Invitation to the Psalms

"One of the most accessible introductions to the Psalter available""A winsome, accessible introduction to the psalms that invites readers to fresh understanding and engagement. Invitation to the Psalms combines discerning theology with a lightheartedness that brings the reader along in doing interpretation in imaginative, real-life ways."--Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary"One of the most accessible introductions to the Psalter available. From the character of the psalms as poetry to their function as a testimony to the God whose ways are at the center of all the psalms, the authors have taken up basic aspects of the psalms in simple, fresh, and genuinely inviting ways. Readers at all levels will enjoy and learn from this presentation of the richness of the psalms."--Patrick D. Miller, Princeton Theological Seminary"This is the best kind of introduction to a book of the Bible--informative, engaging, scholarly with a light touch, well calculated to help people read the Bible but not to be a substitute for reading it, and capable of encouraging people to water-ski across the psalms (as the authors themselves put it)."--John Goldingay, Fuller Theological Seminary"Invitation to the Psalms does just that in a very winsome fashion. It is most readable, using literary insights from modern poetry to illuminate the character and message of the ancient psalms. It is up-to-date in its scholarship without overburdening the reader with technicalities. In short, it is an ideal introduction to interpreting the psalms for individual or classroom use."--Gordon Wenham, Trinity College Bristol"In their characteristically vivid, lively, engaging, and often humorous way, Rolf and Karl Jacobson succeed wonderfully in their stated goal of enabling readers not only to study the psalms but also to experience them. While this book is aimed at and clearly accessible to the nonspecialist, more advanced students of the psalms, including pastors and teachers in churches and synagogues, will also appreciate and benefit from this volume. Psalms scholars will recognize and appreciate the authors' solid interpretive foundation as well as the careful, concrete, and creative way that they invite a wider audience to experience the riches of the psalms."--J. Clinton McCann Jr., Eden Theological Seminary