Thomas Merton and the Psalms

This past Sunday (January 31st) would have been Thomas Merton’s 106th birthday. Anyone who has taken the time to read any of his writings knows that the Psalms were vitally important to him. Praying the Psalms daily as a monk in choir, as well as on his own in the hermitage, was for Merton his daily bread. The Psalms influenced so much of his writing, including not only his writing on contemplation, but also his books and essays on justice, non-violence, and inter-faith dialogue. Liturgical Press publishes a short, but very insightful book by Merton on the importance of the Psalms called Praying the Psalms. If you haven’t read Merton before, it is a great entry point to his writings.

“…the Psalms not only form our minds according to the mind of the Church, not only direct our thoughts and affections to God, but they establish us in God, they unite us to Christ. But they do this only if our hearts follow their thoughts and words back to the inspired source…. Therefore the sentiments of the Psalmist, which are the thoughts and sentiments of God Himself in His Church, must lead us into the hidden sanctuary of God. Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also. The function of the Psalms is to reveal to us God as the ‘treasure’ whom we love because He has first loved us, to hide us, heart and soul, in the depths of His infinite Light. The Psalms, therefore, lead us to contemplation.” -Praying the Psalms