My new Kindle ebook, God is Love: Reflections on the Psalms, is the product of years of reflection on the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament. The book is an ecumenical, spiritual, meditative, historical reflection on the Psalms of David. The book is meant to inspire reflection on the historical and existential purpose of the Psalms, an active search for and communication with God, and a meditative dialogue with God’s words that links the meditative person with so many like seekers and thinkers over the centuries. 

The approach of the book is simple, reading the Psalms in order, beginning with the first, and ending with the last. I do not reproduce the Psalms, which is unnecessary, rather I provide passages from each Psalm from the Septuagint version of the Old Testament and reflect in brief paragraphs on the meaning of the passages.

The Psalms require an emotional, spiritual, and thoughtful response. Each psalm challenges humans collectively and individually. It is the individual response to the Psalms that inspires this book, God is Love: Reflections on the Psalms. Each individual is engaged in a pilgrimage to know God and Self, to understand how the Self fits in with the whole of humanity and God’s Creation. My spiritual journey has been informed for many years by reflecting on the Psalms. I am of course by no means alone in using the Psalms in this way, as countless others do and have and will use the Psalms similarly. My offering in this book is a unique way to reflect on the Psalms. I advocate reading and reflecting on the Psalms by means of a personal dialogue with the past.

The Psalms purport to be written largely by David, the Hebrew king who lived three thousand years ago. David was warrior, poet, lover, judge, sinner, man of feeling, student of God’s creation. He knew much about himself because of his search to know God. His Psalms are reflective pieces that consider the distance between the Creator and the Creation, between the all-wise and good God and the limited sinful human. God is a shepherd to His people, David wrote, a Father to His children who are repeatedly errant and wayward. These poems are wonderful psychological portraits of the human search for peace and love in a world of conflict and hate.

The Psalms have been my prayer companions for many years. The Psalms are some of the greatest literature ever written. Their depth in terms of spirituality and human reflection has few counterparts.

The Old Testament Psalms are constant reminders of how easily humans forget God’s blessings and have to be renewed by daily prayer.

If interested, purchase the Kindle edition at https://www.amazon.com/God-Love-Reflections-Russell-Lawson-ebook/dp/B09TBM6MWK/ref=sr_1_1?qid=1645807863&refinements=p_27%3ARussell+M.++Lawson&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Russell+M.++Lawson