Trauma Healing through Psalms 136–139: a Trauma-Informed Canon-Critical Framework

Abstract This article draws together insights from trauma theory and the conversation in Psalms scholarship known as “Psalmenexegese und Psalterexegese” or as the question of “shape and shaping” to propose a reading of Pss 136–139 as a pathway to trauma healing. This sequence of psalms moves participants toward healing by preparing them for the work of trauma healing through a mantra-like focus (Ps 136), unleashing the full range of human stress-responses to trauma (Ps 137), directly answering each of these stress-responses (Ps 138), and then—in a dramatic resolution—characterizing God as intimately concerned with human biology and life while continuing to acknowledge ongoing experiences of pain and injustice (Ps 139). The article illustrates the proposed framework for trauma healing with examples from pastoral work with asylum-seekers.