An introduction to the Psalms and Hebrew Poetry (Psalm 1)

An introduction to the Psalms and Hebrew Poetry (Psalm 1)

• Summary: The Book of Psalms contains the collected prayers and songs of the Jewish people written from the time of Moses to the return from their exile in Babylon. These songs and prayers reflect universal human experiences, they teach us how to pray by their example, and they ultimately point us to the answer to those prayers in Jesus Christ.

• Notes:

  • THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK OF PSALMS

    • The Psalms are presented to us in five books, the number five corresponding to the five books of the law (Genesis to Deuteronomy). God speaks to us through the five books of the law, and we speak to him through the five books of the psalms.

    • Books 1 & 2 (1-72) are largely psalms of David (72:20). David experienced both victories (military, leadership, integrity, and known as a man after God’s own heart) and tragedies (the violent death of his best friend and two sons, the deaths of two infant sons, betrayal by advisors and his own son, illness, life as a fugitive, sibling rivalry, a broken marriage, failure as a parent, and sexual sin). He is a type of “everyman” that we can all identify with in many ways.

    • Book 3 (73-89) wrestles with God’s apparent abandonment of the nation during the Jewish exile in Babylon in 586 BC. Where was God and what about his promises? Can he be trusted?

    • Book 4 (90-106) answers the questions of Book 3 with a resounding “The LORD reigns”

    • Book 5 (107-150) expresses thanksgiving for the salvation of God in all of its aspects. It includes many festival songs used in Israel’s gathered worship.

  • CHARACTERISTICS OF HEBREW POETRY

    • Parallelism: correspondence between two or more lines of poetry. This has the effect of slowing us down and encouraging reflection, aiding with memory, and making Hebrew poetry more easily translated into other languages.

    • Imagery: the use of metaphor and symbolic language to promote reflection and increase understanding

    • Chiasm: an ABA pattern in which a sequence of ideas is presented and then repeated in reverse order, creating focus on the central idea by framing it

Discussion:

1. According to Psalm 1, what does it mean to be blessed by God?
2. What does verse 1 suggest about the influence that others can have on our faith and practice? Is this verse advocating separation from non-believers?
3. In verse 2, what does the phrase “the law of the LORD” refer to?
4. What does it mean to “meditate on the law of the LORD”? In what way is it like chewing on something?
5. The primary metaphor of Psalm 1 is a tree planted by streams of water. How do the characteristics of a tree correspond to a “blessed” life?
6. In what ways does chaff represent the opposite of those characteristics?
7. On the scale from chaff to mature tree, where would you place yourself? What actions can you take to grow? How can your community help you in that growth?
8. What does it mean to be “known” by the LORD (vs. 6)?