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Psalms for a Saturated Soul : An Ancient Guide to Emotional Health
Maybe, like me, you’re a bundle of paradoxes. On one hand, I bear God’s image. I have a marvelous capacity to cultivate beauty, experience intimacy, invent solutions, make promises, show mercy, resist evil, build culture, and encounter wonder. On my best days, God’s glory is profoundly displayed in my life.
On the other hand, I have this inescapable sense that I don’t reflect God as I should. The mirror of my life gets smudged and tarnished. I have a dreadful capacity to corrupt beauty, shatter intimacy, create problems, break promises, exploit the vulnerable, be tempted by evil, destroy culture, and become jaded with wonder.
What do we do about the frustrating duality of our souls?
Enter the ancient guide of the Psalms一the hymnbook of God’s people. The Psalms don’t offer simple formulas to solve the paradox of our souls. Instead, they employ the language of formation. They give us permission to be in flux, while simultaneously pointing us to the unchanging stability of our Creator. The Psalms let us rant and weep, sing and scream, laugh and lament一all with an eye to heaven, knowing that our help comes from the Lord (Ps. 121:1). As a trellis prods a vine sunward, so the Psalms turn our souls God-ward. In real life, confusion and confidence often go hand-in-hand, thus the Psalms speak powerfully to the intricate anatomy of our souls.
When reading the Psalms, we discover we’re not alone. We suddenly realize, with a sigh of relief, that the path we’re on is well-worn by the saints before us. Our bloodied knees don’t make us freaks; they merely signal we’re on the path of formation. Satan would have us believe that, because we struggle, we’re unworthy of Christian fellowship. The Psalms No, these are the normal growing pains of a child of God.
This book is for those who believe the gospel impacts all of life一the Savior who forgives sins is also the Good Shepherd who restores souls. This book is for those whose unstable emotions ache for the commanding calm of Jesus’ words and Spirit. Into our bundles of paradoxes, may Jesus and the Psalms bring peace.
On the other hand, I have this inescapable sense that I don’t reflect God as I should. The mirror of my life gets smudged and tarnished. I have a dreadful capacity to corrupt beauty, shatter intimacy, create problems, break promises, exploit the vulnerable, be tempted by evil, destroy culture, and become jaded with wonder.
What do we do about the frustrating duality of our souls?
Enter the ancient guide of the Psalms一the hymnbook of God’s people. The Psalms don’t offer simple formulas to solve the paradox of our souls. Instead, they employ the language of formation. They give us permission to be in flux, while simultaneously pointing us to the unchanging stability of our Creator. The Psalms let us rant and weep, sing and scream, laugh and lament一all with an eye to heaven, knowing that our help comes from the Lord (Ps. 121:1). As a trellis prods a vine sunward, so the Psalms turn our souls God-ward. In real life, confusion and confidence often go hand-in-hand, thus the Psalms speak powerfully to the intricate anatomy of our souls.
When reading the Psalms, we discover we’re not alone. We suddenly realize, with a sigh of relief, that the path we’re on is well-worn by the saints before us. Our bloodied knees don’t make us freaks; they merely signal we’re on the path of formation. Satan would have us believe that, because we struggle, we’re unworthy of Christian fellowship. The Psalms No, these are the normal growing pains of a child of God.
This book is for those who believe the gospel impacts all of life一the Savior who forgives sins is also the Good Shepherd who restores souls. This book is for those whose unstable emotions ache for the commanding calm of Jesus’ words and Spirit. Into our bundles of paradoxes, may Jesus and the Psalms bring peace.
- GenresChristian
107 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 19, 2022
4 people are currently reading
32 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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August 6, 2023*sometimes we’re thirsty because we’re too full of the wrong things… our souls can be intoxicated with things other than God that they need eroding before we can drink from God’s river of life. This is what I call a saturated souls and I believe it is a cultural pandemic. Our souls are saturated with nonstop news, calamities… it’s little wonder we feel numb. The circuit breaker if our soul trips. We shut off to survive. Callousness isn’t our goal— it’s a survival tactic.
