Book Review: The Psalms of David

Sometimes the soul can feel dry. The challenges and demands on it can bring us to the point of feeling numb and empty. It’s been a season of great emotional expenditures in our family. There have been some hard things and some incredibly wonderful things, but I’m weary. Through it all, He has been so very close. And I give Him praise!

But that weariness of soul is why I chose to read this book over the last few days.

I LOVE the Psalms! And always enjoy spending time there. So why not just read the book of Psalms in my Bible? Because this book is such an incredible feast for the eyes! It isn’t often I find such nourishment for my spirit wrapped in such a beautiful package for my soul.

And to make it even better, there is a precious story behind this lovely volume.

James S. Freemantle was born in India after his father came there from Yorkshire, serving in the army. The year was 1859 and the foreword says that his education was of an ordinary sort. He never had any formal art instruction, which makes the beauty of this book even more remarkable. Began around 1906 after his marriage to his second wife, Clara, the book took him 30 years to finish. “Not a religious man,” he intended it as a testimony of his love for her.

His son explains in the Foreword how his father would work on it in the evenings and ½ a page per night was considered good progress. Included in the pages are flowers and animals and buildings that could be seen around them during their life in India. The illustrations are beautiful. But I think the thing that is most amazing to me is the calligraphy. He uses so many different styles and colors and embellishments that I spent a great deal of time simply drinking in the beauty. Even the paper on which the pages are printed is lovely. The book is extraordinarily heavy for its size because the paper is of such a heavy weight.

Here is a link so that you can see inside the book. The copyright was very specific and so I didn't want to take pictures for this post.

                                       

The Psalms of David is a lovely way to immerse yourself in these powerful Scriptures, feasting your spirit and your soul.

This is #19 for me in the 52 in 52 challenge.