From New Testament times, the Christian Church has continued to use the Psalms in worship, singing, reading and reciting them. In modern times, new music has been composed for many of them, in line with modern tastes. Not long ago, verses from Psalm 137 were used by a 'pop' group to produce a version of that Psalm which became very popular, although it is unlikely that many of the people who listened to it understood its background. The reason for the continued use and popularity of the Psalms in Christian worship is not hard to find. The Psalms originated in the life situations of people who wanted to know God; the ways in which they expressed their search for God and their experience of God's living power in their lives still speaks to us today. When we understand what Psalm 22:1-18 is saying, we find that it expresses the terrible sufferings that millions of people in our own times have experienced, in the wars and disasters of our times. It also prepares us for the sufferings of Jesus on the cross. It teaches us about suffering. But the final part of the Psalm teaches us about God's victory over the evil that causes suffering, and we need this message today just as much as the people in the time ofthe psalmist needed it. From the New Testament we know that the final victory over evil is assured. We have an assurance which the psalmist did not have, and yet he expressed his faith in words which we can repeat as our own words of praise.

We can join with the psalmist in the songs of praise, such as Psalm 150, which is exuberantly joyful and which indicates how praise ought to be offered to God for his goodness, with absolute whole-heartedness, We can find Christian understanding of a Psalm such as Psalm 2, understanding it to refer to the Lordship of Christ. There has to be Christian reinterpretation of many passages in the Psalms, because of the new light that the New Testament has thrown on what was written originally for a different situation.

We have already seen that the passages which curse evil men and call for retributive punishment on them, cannot be part of Christian prayer and worship. It is a matter for Christian conscience and Church teaching as to how such passages should be treated. In some Churches, such verses are omitted in public use of the Psalms which contain them. In other Churches, the verses are retained but suitable teaching is given about how they may be understood in our times.