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:
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.
