Psalms as a Grammar for Faith

The Psalms, gritty and bold prayers of a people seeking to be obedient to a powerful and compassionate God, collectively illustrate what a real faith in the living God looks like. In Psalms as a Grammar for Faith: Prayer and Praise, W. H. Bellinger Jr. traces the way the Psalms exemplify and create a grammar for living a life of faith. Bellinger combines his years of study of the Psalms and his own theological sensibility to explore both the genre and shape of the Psalter. He focuses upon the themes of lament and of praise. Bellinger addresses the presence of enemies and the prayers for vengeance throughout the Psalms, concluding that these lamentations exemplify a covenant theology of prayer. He then examines the psalms of praise that teach the art of worship. Various kinds of praise in the Psalter serve as examples of adoration - proper ways to thank almighty God for the goodness of life and for the divine mystery. Finally, Bellinger explores the five divisions of the Psalms,