U2's Bono: What I've Learned About Myself and the Prophetic From Reading Psalms

Leah Marieann Klett : May 11, 2017
Gospel Herald

"And what's so powerful about the Psalms are, as well as their being Gospel and songs of praise, they are also the Blues. It's very important for Christians to be honest with God, which often, you know, God is much more interested in who you are than who you want to be." -Bono

(Pasadena, CA)—[Gospel Herald] U2 frontman Bono has said that through reading the Psalms, he's discovered that God listens—but man does not listen enough. (Screengrab: Bono/ via YouTube/Fuller Studio)

In a recent video series with David Taylor, a theology and culture professor at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, the Irish rocker was asked to identify the one thing he's learned about God while reading the Psalms.

"He listens," Bono said.

When asked what he learned about himself through the Psalms, the "Vertigo" singer admitted, "I don't listen enough." He added that the most "troubling and difficult" thing the Psalms required of him was "honesty."  

Bono further discussed the importance of listening in the fourth installment with Taylor, encouraging pastors to "look for the drawing in the sand," referring to John 8:1-11.

"I say this because it's my own aspiration to listen more, to be silent more. To both draw in the sand more and to look for the drawing in the sand more," he said. (Screengrab: Bono/ via YouTube/Fuller Studio)

"I don't know why we don't know what Jesus wrote in the sand. It's telling that we don't know. The privacy of that moment is sort of rich. In a world where there is no privacy, that's a rich moment."

The singer also said that he believes all art is by nature "prophetic," and "if the job of the prophet is to describe the state of the soul, the soul of the city, if we want to know what's really going on ... you've got to really go look at the art."

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