In her book, The Cloister Walk, poet Kathleen Norris quotes a Benedictine monk as saying, “God behaves in the psalms in ways he is not allowed to behave in systematic theology.” The psalms are different. They speak to life in ways other scripture, doctrine, and theological presuppositions are not able. The psalms are poetry. As such, they offer a different view of life. The psalms offer a view of life that is thick, rich, and  runneth over. They seek not so much to explain but to offer the reality of life lived in all its messiness, both the pain and praise. Norris puts it this way, “… poetry’s function is not to explain but to offer images and stories that resonate with our lives.” The psalms capture the height, the depth, and the breadth of life lived in relationship to, and in covenant, with God.