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Friday, August 26, 2016

Living and Breathing the Psalms James Edwards



Released August 2016

Living and Breathing the Psalms is a raw and very personal prayer journey. Here are the Old Covenant prayers, poems and songs to the Lord, reframed through intimacy and relationship with each member of the Trinity. From this perspective the Psalms break open in a simple, fresh and dynamic way. Key life themes lie in these ancient songs of worship, at the very heart of Old Covenant experience, belief and ritual. Exploring them, we find them unlocked through an intimate relationship with our Saviour and King, Firstborn Son of our Heavenly Papa God, as revealed to us by Holy Spirit. Here unashamedly viewed through faith and trust in Mighty King Jesus, Mashiach, the Anointed One, is pain, hurt and grief, side by side with fire, passion, love, thanks, praise and worship. As you put your hope and faith in Him, may you find here your heart's cries to our High King of Heaven and Earth.

364 pp
978-1535590730
Print: $8.60/ £7.25

Buy the book:
Amazon Canada (currently unavailable)

About the Author
Jim Edwards is a passionate lover of Jesus, living on the South Coast of the UK, with his wife Val. This year with their four amazing children they celebrate 40 years of marriage together. 'Living and Breathing the Psalms' is his third published book, with more to follow. His heart is to peel back religious tradition, to reveal the Mighty, Powerful, live and heart changing Love of Jesus, in fresh ways, with fresh language for today. Repeated visits to the USA and to Bethel Church in Redding, over the last 9 years, have been a source of much encouragement and inspiration.

Lisa’s review:
Truly unlike anything I’ve ever experienced, Edwards’s passionate exploration of the Psalms for contemporary people of faith will refresh every reader with his heartfelt reframing. Not a rewrite, not a paraphrase, not an attempt to simply update language, the author invites you to pray with him through the Psalms, using the name of Christ freely where the original authors back to Moses, David, and Asaph and others, would have, had they physically walked alongside of Him.

I was admittedly unsure of what the author’s goal was all about until I began to read with him, for that’s what readers have to do—read with him—in order to appreciate the rendering. Living and Breathing the Psalms is a prayer walk, a cry, a jump of joy and leap of faith, but most of all, a call to worship in a way that has never had to change because we worship an unchanging and unchangeable God. The text is rich with usually frowned upon devices such as ALL CAPs, multiple exclamations and plenty of “Yeah!” that cannot contain the typed letters.


From Edwards’s query in Psalm 8, “When I look up at the night sky and see the amazing Hubble telescope pictures of galaxies so distant it hurts my brain to comprehend—I wonder at YOU! Did You throw them into space or set each of them in their place? If You planned the details of all of these billions of stars, how come You even spare a thought for each one of us?” to the jazzy upbeat of Psalm 45, “I’m cookin’ today! I’m bubbling over with some amazing ideas for a new song of praise to our wonderful King Jesus” to unadulterated joy in Psalm 135, “Oh, but You who love Jesus—give me a ‘J!’” readers will find new reasons to fall in love with the Psalms all over again.

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