Webster defines psalm as “a sacred song or poem used in praise or worship.” Such psalms comprise Songs from the Stillness, by Justin Kuiper, which takes readers and listeners on a transformative journey from attention to appreciation, wonder to gratitude, worship to self-examination, and from repentance to a deeper relationship with our loving Creator God.
With each discovery of the Spirit’s infusion throughout creation, Kuiper heightens his reader’s sense of the glory and magnitude of the One who created such things, spawning a response of both worship and reflection as well as a renewed and intensified motivation to know God better and participate in God’s works of goodness in the world.
Songs from the Stillness presents a short poem for every day throughout a life-changing year of transition for the author. The poems trace the writer’s journey through celebration and rest, grief and loss, the anticipation of change and entering college—all while training himself to recognize, claim, and receive the nourishing stillness that exists around us. He explains that the book is written with three goals in mind: teaching himself (and readers) to perceive the holiness in all of creation, seeking the heart of God and His mercy within the stillness that exists within and around us, and resisting the striving and distraction that tempts us to rely upon ourselves and our own accomplishments.
Referring to “the sacrament of stillness” that beckons us ever closer to the heart of God, Kuiper writes, “If somehow you are able to touch the hem of the glorious Maker through this book in the stillness between lines, then my job is done.” He accomplishes these goals with admirable, humble, and courageous authenticity. Making a sincere, direct address to God in most of his poems, Kuiper brings praise and gratitude, as well as genuine questions and pleas before the Lord. At times the reader may imagine him to be a present-day version of the Old Testament’s David, transforming from shepherd into spiritual leader. Kuiper’s attention to, and appreciation for even the most mundane findings within creation is so beautifully delivered that it expands the reader’s perceptions and interpretations of their own experiences. Consider his poem from November 19:
Help me, oh Lord, to listen to my life. To experience every
sense, every fleeting flame of moment, for the wide,
fathomless mystery it is. For there at the heart
of every passing second, is a hidden and holy sanctuary in which
like a cosmos alive in shy shades—powder blue
and breathy pink and tender yellow—a pastel of
high beauty seen only when I look upward from the sallow earths
around me.
The spirit of worship and introspection that comes from such rich understanding permeates the collection as one reads these modern-day psalms with their eloquent wording, musicality, imagery, and invitations to greater worship and faith. His poem for September 17 reads,
Teach my soul where and how I might seek you.
Truly, oh Lord, you dwell in unapproachable light, a light
that heals and makes new, yet also strips sinew from bone and
delves painfully into dark caverns I wish not to roam.
Yet I long for you, I yearn to look full in your face. Who will lead
me into this light that I might at once be blinded yet also come to
see?
Reminding us of God’s continuing promise to “make all things new,” Justin Kuiper is a poet and devout disciple of Christ worth watching and following with great anticipation. Songs from the Stillness will sing in your heart long after your first reading—and you will want to read them again and again.
