Customer Reviews

Sing a New Song: The Psalms in the Sunday Lectionary (Michael Glazier Books)

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This is one of two worship resources I turn to regularly in planning worship (the other is "Forbid Them Not," by Carolyn C. Brown). Organized around the Psalms recommended for each week's worship, Irene Nowell's "Sing a New Song" also includes tantalizingly rich reflections on the rest of the readings given for any given week as well.

Thus, for example, one finds for one of the (four) weeks in which Psalm 85 is used in the church calendar, both a note that the psalm "promises a restoration of the covenant relationship between God and the people" in which "God's justice guarantees the right relationship between all parts of creation" (p.51), and the observation that the gospel reading for one of those weeks, Matthew 14:22-33, moves Jesus' disciples "from non-recognition to a confession of faith" as Peter, stepping out on the water at Jesus' command, "recognizes not only Jesus, but the power of God working within himself" (p. 54). If that doesn't get your sermon started, I don't know what will!

My only caveat: Given that the psalms in this book are not arranged sequentially, nor according to the church year, but rather according to the author's classification of their type (historical, lament, thanksgiving, etc), the lack of a scripture index requires one to search the contents for a particular psalm. Apart from this lack, which is more an impediment in searching out the non-psalmic Biblical references not listed in the contents, I recommend this volume for anyone working, reading or praying the psalms in concert with the rest of scripture.