Daily Tehillim
I have decided to begin using my ArtScroll Tehillim everyday. The power of reciting Tehillim (Psalms) each day is well known throughout the Jewish world and it has personally enhanced my connection with G-d. Do you read Tehillim daily or have you thought about it?
From the Publisher’s Preface of the ArtScroll Tehillim:
For Nearly three thousand years, every situation in a Jew’s life has been reflected in the chapters of Tehillim. This was the book of which Hashem said to King David, “One day of your songs and praises is more precious to Me than the thousands of offerings that will be offered by your son Solomon.” In illness and in strife, in triumph and in success, the Jew turns to his Book of Psalms and lets David become the harp upon which his own emotions sing or weep.
I found the following on a blog I read from time-to-time and I found it very moving.
My name is Rina (this is not her real name), and I live in Gush Etzion. A few months ago, when I was in my car, riding towards Gush Etzion, there was a serious traffic jam. When I reached the Gush, I saw the reason for the heavy traffic – there had been an accident, and cars were standing in the road. Out of curiosity, I looked quickly to see what had happened. I was startled to see a completely smashed car blocking the road, with a body lying on the road, covered with a sheet.
I wonder who the poor dead person might be, I thought to myself. Is it a single person or somebody married, somebody with a family or not, a man or a woman? Will there now be new orphans or perhaps bereaved parents who do not yet know what has happened? I got out of my car and took out a book of Tehillim, and I prayed with flowing tears and with great devotion. After a little while, the traffic started to move. I returned to my car and went home as fast as I could.
Please read the whole thing.
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I’m curious about this: my Artscroll prayerbook divides the psalms exactly the same way as the Anglican Book of Common Prayer (although it calls the "morning" section "evening" and vice versa). The Anglicans have been using that pattern for over 500 years. Who did it first? DovBear notes this liturgical curiosity too.
I really liked reading this post. Some people recite Tehillim regularly; others in specific situations (personal need, emergency, illness). I have not made reading them a regular part of my life, though I love their inclusion in much of the daily prayer liturgy. One goal I have for my post-parenting-small-children life is to have time for regular tefillah, including the time to familiarize myself with the book of Tehillim. While Rina’s story is an experience few of us can boast of, I think Tehillim have the power to focus the scattered, distressed thoughts of the person saying Tehillim, and perhaps exercise some healing power in that way.