Infrared

The author (by Anonymous – Life of David in the Psalms).
David wrote 73 of the 150 Psalms, while the remaining 77 were composed by various authors. David passed through a course of intensely difficult circumstances ranging from kingship to refugee. His life touched the human condition at nearly every point of defeat and victory. He was born a simple Shepard, and later given the throne of his nation; was successful in war, and known as the most beloved man in Israel. He was forced to live in exile and hiding for years of his life. He was hunted by his father in law, betrayed by those closest to him. His story, through foreign, is relatable in shadow to many of our own hardships. He was considered a man after God’s own heart, yet he was not infallible. David, was not given a a place in his family among seven other brothers, and was instead sentenced to work the fields at a very young age. As a teen he had already become a man of war, witnessing and enduring countess acts of gruesome violence. By all modern standards, David would have lived with the post effects of severe trauma. Anyone who has been through abuse or slavery is more than familiar with these scars.

It is said that Poets “learn in suffering what they teach in song.” Falling into adultery and committing murder himself, the psalms reveal the full expanse of emotion as David pours his heart like water over the feet of eternal hope. Each chapter flows as prayer in response to the circumstances of his life. These intimate verses shape our understanding of deliverance and outline the face of the deliver himself. David writes that God strengthened his “fingers to fight.” And he told us himself how that victory was sustained: “I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.” When David’s psalms speak of deliverance, which they repetitively do, the term embodies everything that God gave to free His people of their captivity – power, liberty, peace, rest, strength, justice – Himself. These promises are a roadmap to freedom – “for whatever man chooses to gaze at and meditate upon, that is what he will become”

The psalter.
A psalter is a volume containing the Book of Psalms, often with other material bound in as well. In medieval times, these books often included an illustration of each psalm.  In elaborate acts of devotion, Monks would be commissioned to pour over these biblical texts for years on end, hand copying the word of God and ornately decorating each letter. The illustrations were seen as an extension of the verses.  Similarly, the images accompanying each psalm here have already been explained, as the specific story of this collection cannot be fully told without them. Included are only the psalms written by King David himself, arranged in chronological order. David’s songs can be read looking back as if a personal journal of his struggles, or looking forward as guide for those yet traveling the road to deliverance.