Psalms for Praying

A much-needed resource for home liturgies and individual prayer.–Contemporary SpiritualityThe very liveliness of the Psalms causes us to want to say them in our own language. Nan Merrill has doen this marvelously, and I’m grateful for this labor of imagination and love.–Madeleine L’EngleMerrill allows the Psalms to be something new, fresh, contemporary, and yet themselves.–Walter Wink“Psalms for Praying, 150 quasi-paraphrases by Nan. C. Merrill has been revised to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It pertains to people praying any or all of the Psalms less woodenly or bewilderingly or distantly than they otherwise might, being neither ancient Hebrews nor Bible scholars. She loosens things up. In Psalm 10 she turns the words “the wicked hotly pursue the poor” (and, on the face of it, causing trouble for us good guys) to ‘I strike out against those weaker than myself.” With her nimbly turning the tables, we pray-ers see ourselves on the other side of the picture. We may find ourselves more nimble and humble when next we open our Bibles to Psalm 10?or to chapter 10 or verse 10 anywhere else in the inspired set of Books.” - Philip C. Fischer, Review for Religious, Vol. 66, 2007 – Reviews for ReligiousMerrill has reworked the Psalms in a loving, contemplative manner, which betrays none of the book’s original vigor or essence. Rather, in a mode that is fresh and eloquent, Merrill’s psalms evoke that deep sense of reverence and soul-stirring dialogue with the divine that is often eclipsed by the fear of the divine. Highly recommended for all libraries.–Library Journal * Library Journal *

Nan C. Merrill is the author of Psalms for Praying: An Invitation to Wholeness, which has sold 50,000 copies and is in a tenth-anniversary edition. Her widely used Meditations and Mandalas: Simple Songs for the Spiritual Life is also published by Continuum. Merrill founded the monthly newsletter Friends of Silence, served with urban parish teams, facilitated retreats, and was engaged in prison ministry for more than thirty years. She passed away in January 2010.