The Ascent of the Christian Life (The Songs of Degrees)

Our spiritual lives should be lives of ascent. Certainly the pinnacle of our spiritual walk is not something which is achieved all at once. Our spiritual experiences with the Lord can be described as different degrees, as a series of steps, as varying stages of growth. The Christian life is to be a continual advancing, a continual going forward and going upward. We should never be standing still; if we remain stationary in one experience or become stranded at one stage, we will find that our spiritual lives suffer and become frustrated. Failing to grow onward, we could eventually go back on God. These Songs of Degrees, also called the "Psalms of Ascent," present a spiritual journey of the soul's growing hunger and intensifying desire for Christ. In this writing we present a simplistic ascent of the redeemed soul through the teachings of the New Testament set in types and shadows from the Psalms of Degrees (Psalms 120-134).