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This past Sunday, we continued our sermon series on Cultivating Fruits of the Spirit by focusing on Peace. We looked at Psalm 23, one of the most beloved and comforting passages in Scripture — but we explored it not as a static promise of stillness, but as a prayer we return to in the middle of real life.
Peace, we said, isn’t the absence of struggle. It’s something we carry through struggle. It’s found when we know who our Shepherd is, even when the path winds through valleys and shadows. To help us reflect on the tension between peace and progress, we turned to the discography of Jay-Z, who quotes Psalm 23 twice in his music. We listened to six songs and considered how his career arc might help us to reflect on the three visions of God put forward in the Psalm:
Jay-Z’s story helped us wrestle with the search for peace in a world driven by hustle, injustice, and change. It reminded us that praying the psalms doesn’t mean pretending everything is fine — it means bringing our whole selves to God, trusting that peace is found not by escaping life, but by walking through it with God. If you’re looking to go deeper this week, here are three resources that explore the power of the Psalms — and how they speak into our world today: 📘 Praying the Psalms by Thomas Merton Thomas Merton was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist, and scholar of comparative religion. In this short but powerful book, he begins by asking: Why has the Church always considered the Psalms her most perfect book of prayer? Merton’s answer is that the psalms are not ancient and dusty — they are young, full of purity, sincerity, and spiritual vitality. He sees them as the means of full participation in the liturgy and the deepening of one’s interior life. Merton invites us to set aside modern prejudices and recover a more contemplative posture — praying the psalms not just with our minds, but with our souls. He believes that in the Psalms, Christ prays in us, and we are united with Him in praise, lament, and longing. The second half of the book walks through key psalms and invites us into their world, not just for study, but for transformation. It’s a wonderful read for anyone curious about how to pray the psalms not as poetry, but as spiritual practice. 📘 Psalms of My People: A Story of Black Liberation as Told through Hip Hop by Lenny Duncan In this powerful and creative work, black trans Lutheran pastor Lenny Duncan treats hip-hop as sacred scripture. Through exegetical reflection and stunning artwork, Duncan explores how artists like Tupac, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z are modern-day psalmists, giving voice to the pain and hope of Black America. This book is a brilliant companion to Psalm 23 — especially if you're interested in how music, race, and theology intersect. Duncan’s thesis is bold and deeply moving: if we want to understand the Black experience in the U.S., we must understand hip-hop. It is, in their words, “a conduit to tell the modern story of Black liberation.” 📰 “Jay-Z on Therapy, Marriage, and Being a Black Man in America” (Interview by Dean Baquet, The New York Times) This long-form interview offers a rare, vulnerable look at Jay-Z’s evolution as an artist, husband, and human being. Baquet (then executive editor of The New York Times) asks thoughtful questions about race, identity, therapy, and legacy. Jay-Z reflects candidly on his childhood, his marriage, the weight of Black celebrity, and the spiritual cost of hustle culture. If you were intrigued by the sermon’s use of Jay-Z’s music to explore Psalm 23, this interview offers rich context for how his life mirrors the psalmist’s journey — from green pastures to dark valleys and back again. Peace isn’t something we stumble upon. It’s something we cultivate — with honesty, prayer, art, and reflection. This week, may these resources give you new language for the journey and remind you that even in the midst of chaos, God is still leading us beside still waters.
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