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Ooo, now we’re wading into delightfully foreign territory. Art.
The next three weeks I’m going to briefly describe three pools that must be waded into in order to get the most out of the book of Psalms: Poetry, Parallelism, and Imagery. These are not only literary terms, but also artistic terms. For most of us these three pools are more foreign bodies of murky water, than cool, chlorinated, wave pools of enjoyment. That’s okay; I’ll try and help you get over your fear of artistic water.
First off, it barely needs to be said that the Psalms are poetry. Anyone can open their Bible and look at the very structure of the Psalms and see symmetry, extra space in between short lines, and repetition. These are all dead give-aways to the presence of poetry. That, and the fact, that as soon as you start reading one of them you realize there are parts of what you are reading that don’t make any sense at all. This is where mere poetry becomes dreaded poetry. It’s in what we don’t understand at first that we exhibit fear and loathing.
But that is ultimately the beauty and drawing factor to poetry. What one person immediately understands and connects with, another person just sits there staring at and stumped. “Well, what on earth does that mean?” And, even more frustrating, you can’t just dismiss it because it came from a real person. It, again, reflects the puzzlement that comes with human emotion. That frustration is to your benefit. It leads to depth. What scares you about poetry, when pursued courageously, is actually what deepens your will, enlightens your mind, invigorates your imagination, and touches your emotions.
Add to the parade of puzzlement this second reality regarding the Psalms. They are Old Testament poetry. They aren’t 1960’s hippie poetry. They aren’t 1980’s pop materialistic poetry. They are Old Testament Hebrew poetry. This is important to keep in mind because if a song comes on the radio from the 60’s and you don’t get the lyrics you could turn to your father or grandfather and ask them about it. But other than in the Bible, I don’t know any Old Testament Hebrews.
In the next two weeks, I’m going to introduce you to two habits that Old Testament Hebrew poets had in writing their songs. And just being able to know and identify those habits as you read through the Psalms will not only diminish your fears, but also maximize your confident worship of God through these poetic Psalms.
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