Thursday, March 27, 2008

Explore the Bible for Yourself, Part 22 of 52

IDEA: God communicated His word through poetry so that it could be remembered, but that also presents difficulties for interpretation.

PURPOSE: To have listeners understand the factors they must consider in understanding the psalms.

A great amount of the Bible is communicated through poetry. If you were God, would it occur to you to communicate that way?

Why do you think so much of the Bible is in poetry?

I. What in human beings does poetry appeal to?

In contrast, what does prose (for example, the writings of Paul) mainly appeal to?

Poetry appeals mainly to the emotions and imagination to get to the head; Paul's writings are directed to the head.

Is it legitimate to appeal to the emotions and the imagination? B. Which do you think is easier to remember?

II. We have to interpret the psalms, remembering what they are.

The Psalms are musical poetry. the hymnbook of Israel. In some ways they're like our hymns.

Hymns have a great deal of imaging. We sing A mighty fortress is our God. Not many people singing that think of God as a kind of impenetrable building or fortification. We think of the image as a way of talking about God's strength and protection.

Would it be legitimate to conclude from A Mighty Fortress Is Our God that God is Someone who can resist attack and defend Himself, but is incapable of taking aggressive action against an enemy? Why or why not?

Because the psalms are like hymns. we have to be careful in interpreting them. We don't interpret them as we would an epistle.

EG: In Psalm 51:5, in sin did my mother conceive me. What is the psalmist getting at? Is he saying that conception is sinful? Is he saying that his mother was a sinner because she got pregnant? Is he saying that original sin applies to the unborn child? Is this hyperbole that points to his own sinfulness from the beginning?

We must be careful in deriving a doctrine from the image.