Thursday, October 15, 2009

How do you read Psalms?

How do you like to read the Psalms?

Do you do five a day? (You'll get done in about a month if you do!)
Ten a day? (You'll get done in about fifteen or sixteen days.)
Fifteen a day? (You'll get done in about ten or eleven days.)

Or perhaps--like my mother--you like to read in the Psalms for a certain length of time. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. Twenty minutes. Etc.

I'm a bit quirky when it comes to Psalms. I like to vary things up a bit. Since Psalms is one of the few books of the Bible where you don't have to read it straight through--to read the chapters in any particular order.

Of course, you've probably read them in order 1-150. But have you ever read them backwards? 150 to 1? I have. And the reason I did it--was to mix it up a bit. Am I the only one who feels a little too familiar with the first dozen or so Psalms? I wonder why that is. Why the first twenty-five or thirty seem so cozily familiar. And most of the others--with some notable exceptions, 51, 91, 119--don't?

Another approach I've tried was to really mix it up by sorting them numerically.

Day 1: 1, 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, 61, 71, 81, 91, 101, 111, 121, 131, 141
Day 2: 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92, 102, 112, 122, 132, 142
Day 3: 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 53, 63, 73, 83, 93, 103, 113, 123, 133, 143
Day 4: 4, 14, 24, 34, 44, 54, 64, 74, 84, 94, 104, 114, 124, 134, 144
Day 5: 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95, 105, 115, 125, 135, 145
Day 6: 6, 16, 26, 36, 46, 56, 66, 76, 86, 96, 106, 116, 126, 136, 146
Day 7: 7, 17, 27, 37, 47, 57, 67, 77, 87, 97, 107, 117, 127, 137, 147
Day 8: 8, 18, 28, 38, 48, 58, 68, 78, 88, 98, 108, 118, 128, 138, 148
Day 9: 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59, 69, 79, 89, 109, 119, 129, 139, 149,
Day 10: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150

I haven't tried to read them this way, but I suppose you could read them based on who wrote them. Or even by type.

Do you have a method when it comes to reading Psalms? Can you think of a creative way to mix it up?

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I haven't gotten there yet. I have to admit, I haven't been reading at all. :( I can't wait to get there though. :)

Annette said...

Becky I am scrambling to get all of those to do things done before we leave for vacation tomorrow. I will address the past few posts of questions you've had when I return.
Thank you.

Anonymous said...

I like to read them one a day, but I like to read them out loud.

Anonymous said...

When I read through them, I think I do more of a timed reading than any specific Psalm numbers. I probably get 5-10 done in a day when I'm working through that book.

Sheila (bookjourney) said...

When I read the Psalms it just depends on which ones and the day.... sometimes reading just a few gives me plenty to think about... other times they read almost like poetry and I can read pages of them.