I’m a big believer in the psalms as God’s songbook/hymnbook and the importance of allowing time in meditating upon and speaking out the psalms as critical aspects of spiritual formation. In the psalms God gives voice for His people to speak to Him and understand themselves and their difficulties.

But if you’re not entirely convinced, Ethan Jones has written Psalms in an Age of Distraction: Experiencing the Restorative Power of Biblical Poetry to work to convince you. He begins by setting the tone of modern life and its endless distractions which drain away life and its experience. He then encourages the reader to consider the psalms as more than a kind of story (although it certainly includes story). He addresses in some detail the poetry of the psalms and how it can affect and inspire the hearer/reader. He considers the psalms as kind of scaffolding for the soul, providing an “infrastructure” for faith and prayer.

Much of the book involves explication of the themes the author finds in various psalms. He covers Psalms 1, 3, 8, 13, 42, 62, 73, 96, 104, and 150, in each looking at various prominent themes within those individual psalms and which can often be found in other psalms.

This book is a great introductory encouragement to deeper investigation of the psalms. The author is often incisive in his exploration. From what I can tell, the author is primarily approaching and discussing the psalms in English translation. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, but any reader who was expecting deep insights related to the original Hebrew will be disappointed.

For the distracted, or for the overly rational or secular, the psalms welcome and invite the people of God into greater communion with God, and thus to experience a richer, more enchanted, and ultimately healing relationship with Him. Anything which well points believers to the experience of the psalms thus can prove beneficial.