Opening line: ‘This is not a work of scholarship. I am no Hebraist, no higher critic, no ancient historian, no archaeologist. I write for the unlearned about things in which I am unlearned myself.’

The title says it all: in Reflections on the Psalms, C. S. Lewis sits down to have a conversation with the reader, a fellow Christian who reads the Psalms, and wonders about this ancient poetry that we find so dear. He writes about the difficult things we read — such as judgement, connivance, cursing — as well as the beautiful things, the praising of the Lord. As he says in the opening line, this is no work of scholarship. This is simply one believer talking about the Psalms with another.

This book came highly recommended from a friend of mine when I’d mentioned I hadn’t read much of C. S. Lewis’s nonfiction. By serendipity, he couldn’t have recommended a better book to start with: I read the Psalms daily and have done for a very long time. As soon as I read the opening lines I knew I would enjoy reading these reflections. I found a kindred spirit who wonders at the same words, who finds the humanity of the Psalms both a comfort and a challenge.