You Can Read the Bible Guided Podcast

In the Daily Reader for Psalms 1-8, I pointed out that one of the joys of reading this book all the way through is picking up on themes and artistic flourishes that bind certain Psalms together.  Although each Psalm stands individually, they are compiled in such a way that indicates intention to the whole work. 

This is evident in the final five chapters today, Psalms 10 through 14.  First, thematically, each of these Psalms deals in some way with wickedness.  Whether it’s a call to “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted…”; or acknowledgement that “The fool says in his heart: ‘There is no God…’”; or a desperate plea: “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death…”, the elements form an aggregated reflection on what it is like to live in a broken world.

And these chapters have at least one artistic flourish: in each one there’s a question.  10 and 13, both Psalms of lament, begin with a question that asks why the LORD has not yet acted on behalf of the righteous: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?”  In the others, the question is buried; for example, in Psalm 14, the composer asks, “Have they no knowledge – all the evildoers – who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD?”   This could be a rhetorical technique, or it could hold deeper meaning, or it could, in fact, be simple artistry.  But it is fascinating the think about the intentions behind these flourishes, like studying the brush strokes of a painter.

This conversation about God’s response to the wicked is launched after a majestic tribute to the LORD in chapter 9.  On the heels of “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” The Psalmist personally gives “thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”  In the Hebrew, this is an acrostic poem, with each stanza beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet.  Throughout, the LORD is celebrated as “a stronghold for the oppressed… and those who know Your name put their trust in You, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you…”

Our verse for this week is Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Psalms 9 through 14.  Now let’s read it! 

In the Daily Reader for Psalms 1-8, I pointed out that one of the joys of reading this book all the way through is picking up on themes and artistic flourishes that bind certain Psalms together.  Although each Psalm stands individually, they are compiled in such a way that indicates intention to the whole work. 

This is evident in the final five chapters today, Psalms 10 through 14.  First, thematically, each of these Psalms deals in some way with wickedness.  Whether it’s a call to “Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up your hand; forget not the afflicted…”; or acknowledgement that “The fool says in his heart: ‘There is no God…’”; or a desperate plea: “Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death…”, the elements form an aggregated reflection on what it is like to live in a broken world.

And these chapters have at least one artistic flourish: in each one there’s a question.  10 and 13, both Psalms of lament, begin with a question that asks why the LORD has not yet acted on behalf of the righteous: “Why, O LORD, do you stand far away?”  In the others, the question is buried; for example, in Psalm 14, the composer asks, “Have they no knowledge – all the evildoers – who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon the LORD?”   This could be a rhetorical technique, or it could hold deeper meaning, or it could, in fact, be simple artistry.  But it is fascinating the think about the intentions behind these flourishes, like studying the brush strokes of a painter.

This conversation about God’s response to the wicked is launched after a majestic tribute to the LORD in chapter 9.  On the heels of “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.” The Psalmist personally gives “thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.”  In the Hebrew, this is an acrostic poem, with each stanza beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet.  Throughout, the LORD is celebrated as “a stronghold for the oppressed… and those who know Your name put their trust in You, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you…”

Our verse for this week is Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Psalms 9 through 14.  Now let’s read it! 

You will quickly notice that Psalms is unlike any other book we’ve read.  It is a compilation of songs and prayers that were produced by worshipers of the LORD over multiple centuries. Many of them, if perhaps not all of them, were intended to be set to music.  They are poetry, not prose, and so are full of alliteration, metaphor, rhythm and emotion.  They are not passive observers of history, but are reflective, contemporary and active. 

While each Psalm stands as an autonomous product, there are often themes and threads that produce intersections between them.  It might be helpful to think of the book of Psalms like a crossword puzzle.  Each answer on a crossword has its individual meaning, but they intersect other words to produce an entire puzzle – if not a work of art.  Looking for those intersections can be one of the joys of reading the book in its entirety.  Notice, today, as the theme of righteousness binds Psalms 1 and 2 and reaches a climax in Psalm 5, and how the LORD’s salvation and refuge thread together Psalms 3, 4, 6, and 7. 

Another treat is starting to decipher the structure and rhythm of the Psalms.  Take just a glancing look and notice that Psalm 1 fits an A – B pattern: the first half trails a righteous man and the second half trails the wicked.  Others, like Psalm 8, follow an arc that begins and ends at the same point.  “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” is the launch point, followed by an assertion of creation’s testimony.  The pinnacle is in the center: “What is man that you are mindful of him…yet you have made him a little lower than the angels, [and] given him dominion…” over this very creation that declares the LORD’s majesty.  The Psalm lands back at home plate, if you will, by again proclaiming “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Finally, Psalms gives us a view into what it was like to live and worship the LORD in real time.  A few Psalms we’ll read today were written or commissioned by King David during specific events.  Look back at 2 Samuel if you need to be refreshed on the tragic story of his son, Absalom, or the insults he endured at the hands of the Benjamites.  And now see how those events were channeled into prayers that were both effective in context and, importantly, connect people of every age through their emotion, reflection, and longing. 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Psalms 1 through 8.  Now let’s read it!

