I have published a new daily devotional, The Politics of Praise: Devotional Readings on Psalms 72 & 146. In the book readers pray through Psalms 72 and 146, meditating on one verse at a time. These prayer-poems formed the political life of ancient Israel. If we pray them we will also find God shaping our values and political agendas. The writer of Psalm 146 minimizes the importance of governmental leaders as he recounts Yahweh’s acts of great power and commitment to justice for people on society’s margins. Psalm 72’s author offers a prayer for the king to rule justly, care for the oppressed, and have God’s blessing. Paired together these psalms exhibit a dynamic picture of God’s political agenda.

When we face the temptation to confuse our commitment to the kingdom of God with our commitment to our country, the writer of Psalm 146 reminds us hope and salvation come from Yahweh alone. When we want to write off governmental leaders as useless at best or obstructions to God’s purposes at worst, the writer of Psalm 72 gives us words to pray for our leaders so that they might be held accountable to God’s political agenda.

Along with thirty-two daily readings and reflections, The Politics of Praise also contains brief essays on Yahweh’s political agenda and how praying these psalms aligns our priorities with God’s. Other essays explain the method of devotional reading I propose and how it differs from other important ways of reading the Bible. Two appendices at the end of the guide describe some of the textual, cultural, and historical details of the psalms, while maintaining a devotional posture toward the Scripture.

The Politics of Praise is available at Amazon.com for $3.99 on the Kindle format, or $7.99 in paperback. A free preview is available on the Amazon product page. If you don’t have a Kindle, you can still purchase and read the guide electronically by downloading the free reader app that works on smart phones, tablets, PC’s, and Macs.

I have written three other self-published devotionals on various psalms: Delivered from All My Fears: Devotional Readings on Psalm 34, My Companions are in Darkness: Devotional Readings on Psalm 88, On the Glorious Splendor: Devotional Readings on Psalm 145. Eddy Ekmekji and I co-wrote an Advent devotional, Embrace the Coming Light. All these books are available for purchase in Kindle or paperback at Amazon.com. Feel free to also visit and “Like” my author pages at Amazon and Facebook.