Dangerous Songs: The Psalms and a Gloriously Disrupted Life

The Psalms are dangerous. These ancient songs inspire us and bring us a sense of joy, but they also scare us. They might even transform our faith.

The Psalms of the Hebrew Bible testify to a rich, complicated life–150 stories from a people passionate and honest about the complexities of human experience. The psalmists were creative, openhearted musicians who composed and sang with their community. Their lyrics reveal that they clearly struggled with God and wrestled with their place in the world. Over time, Christians have eschewed this complexity in favor of an unhelpful model of relating to God, one that prioritizes happiness, purity, and prosperity. This model depicts a fragile God who demands praise and is disappointed in brokenness. It lessens God in our eyes and erects barriers between us. Fortunately, to counter this model, we need only reengage with the Psalms on their own terms.

Taking us on a tour through the Psalms, Dangerous Songs explores three grand dimensions of human life–thriving, desolation and uncertainty. With an eye toward trauma theory, the psychology of recovery, practices of cultivating delight, and the inherent musicality of the Psalms, longtime Psalms teacher Richard Bruxvoort Colligan offers an integrative approach to the complexity of life and lifelong spiritual formation. People have long turned to the Psalms for comfort and consolation. Now Dangerous Songs also reveals how, if we read them with fresh eyes and a willing heart, these ancient texts will wreck our perfectly okay faith–and transform it into something deeper.