You will quickly notice that Psalms is unlike any other book we’ve read.  It is a compilation of songs and prayers that were produced by worshipers of the LORD over multiple centuries. Many of them, if perhaps not all of them, were intended to be set to music.  They are poetry, not prose, and so are full of alliteration, metaphor, rhythm and emotion.  They are not passive observers of history, but are reflective, contemporary and active. 

While each Psalm stands as an autonomous product, there are often themes and threads that produce intersections between them.  It might be helpful to think of the book of Psalms like a crossword puzzle.  Each answer on a crossword has its individual meaning, but they intersect other words to produce an entire puzzle – if not a work of art.  Looking for those intersections can be one of the joys of reading the book in its entirety.  Notice, today, as the theme of righteousness binds Psalms 1 and 2 and reaches a climax in Psalm 5, and how the LORD’s salvation and refuge thread together Psalms 3, 4, 6, and 7. 

Another treat is starting to decipher the structure and rhythm of the Psalms.  Take just a glancing look and notice that Psalm 1 fits an A – B pattern: the first half trails a righteous man and the second half trails the wicked.  Others, like Psalm 8, follow an arc that begins and ends at the same point.  “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!” is the launch point, followed by an assertion of creation’s testimony.  The pinnacle is in the center: “What is man that you are mindful of him…yet you have made him a little lower than the angels, [and] given him dominion…” over this very creation that declares the LORD’s majesty.  The Psalm lands back at home plate, if you will, by again proclaiming “O Yahweh, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!”

Finally, Psalms gives us a view into what it was like to live and worship the LORD in real time.  A few Psalms we’ll read today were written or commissioned by King David during specific events.  Look back at 2 Samuel if you need to be refreshed on the tragic story of his son, Absalom, or the insults he endured at the hands of the Benjamites.  And now see how those events were channeled into prayers that were both effective in context and, importantly, connect people of every age through their emotion, reflection, and longing. 

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Psalms 1 through 8.  Now let’s read it!

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.”  - Job 38:1-3

Were you expecting this?  “Dress for action like a man” is a call to combat: Job has challenged the LORD, and the LORD has arrived to call him on it.  Remember what caused Job’s misery to begin with – look back in chapters 1 and 2 if you need a refresher.  Job was a man in whom the LORD found no fault, yet now he’s called to account.  So was Elihu right, that Job was speaking wickedly about the LORD?  Read the rest of the LORD’s answer, and discover.     

As always, notice what gets repeated: the LORD always speaks out of the whirlwind… Twice the LORD commands Job to “Dress for action like a man…” and twice He rebukes Job’s friends: “…you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  Furthermore, the LORD’s entire answer to Job is devoted to His role in creation: just swim in the details from the world of living things, of weather, of geology and of the cosmos. 

In the middle of today’s reading, the LORD asks Job a question: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer it.”  Job does in fact answer: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?  I lay my hand on my mouth…”  Job’s closing statement mirrors this attitude: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”  

At the end of today’s reading – which concludes the book of Job – you’re allowed to answer the question: Is there resolution?  Or is it sufficient that Job is now content to see the One of whom he has heard?   Is it also sufficient that the LORD has acquitted Job, who has spoken of Him what is right? This is wisdom literature.  The LORD is the subject, the primary actor, and the Author of the story.  It is our choice, like it is Job’s, to engage and be satisfied.   

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 39 through 42.  Now let’s read it!

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?  Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.”  - Job 38:1-3

Were you expecting this?  “Dress for action like a man” is a call to combat: Job has challenged the LORD, and the LORD has arrived to call him on it.  Remember what caused Job’s misery to begin with – look back in chapters 1 and 2 if you need a refresher.  Job was a man in whom the LORD found no fault, yet now he’s called to account.  So was Elihu right, that Job was speaking wickedly about the LORD?  Read the rest of the LORD’s answer, and discover.     

As always, notice what gets repeated: the LORD always speaks out of the whirlwind… Twice the LORD commands Job to “Dress for action like a man…” and twice He rebukes Job’s friends: “…you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has.”  Furthermore, the LORD’s entire answer to Job is devoted to His role in creation: just swim in the details from the world of living things, of weather, of geology and of the cosmos. 

In the middle of today’s reading, the LORD asks Job a question: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?  He who argues with God, let him answer it.”  Job does in fact answer: “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?  I lay my hand on my mouth…”  Job’s closing statement mirrors this attitude: “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”  

At the end of today’s reading – which concludes the book of Job – you’re allowed to answer the question: Is there resolution?  Or is it sufficient that Job is now content to see the One of whom he has heard?   Is it also sufficient that the LORD has acquitted Job, who has spoken of Him what is right? This is wisdom literature.  The LORD is the subject, the primary actor, and the Author of the story.  It is our choice, like it is Job’s, to engage and be satisfied.   

Our verse for this week is Luke 16:13: No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Job 39 through 42.  Now let’s read it!