Our world moves fast. Often, it’s way too fast. If you were to take the opportunity to intentionally slow down, and then slow down some more, and then slow down some more, you would probably still be doing a bit too much.
As John Eldredge writes in Get Your Life Back, “My soul just can’t move at the speed of smartphones.” He makes an excellent point. Is the world moving faster than your soul is able to keep up? Is your soul safe and secure at the pace you’re currently living?
If you read those questions and have no idea how to answer them, you’re moving too fast. It isn’t just important to take intentional opportunities to quiet your mind, heart, and soul, it’s an essential priority. This time of intentionally slowing down isn’t something to be done every day for a week, or even a month. It’s a lifelong practice. Setting aside time to allow your soul to receive the rest God intended is essential.
Recently, I wrote about the Pause App, and how I’m finding it to be an extremely useful tool to help me slow down twice a day. I’ve continued to walk through a 5 minute or 10 minute Pause twice daily, and the benefits are tremendous.
There are other resources which help me slow down as well. And many of these tie in well with our Summer in the Psalms message series.
One Daily Devotional for the Psalms which I regularly read is The Songs of Jesus by Timothy Keller. Prior to writing this daily devotional, Keller and his wife Kathy read through the Psalms every month for over 20 years. Think about that. All 150 Psalms. Every month. For 20 years. That’s a lot of time in the Psalms.
Each daily reading consist of a brief reading of a Psalm, a short devotional, a question to ponder, and a prayer.
Fortunately, Keller has a devotional with a similar format for Proverbs as well. If you’re looking for a morning reading and an evening one, each of these devotionals are excellent. Just be sure to keep a journal nearby so you can write out an answer to each question for reflection. You’ll get even more out of each reading by taking this essential step.
Another Daily Devotional for the Psalms is In the Lord I Take Refuge by Dane Ortlund. Here, Ortlund provides a devotional reading for each Psalm. As such, there are 150 devotionals, as opposed to the 365 in Keller’s book. Despite the number of readings, there are tremendous treasures to be mined within these pages. It’s an excellent resource and one I’m glad to carry with me.
Finally, beloved Pastor and author Eugene Peterson has a 365 day devotional for the Psalms. Simply titled, Praying with the Psalms, the author of the Message breaks down the Psalms with the goal of aiding the reader to encompass a more disciplined prayer life. If you’d like to dig deeper into the Psalms and grow in your prayer life, Peterson’s devotional is an excellent resource.
However you may choose to more fully engage with the Psalms, may God’s Word continue to provide your mind, heart, and soul with rest.
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I am really looking forward to this series. I thought I’d slow down when I retired but the world advises retirees to keep busy. All that has done is move me further from God. I’m going to change that, hopefully with reading Psalms.