*like a child scribbling too many colors on a page, The barrage of emotions in ourselves and others clash on the canvas of our souls, and the end product is the dull gray of numbness.
*Galatians 5:22
The spirit filled person is an emotionally healthy person.
*the person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who lives those around them will create community. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
*the Lord has given us the gift of His creation in order to communicate with us. It is a happy discipline of God’s children to acknowledge the sacred in the ordinary.
*like a child scribbling too many colors on a page, The barrage of emotions in ourselves and others clash on the canvas of our souls, and the end product is the dull gray of numbness.
*Galatians 5:22
The spirit filled person is an emotionally healthy person.
*the person who loves their dream of community will destroy community, but the person who lives those around them will create community. Dietrich Bonhoeffer
*the Lord has given us the gift of His creation in order to communicate with us. It is a happy discipline of God’s children to acknowledge the sacred in the ordinary.
September 29, 2023
“I have long been intrigued with the poetry of verse seven: ‘Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls.’ What does the mean? At the very least, it means that there is no place in your soul so deep that God cannot speak to it. To God, our depths are shallow and our darkness is light (Psalm 139:12).” - Alan Frow
This is not really a review, but I loved having this concept explained. I first saw Deeps calls to Deep engraved on a Bible, and I didn’t really understand it. I also didn’t realize it was Biblical. Then I started singing Deep Cries Out for worship, not really knowing what it means. The meaning is so beautiful, and I will never look at it the same.
This book was the perfect way to cap off reading through the Psalms. Thank you, Alan.
This is not really a review, but I loved having this concept explained. I first saw Deeps calls to Deep engraved on a Bible, and I didn’t really understand it. I also didn’t realize it was Biblical. Then I started singing Deep Cries Out for worship, not really knowing what it means. The meaning is so beautiful, and I will never look at it the same.
This book was the perfect way to cap off reading through the Psalms. Thank you, Alan.
September 13, 2023
A balanced approach to handling our ever changing emotions.
“On my bad days, I speak these gospel truths to my soul. I am not silencing my soul so much as answering its melancholic, nervous chatter with anchoring truth. My soul so easily drifts from faith and wisdom, carried off by the treacherous tides of deception and fear. Thank God for Jesus, whose unchanging grace and word are an anchor for my soul.”
“On my bad days, I speak these gospel truths to my soul. I am not silencing my soul so much as answering its melancholic, nervous chatter with anchoring truth. My soul so easily drifts from faith and wisdom, carried off by the treacherous tides of deception and fear. Thank God for Jesus, whose unchanging grace and word are an anchor for my soul.”
April 22, 2022
Delightfully refreshing
Frow has penned a brief but vital word for those that find themselves a bit “under water” in our complex and tense world. Where do our souls go for peace and revitalization? Using Psalm 42 as a guide he shows us a path to and our source of health, Jesus. Take up and read. Be nourished. And live.
Frow has penned a brief but vital word for those that find themselves a bit “under water” in our complex and tense world. Where do our souls go for peace and revitalization? Using Psalm 42 as a guide he shows us a path to and our source of health, Jesus. Take up and read. Be nourished. And live.
January 22, 2024
This is a very contemporary and short exploration (not exposition) for Psalm 42. Quick to read, the book has some deep thoughts - but there isn't time to unpack them or give them the wise treatment they need.
However, the book did my soul good.
However, the book did my soul good.
April 11, 2023
A decent read for group discussion, but the book could have been much better as perhaps an article.
December 16, 2022
only wish it was longer
A fantastic devotional dive into current soul realities, rooted in using scripture (specifically psalm 42) to assess, understand and apply God’s truth and design to our life. A great read for any soul but especially the worn out one.
A fantastic devotional dive into current soul realities, rooted in using scripture (specifically psalm 42) to assess, understand and apply God’s truth and design to our life. A great read for any soul but especially the worn out one.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews