When we read the Psalms, we are in the realm of sacred poetry

Poetry begins in the heart and it speaks to the heart
- we can analyze a poem – take it into the lab and dissect it
• but if we go too far, we kill the specimen
• in our first encounter with a poem we need to hear it--that’s all
◦ listen to the music of its rhythm
◦ feel the effect of its words and images
- what I feel in this poem is contentment
• here is a poet who accepts himself as he is
my heart is not lifted up
◦ in the Old Testament, a heart lifted up is conceited, full of itself
my eyes are not raised too high
◦ eyes looking downward is a gesture of humility
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me
• he does not grasp at things beyond his reach
◦ this reminds me of a classic Eastwood line,
“A man’s got to know his limitations”