The Psalms as a Source of Peace

The psalms will work their special magic as they bring equanimity and peace into the lives of those who are plagued by impatience and subject to wild mood swings. This kind of conversion is illustrated by a story from the desert fathers.

It seems that a young and fervant young monk was becoming very impatient with his apparent lack of progress in the spiritual life. and so he went to a venerable and holy abba [father] to seek advice. He told the old man that he was careful to say all one hundred and fifty psalms each day as good monks are supposed to do. However, he was finding it more and more difficult to enter into the spirit of the joyful psalms on those days when was feeling depressed, just as it was hard to pray psalms like the Miserere [Psalm 51] when he was himself in a jubilant mood.

The old man nodded his head in recognition of the problem. The young monk then presented his own ingenious suggestion for dealing with this difficulty. He wondered if it would be better to say the seventy-five basically upbeat psalms twice during the week when he was in a buoyant mood and, conversely, the seventy-five basically downbeat psalms twice during the week when he felt sad and lonely. In this way, he explained, he would be able to say one hundred and fifty psalms each week and could also enter with more conviction into the spirit of the psalms he was reciting.

The old abba smiled and assured the young monk that, though he admired his ingenuity, it was obvious that he was very inexperienced in matters of the spirit. The old man went on then to pointout that it is precisely when we are feeling low that we should be saying the "Alleluia," as a reminder that many people in the world are rejoicing in their recognition of God's blessings in their lives. And we should also realize that it is precisely when we are feeling joyful that we should be saying the more sober psalms to make us aware of the many people who that day are saddened by grief or illness.

The young monk was thus reminded by the wise abba that a faithful praying of the psalms will enable us to escape from a dangerously self-centered view of life as we are made aware of the reality of our place in the community of all men and women. In this way, the peaks and valleys of our moods will be leveled out and we will begin to acquire that peace and equanimity that is the hallmark of true holiness as well as a basis for psychic good health.

From Demetrius Dumm, O.S.B., Cherish Christ Above All: The Bible in the Rule of Benedict (p. 6).