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In my last post in this series on lessons from The MANual, I gave you an Introduction to the Psalms. With 150 chapters to cover, I am splitting the lessons on Psalms into two posts: the first two books in this one and the other three in the next. I’m also returning to using the 5 features of the MANual, my New International Version Bible “written by men to men” which is the main resource for this series as described in my initial post encouraging us to Downshift and Refocus this year.   More about The Psalms  As I explained in the Introduction, there are collections of chapters in Psalms that form five books of songs and prayers which parallel the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Each book concludes with a doxology that signifies the end of the collection. Psalm 150 serves as the final

Our journey this year through the books of the Bible now brings us to the very center of Scripture: the Psalms. There are so many lessons to learn from the Psalms that I’ll need to break it into several posts. I’ll start with an overview and some interesting facts that emphasize the central theme we find right in the center of the Christian Bible: “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man” (Psalm 118:8). Next week, I’ll return to the specific lessons in Psalms in another post.  About the Psalms The MANual, my NIV (New International Version) Bible for Men, refers to the 150 chapters of Psalms as a book of “life songs” since the original title, Tehillim means “praise songs” in Hebrew. The English title we know as Psalms originated from Septuigant’s title, Psalmoi, which also means “songs of praise.”  The Psalms give

This year-long journey through The MANual, my NIV Bible for Men, has led us through lessons from the Books of Moses and the History of Israel. (I’ve included links to each of those lessons at the end of this post). We now venture into a section called the Books of Poetry, starting with the book of Job which addresses the profound question, “Why does God allow good and upright people to suffer?”  Isn’t Scripture all the Same? The Poetry section consists of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. It’s the third section of the Christian Bible after the five law books of Moses and twelve historical books of Israel which is slightly different from Scripture that Jesus would have known. Though we use the word “Bible” commonly today, the appropriate term for the Hebrew Scriptures used by the Jewish faith is Tanakh. This is derived from the Hebrew letters