So are you ready to open up your bible and start studying the psalms with me this summer?
Why not start with Psalm 1? Read through it several times until you are familiar with the words and the ideas the psalmist is presenting. You may want to read it aloud or sing it (hearing the words aloud helps me, singing it can be fun 🙂 )
1 How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
2 But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
3 He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does he prospers.
4 The wicked are not so,
But they are like chaff which the wind drives away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
Nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord know the way of the righteous,
But the way of the wicked will perish.
Spend some time thinking about what you have read.
What picture does the psalmist present of the righteous…the wicked?
Now think about your life…
Who do you spend time with?
Where do you find your delight?
Do you think the Lord would consider your righteous or wicked?
Two important tips to remember when interpreting Hebrew poetry:
- It uses figurative language-similes, metaphors, hyperboles and is not written to be understood literally.
- It uses thought rhymes (parallelism) instead of word rhymes. We will learn more about this as we move through the summer.
Heartland Precepts 