Malcolm Guite, “Psalm 1: Beatus vir qui non abiit”[1]
Come to the place where every breath is praise,
And God is breathing through each passing breeze.

In her book A Poetry Handbook, Mary Oliver states, “Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.”

Oliver captures a beautiful image in her statement—poetry can touch our minds, warm our hearts, comfort our fears, and provide hope. She reminds us that words have power and carry deeper meaning than just the words themselves. 

If you want to get serious about studying Scripture, you have to become serious about poetry. God chose to allow his interactions with humanity to be written in both prose and poetry. There are both histories and hymns, statements and also songs. Within the Bible, 33% of the text is poetry, from the poetic books we think about like Psalms and Song of Songs to the worship hymns of the early church recorded in Paul’s letters. Most of the prophets wrote at least partially in poetry to get their message across. These songs were written in two different languages across more than two thousand years by both men and women. Indeed, many scholars believe that some of the oldest parts of the Hebrew text are the Song of the Sea in Exodus 15 and Deborah’s song in Judges 5.

When we think about poetry in the Bible, our minds naturally drift to the Psalms. Psalms are a mix of all sorts of different genres (poems, songs, hymns, historical narratives) and come from an array of different emotional states (hope, joy, sadness, fear, frustration.) Walter Brueggemann divides them into psalms of Orientation, Disorientation, and Reorientation, and he places them in these categories based on the emotions and experiences expressed about the psalmists’ experiences of God in their world and in their lives. 

The Psalms are an overlap between lyrics and poetry. It served in both capacities for the people of Israel. (I wish I knew what a few of these “for the music director… to the tune of “Lilies” comments mean!) The book of Psalms—in the end—is the Israelite worship book. And it serves for both individual and collective worship.

Corporate worship:

• You have the Psalms/Songs of Ascent, sung by the people as they would head towards Jerusalem, enter the city, and end up at the temple for a holy day.

• You have psalms like the songs of Korah, that would have been used by priests and singers at the temple as people would be coming to worship.

• You have songs like Psalm 136 which remind the people of God’s salvific work throughout their history, reminding them that God never fails in his mission and never gives up on his covenant.

Individual worship:

• You have psalms like 51, which speaks of the need for God’s forgiveness.

• You have psalms like 136, which extols the never-ending, overabundant love of God.

• You have psalms that speak of deep hurt and pain, frustration, anger, loss, and grief… both at one’s enemies and at God himself.

The Psalms allow us to bring all of ourselves to bear—all of our experiences, our hopes, our struggles, our emotions, our pain. In an interview with U2 singer Bono, Dr. David Fuller asked him, “What do the Psalms require of you?” Bono’s response was “Honesty.”[2] He goes on to argue that artists of all kinds must approach their faith-inspired art with honesty and a willingness to talk about all of life’s wide spectrum of experiences, from pleasure to pain. Only by approaching all of life with honesty through faith can we truly deepen our relationship with God.

The Psalms are meant to…

1. Talk about the totality of life and all of its lived experiences—good times and bad, hope-filled and sorrowful, etc.

2. Utilize the total range of emotions—joy and sorrow, love and pain, sin and shame, grace and comfort, doubts/questions and faith/searching, a reliance on God even when questioning God.

3. Attempt to describe an indescribable God in ways that we can begin to understand; they seek to define that which cannot yet be described.

The Psalms remind us that any moment and any experience can be brought into the presence of God, from awe at the beauty of creation to anger at how one’s enemies have triumphed and prosper. This honesty allows us to bring our deepest emotions to bear to a God who is big enough to take them; this sharing is a deep fellowship that can deepen our trust in God no matter what befalls. In his book How to Read the Psalms, biblical scholar Tremper Longman contends, "As we read the Psalms, we are entering into the sanctuary, the place where God meets men and women in a special way. We will see that the conversation between God and his people is direct, intense, intimate and, above all, honest. Thus, the Psalms are a kind of literary sanctuary in the Scripture. The place where God meets his people in a special way, where his people may address him with their praise and lament.”

My encouragement to you is this: find a way to be fully honest with God. Embrace the ethos of the Psalms, which allows us to bring all of our selves to bear in a personal theological interaction with the God of the universe. Write poetry… even bad poetry! Allow yourself to practice Psalm-writing, and bring all of your self as you share your emotions and experiences with God. I guarantee that a holy moment will arise as you do.

1. “Beatus Vir: a reflection on psalm 1” | Malcolm Guite (wordpress.com)
2. (79) “Be Brutally Honest” | Bono & David Taylor: Beyond the Psalms - YouTube; last accessed 17 October 2024.