Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Psalms published by Tom Vander Well beginning in July 2020. Posts will be added as they are published. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post. Chapter and title are found in the caption of each photo.
In this episode, we’re going to talk about metaphor and the books of poetry (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs). From “Why do bad things happen to good people?” to a healthy expression of the God-given expression of sexuality, this episode is an entry-level introduction to ancient Hebrew poetry and how it continues to resonate with us today.
Previous episodes in this series:
Part 1: Mystery, Context, & Metaphor
Part 2: Decoding & Diving In
Part 3: Meta-Themes of the Great Story
Part 4: Books of Law
Part 5: Books of History
Part 6: Books of Poetry
David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, timbrels, cymbals and trumpets. 1 Chronicles 13:8 (NIV)
For the better part of this year, we’ve been journeying through the story of David and before that the psalms which are ancient song lyrics attributed largely to David. In a bit of synchronicity, the group of believers with whom Wendy and I worship on Sunday mornings are starting a series of messages on the life of David next week. It flows out of a five week series in which we’ve been looking at the “chain reaction of praise,” and I’ve been asked to give the lead off message of the series.
The connection between the two series is the fact that, no matter the circumstances, David was a man of praise and faith. David the hero, David the warrior, David the outlaw, David the sinner, David the King, David the victim — no matter which part of David’s life you study you find him seeking God, praising God, crying to God, and consulting God. You can almost always find a psalm that corresponds to a particular episode in David’s life. Throughout his long journey David was always translating his daily life experiences into songs, poems, and prayers of faith and praise.
I thought about that as I read this morning of David the King who was not embarrassed nor ashamed to worship and dance “with all his might” before God and the ark of the covenant. He was not concerned with what it might look like to others. He was not worried about looking cool, kingly, and above it all. He was not one to order others to do his praising for him. For David, his relationship with God was not just “a part of the job.” David’s relationship with God was personal from the time he was a boy until he was uttering his last words on his death bed.
Today, I’m thinking about my own life and David’s example. I don’t want my faith and praise to be a compartment of my life which I take out on Sunday morning and sundry, appropriate occasions. I don’t want my faith to fit neatly into others sense of propriety. I want my praise to be with “all my might” and my relationship to be intensely personal each and every day of my life.
…while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did.
1 Samuel 18:10 (NLT)
Manliness is most often associated in our culture with strength, grit, and accomplishment on the field of battle, athletics, or business. King David was, no doubt, a man’s man for his military prowess and leadership. When an entire nation is singing the praises of the tens of thousands of enemy you’ve slain, you’ve got to feel the testosterone surge. I’m just saying. When it comes to masculinity, David was a stud.
But the thing I personally love about David is that there was a balance to his masculinity. Not only could the guy wield sling and sword, fight lions and bears, kill giants and lead successful military campaigns, but he was also a poet, songwriter, and musician. Most of the lyrics we read in the book of Psalms were penned by David. He could express himself and his emotions in beautiful and creative ways. He could play harp and lyre with such beauty that it drove away the darkness and lifted the spirits of those who listened.
Masculinity is much more than the stereotypical muscles, mechanics, and athletic ability. Being a man is equally about walking in the ways of the Creator who expresses His person and character metaphorically in all manner of beautiful acts of creation. There is a balance which we see embodied in David who was both warrior and poet, creator and defender, and man after God’s own heart.
Blessed is the man
who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers. (Psalm 1:1-3 NIV)
If you’ve ever had a bout of insomnia (I have occasional stretches myself), you’ve likely found yourself watching television in the wee hours when you’ll find infomercials for various multi-disc musical compilations such as “Soft Rock of the 70s.”
Our journey into the Psalms might well begin like a cheesy early morning infomercial complete with perky and beautiful middle-aged couple or elderly has-been musicians who are uber-excited about the hits of ancient Hebrew worship. That’s because you can consider Psalms as a book of lyrics to a giant musical compilation. These were the greatest worship hits of ancient Israel. The cool thing is, not only did the producers put together this compilation book of lyrics (c. 300 B.C.), they took great pains to arrange the song lyrics in very specific order so that that entire collection is a work of instructional art in and of itself. The compilation is a single work of art made up of 150 works of lyrical/poetic art.
The first two songs (Psalms 1 and 2) were chosen as introduction to the entire book. They have no title, but act as a lyric overture to the entire compilation. Take notice of the bookends. The first line of Psalm 1 and the last line of Psalm 2 start with “Blessed is….” The message being that those who journey through this compilation, those who delight in God’s Message (Psalm 1:1-2) and take refuge God (Psalm 2:12) will be blessed.
Today, I’m excited about creativity. I’m grateful that Creator God inspires musicians, poets and writers. I’m knocked out by the artistic detail of those who compiled the Psalms and creatively assembled this volume in such a way that it added layers of depth and meaning to the compilation itself, extending the metaphorical value of the individual songs themselves.
The deeper I journey into God’s Message, the more layers of meaning I peel away, the more I’m blown away at how limitless it is.
But if I say, “Forget it!
No more God-Messages from me!”
The words are fire in my belly,
a burning in my bones.
I’m worn out trying to hold it in.
I can’t do it any longer! Jeremiah 20:9 (MSG)
Along the journey, we all reach places that feel like a dead end. Frustrated, exasperated, and at the end of our patience we feel like a ticking time bomb of emotions.
Jeremiah stands as a testament for all of us. Today’s chapter reminds us that we all hit a breaking point, and when we do it is perfectly acceptable to pour out our hearts to God. He is not surprised by our emotion. He is not deaf to our cries. God is big enough to handle the full onslaught of our anger, our frustration, our screams, and our tears.
Along the way, we will all need a healthy release of our our pent up emotions. Like Jeremiah, like David in the Psalms, like Jesus in Gethsemane, we sometimes need to plead our case and get out what’s bugging us. If we don’t, then it’s all going to spill out anyway. We can’t contain it. It just squirts out in unhealthy ways.
Wayfarer 