Gosh, I just realized that I'm not posting that much anymore now that my teammates are putting their two cents in.

I've been thinking a lot about the Psalms lately and their role in our discipleship and in the life of the church. I'm starting to see that the answer (or answers) to "What is Church?" are pretty simple - like people gathering to worship, or friends in a coffee shop talking about their faith, or people selling all to follow Jesus to the poor. If church is just a building or service the Psalms are relegated to slogans or fight songs, but lose their punch in the outside world. In kingdom life, the Psalms give us God-language to communicate with each other and with God about what we see, what we experience, and how we move forward on the narrow road.

On Sunday, we experimented with praying two Psalms, 25 and 58. Psalm 25 is an everyday average Psalm. "To you, O Lord I lift up my soul. I trust in you, my God!...Show me the path where I should walk, O Lord; point out the right road for me to follow." It's mostly about guidance, forgivenss, mercy, praise. Stuff of everyday life on the planet. This is a high traffic Psalm - one that gets used like your favorite t-shirt or sandals. But then there's Psalm 58. "Justice - do you rulers know the meaning of the word?...All your dealings are crooked; you hand out violence instead of justice...Break off their fangs, O God! Smash the jaws of these lions, O Lord...The godly will rejoice when they see injustice avenged. They will wash their feet in the blood of the wicked." I don't know about you, but I can't "relate" to this Psalm very easily. Let's just say it's not going on any precious moments figurine anytime soon. But yet it stands there, a part of the Prayer Book of the People of God.

Maybe the reason we can relate to Psalm 25 and not 58 is that we are hiding in our everyday clothes. Days, weeks, and years pass by and we walk around "business as usual". But these "warrior songs" are right there, waiting to be sung. Sure, most days we wear our sandals. But somedays we have to put on the fatigues and strap on the boots.