Our worship leader this morning selected a reading of Psalm 18 from this, and it was lovely. It draws on the feminine side of God (who is both-and-neither male/female), something we don't often reflect on, the mothering/protecting/nurturing side. This won't appeal to all, as it uses female pronouns for God, but it fills a gap in providing a way to envision God in a non-male image which can be refreshing as supplementary material, when all we ever hear in most translations is the maleness of God.
A reviewer on Amazon writes:
"Help in getting that God-is-a-man picture out of your mind
"Have you ever wanted to pray using the Psalms--but found that their language assumes a male reader? Let's face it, from Psalm 1, verse 1 --'Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked'--they seem to be male-oriented.
"This book is widely used by thousands of Roman Catholic nuns as well as by laywomen, including evangelicals, more liberal Protestants, and Catholics--any woman of faith who wants to pray the Psalms from the heart and finds it easier to do so in a more feminine context.
"The author is an ordained Presbyterian pastor who grew up in the Christian Reformed Church, which does not ordain women. She has close ties with Dominican sisters and others.
"Her version of Psalm 1, verse one, reads, 'Blessed is the woman who ignores the advice of the wicked....' She calls her book 'A Feminine Reading of the Psalms'--not a translation.
"For each psalm she provides a one-sentence possible context to relate to our lives today. For example, she says for Psalm 141, 'This might be the prayer of an inner-city girl struggling to resist the pressure to join a gang of drug dealers.' With some context, it is easier to respond to a psalm that speaks about enemies or great suffering.
"Marty Rienstra takes all 150 Psalms and divides up them up to be read 3-4 per day, in a cycle of four weeks per month, to be started again each month. Each day of the week has a theme--Sunday, 'worshipping God our Savior'; Monday, 'hoping in God our future'; Tuesday, 'seeking God's wisdom'; Wednesday, 'trusting in God our refuge'; Thursday 'crying out to God for justice'; Friday, 'confession and lamentation before God,' and Saturday, 'praising God the Creator.'
"She lays out the psalms for each day in three groups as a morning prayer time, midday prayer time, and evening prayer time. Each has an opening, hymn, suggested reading, short prayer, and benediction along with a psalm or two.
"She also provides prayers and quotations from great women and men in church history, such as Hildegard of Bingen and Julian of Norwich."
VOTE HERE:
https://feedback.logos.com/boards/logos-book-requests/posts/swallow-s-nest-a-feminine-reading-of-the-psalms
