Psalms: Like a Box of Chocolates

I did something radically different this time to Read Through The Bible (in alphabetical order, in one year) when I got to Psalms. I listened to an oral reading of the Psalms, Max McLean on The Listener's Bible.  (I saw McLean at Dallas Seminary one time; he was incredible in portraying Abraham.) His sonorous voice brings a lot to Scripture, and it was just the right way to go through the Psalms this time. Here's why:

Psalms is like a box of chocolates. In a couple of ways.

According to Forrest Gump, "You never know what you'll get." Coconut creme or nougat, for example. That's more or less true with the Psalms. Every time you read through the Psalms, you find something different. A favorite old psalm, which you've underlined and memorized, may suddenly reveal a line or a word or a thought that never struck you before. A year or so ago, I was reading the 23rd Psalm, "The Lord is my Shepherd..." I've had this memorized for at least 50 years. But for the first time, I noticed the phrase, "He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." That's pretty profound. God wants us to be righteous, and He directs our paths that way, because we are a reflection on His name. If you are known as a Believer (Christian or Jew, I suppose) and you do not live righteously, you can bet there are non-believers who see your behavior and mock your Lord.

So as I listened to Psalms this time, there were psalms I had never noticed because they sounded different, being read out loud.

The other way the Psalms are like a box of chocolates is that one or two, or even five or six, are delicious and delightful. But when you get more than that at one sitting, they start to lose their appeal. There are 150 Psalms, and if you read more than a few at a time, they sometimes start to sound alike. I was listening in the car, so I'd only hear a few each time I'd motor around. Sometimes I'd have to turn off the CD player, however. If I'm maneuvering through difficult traffic, it's hard to pay attention to a CD.

All in all, listening to the Psalms was a good idea. The only drawback was that I wasn't able to underline the lines that stood out as I heard them. Maybe the next time I read them, though, the sound of Max McLean will come through.