He sings hymns and the Apocalypse, and the psalms of God,/which he expounds to build up God's people.

  - Sechnall, Audite Omnes Amantes (Irish, 5th century)

...be filled with the spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart...

  - Ephesians 5.18, 19

At the dinner table last night I asked, "So, are you considering any resolutions for the New Year?" Susie replied, "Do you do that?" I said, "Well, I update my Personal Rule about this time each year, but, otherwise, no, not really."

But most of us do something like this, if only in our minds. The time of year just seems to call for it: New Year, new beginnings, new endeavors, new...whatever.

I have a recommendation for improving your spiritual disciplines during the year to come.

It's interesting to ponder the centuries-long revival which began with Patrick and lasted until the 9th century: What were some of the keys to this truly amazing season? I'm not sure I know them all, but I think Sechnall, in his song about Patrick, identified at least one.

The use of the psalms in worship, prayer, instruction, and daily abiding in the Lord is a prominent feature of Celtic Christian life throughout this period. The psalms were a source of instruction, a guide to worship, and a handbook for prayers, both spoken and sung. Rooted in the psalms, Celtic Christians knew a closeness to God that made their experience of the faith much richer and more fruitful than what most of us tend to know.

When we are filled with the Spirit, Paul notes, we're never very far from the psalms, from singing them unto the Lord by ourselves and encouraging one another with them. The psalms offer an astonishing banquet of theological and spiritual food, one that we can never entirely consume, but one which, with every meal at that table, enables us to grow stronger in our faith.

This year, why not make praying and singing the psalms part of your daily walk with the Lord?

I have three suggestions to help you get started. First, sign up to receive John Nunnikhoven's daily newsletter, Voices Together. For nearly five years now John has been offering these daily prayers and meditations, reflecting on the psalms, as guides to help you learn how - as Colman of Ita explained - to make the psalms your own words to the Lord.

Second, order a copy of The Ailbe Psalter from our online store, and begin singing the psalms to familiar hymn tunes - the ones you sang growing up in church. If you'd like to try out singing the psalms before you commit to buying a psalter, write to me at the address below, and I'll send you a free Psalter Psampler to introduce you to the discipline of singing the psalms.

And if you want to make the psalms more consistently part of your prayers beginning this New Year, order a copy of God's Prayer Program from our online store, and I'll show you all the various ways you can begin to know power, joy, and consistency in your prayers such as you've never known before - all by learning to pray the psalms.

Maybe you don't do New Years' resolutions. But maybe you should think about taking up the psalms in prayer anyway.

This discipline fueled four centuries of revival from the days of Patrick to those of Cuthbert, and the last I checked, revival is a commodity on which our contemporary Church is running a bit low.

Today at The Fellowship

Let me encourage you to head over to the website and read Jesse Slussher's latest short story, "The Current." Then ask yourself, "Am I in that current?"

T. M. Moore, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.