Week 1
Day 5

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Psalms: Introduction

The Psalms Conjoin us with Heaven.

PP 283. Psalm 33:1-9 A song in praise of the Lord because the church is from Him through the Word.

Psalm 33

Sing aloud, O ye just, in Jehovah;

For the upright, His praise is comely.

Confess unto Jehovah with the harp;

With the psaltery of ten strings sing psalms to Him.

Sing to Him a new song;

Strum well with a shout.

For the Word of Jehovah is upright;

And all His work is in truthfulness.

He loves justice and judgment;

The mercy of Jehovah fills the earth.

By the Word of Jehovah the heavens were made;

And by the spirit of His mouth, all their army.

He gathers together the waters of the sea as a heap,

Putting the abysses in treasuries.

Let all the earth fear Jehovah;

Let all who dwell in the world be afraid of Him.

For He said, and it was;

He commanded, and it stood.

The psalms, as part of the Word, give us conjunction with heaven.

SS 104. The people outside the church who are not in possession of the Word have light by its means.

SS 108. African spirits from Abyssinia¹³ were present with me. On a certain occasion their ears were opened so that they heard the singing of a psalm of David in some place of worship in this world. This affected them with such delight that they too sang along with that congregation. Presently their ears were closed so that they heard nothing of the singing, but they were then affected with a delight which was still greater because it was spiritual, and they were at the same time filled with intelligence, because that Psalm treated of the Lord and of redemption. The cause of this increase of delight was that there was opened to them a communication with that society in heaven which was in conjunction with those in this world who were singing that psalm.

From this and many other such experiences it has become evident to me that communication with the universal heaven is brought about by means of the Word. And for this reason, there exists, by the Lord’s Divine Providence, a universal commercial exchange of the kingdoms of Europe—and chiefly of those [kingdoms] where the Word is read—with the nations outside the church.¹⁴

Some people in Mongolia who had the Psalms

SD 6077. The inhabitants of the Tartary close to China—Lesser Tartary.
There were some from that country with me.... They spoke of the country where they lived, that it was populous, and that they knew nothing about war. They knew of China and of Siberia.... When they came, they marveled that they should be questioned by Christians as to God being a man, since they believed that all knew this, without any question whether it is so. In like manner [they marveled at being asked] about the precepts of the Decalogue; for example, regarding only one wife, whether they live this way, as if they did not know that everyone so lived, since the Lord wills it, etc. They stated that they have houses where they are taught about life and about the commandments of God. They said that they had a book, respecting which people elsewhere do not know that they have it. They called it the Divine Book; they read it, and are instructed by it and understand it. Inquiry was made, and it was the Psalms of David.... They also possess the Decalogue.

The psalms are read in heaven.

SD 5660. How maidens are educated in the other life and in heaven ....

SD 5666. Coins of silver or of gold are given to them. These they carefully treasure up, because they are tokens of industry or of virtue.

They have the written Word and Psalters, and they take them with them to the preachings. They likewise read in them; and if they do not read, either some garment is taken away, or the little garden disappears.

¹³ Today called Ethiopia and Eritrea

¹⁴ See also AC 1771, SD 335, 5947, LJ pos. 122; the Psalms with the Tartars: SD 6077, LJ pos. 133

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