiritual Life is also published by Continuum. Merrill founded the monthly newsletter Friends of Silence, served with urban parish teams, facilitated retreats, and was engaged in prison ministry for more than thirty years. She passed away in January 2010.