Reflections on the Psalms

Lewis signals a change of subject and tone with this chapter: it turns away from moral concerns to discuss the idea of beauty and joy in the Psalms. Judaism shared ancient religion’s concern with animal sacrifice and also with festivity, joy, and “delight in God” which contrasts with “dutiful ‘church-going’” attitudes of today. Lewis cites David’s dancing before the Arc of the Covenant as an example of this “robust, virile, and spontaneous” (46) joy, which he finds “The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me” (45).

In fact, ancient Jewish religious consciousness did not distinguish between the spiritual love of God and the externals of religious festivity, especially at the Temple in Jerusalem. For them, “Life was one,” and they did not separate religion from other aspects of life such as “music, or festivity, or agriculture” (47). In fact, many of the Psalms relate directly to the sacred worship of the Temple; they speak of singers, minstrels, and processions that took place there, and the experience of “‘seeing’ the Lord” reflects experiences of liturgical ritual.

However, this frame of mind holds a latent danger in that the experience of ritual can become “a substitute for, and a rival to, God Himself” (48).