Today's episode is part one of our June series on the book of Psalms.

Psalms is one of the longest books of the Bible – though, as we discover – not THE longest.

Who wrote the Psalms, and why do we (mistakenly) think it was King David?

We discuss what a Psalm is and the different styles and types of Psalms that are compiled into the book, from Psalms of praise to court psalms to imprecatory psalms – similar to the rage prayers of the Rev. Elizabeth Riley, an Episcopal priest, TikTok personality (@theRevRiley), and author of “Rage Prayers.”

We talk about how the Psalms are broken into five books, mirroring the five books of the Torah, and how the poetry style of the Psalms is frequently parallelism. What is the most important Psalm? Did you know that there are other "psalms" in the Bible – but we don’t usually call them that.

We end with our best tips for reading the Book of Psalms, and hope that they help you this month!

For this episode, Elliot references “The Book of Psalms” by Robert Alter, as well as our New Oxford Annotated NRSV Bible, as always.

PS: The Feast Day of St. Dunstan is May 19th.

Cross Connections is a ministry of ⁠⁠St. David’s Episcopal Church in Wayne, PA⁠⁠. Season two, Cover to Cover is hosted by the Rev. Rick Morley, Elliot VanHoy, and Natalee Hill.

A full copy list of readings for 2025 may be found on our website at ⁠⁠https://stdavidschurch.org/crossconnections⁠⁠/

If you have questions for us, you can call us at 484.588.5656 and leave a voicemail with your name, where you’re from, and your question or comment. Please note, we may use your recorded voice in an upcoming episode of Cross Connections. You can also email us at crossconnections@stdavidschurch.org.

Logo graphic design and podcast production by Natalee Hill. Stock Media Music provided by Marscott and MoodMode / ⁠⁠Pond5⁠⁠.

You are welcome to learn more about all of St. David’s worship offerings and ministries at ⁠⁠ https://stdavidschurch.org/.