Psalm Books in Order

The Psalm series is built around a simple idea, what if each biblical psalm were paired with a short novel that shows how its words might have risen from real lives. Each book in the broader collection focuses on a particular psalm, weaving its laments and praises into the story of ordinary people facing crisis.

Mesu Andrews's contribution, By the Waters of Babylon, centers on Psalm 137, the captives' song that begins, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept for Zion." After Jerusalem falls, a young Israelite woman is torn from her home and carried toward Babylon by a mercenary Scythian prince. Her determination to find her enslaved husband collides with his loyalty to his people and their gods.

As the caravan moves through hostile terrain, she wrestles with grief, anger, and the God who seemed to abandon Jerusalem. The prince, raised in a warrior culture that prizes fear and strength, begins to question his own gods as he watches the courage of the captives and meets the prophet Ezekiel along the journey.

By the Waters of Babylon reads like a bridge between familiar Old Testament narratives. It connects earlier stories about Judah's kings and prophets to the long season of exile, showing how psalms of lament could have grown out of specific faces and places rather than abstract theology.

Readers who enjoy Mesu Andrews's longer novels will find the same careful research and emotional depth in this shorter work, but with a tighter focus on one psalm and one desperate journey. It is a good entry point if you want to experience the psalms through historical fiction before committing to a full length book.