Playlist: Worship Songs — Wednesday
Psalm 84:3
Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow builds her nest and raises her young at a place near your altar… (NLT)
Do you have a favorite genre of music? Is it rock ‘n roll? Maybe country or hip-hop?
What about a favorite genre of movies? Is it action and adventure? Maybe comedies or sci-fi? Or maybe like my wife, you just love a good Hallmark Christmas movie or anything that involves British historical drama.
Did you know that our Bible is made up of different genres of writing? Any time you study the Bible, it’s helpful to know which genre you’re reading. Are you reading narrative or history, poetry or prophecy, law or letter? Each genre is written differently, so they’re meant to be read differently.
The book of Psalms is poetry. It’s the largest collection of poetry in the Bible—some short, some long. If you’ve tried to read them, odds are you were both intrigued and confused at times. We think poetry means it’s all going to rhyme or you’ll be able to sing along like it’s a song on the radio.
Biblical poetry is different. It’s often packed with metaphors and imagery, and it covers the full gamut of emotions, from the depths of despair to the heights of happiness. There’s ambiguity. There’s details missing that we wish were there. Sometimes there’s more questions than answers. But that’s okay—that’s by design.
This method of writing forces you to slow down, read carefully, think, and look at it from multiple angles. It’s not a book that you read once and put down. It’s meant to draw you into a lifelong journey of reading and meditation.
So settle in as you read the Psalms. Take your time. Think about them throughout your day. Talk about them with friends. Let them become invitations to you when you experience those same emotions. They’re like a prayer coach, showing us what to pray, how to pray, and that it’s okay to process honest emotions with God.
Emotions can be helpful indicators of what’s going on in our hearts. We feel love, joy, happiness, guilt, anger, disappointment, fear, etc. And as our Good Father, God wants to walk with us through all of them. So don’t stuff them down or try to ignore them. He wants you to experience your feelings and then allow Him to help you evaluate and respond to them based on truth.
Wednesday’s Reflection
The ideal Bible reader is described in Psalm 1. Take a look at that today and ask yourself, Is that true of my life? Do I delight in meditating on God’s Word? If not, begin today with an emotion you’re feeling, and process it with truth from God’s Word.
