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Message Preparation from Poetic Genre

Explore the different formats and outlines of Hebrew poetry in the Scripture, such as parallelism, contrast, echo, and acrostic. Learn to identify the big ideas and emotions conveyed in the Psalms and other poetic literature.

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Message Preparation from Poetic Genre

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  1. Message Preparation from Poetic Genre Huldrich Zwingli

  2. The Poetic Genre in the Scripture • Includes not just the Psalms, but a large portion of “Wisdom Literature.” • Much of Job, significant portions of the prophets are written in the style of Hebrew poetry • All that is written in the NASV in verse style (as opposed to paragraph style) is written in poetry

  3. Hebrew Poetry Has multiple formats or templates: • parallelism or restatement • contrast • echo • acrostic

  4. The Message Portion and Structural Outlining of Poetic Literature • Straightforward in the Psalms • Less so in the other types of poetry • You are reading the lyrics of a song • Usually unified by an emotion rather than a character or plot • Usually the emotion is stated clearly

  5. Emotions in the Psalms • “The Blues” equivalent in the Psalms (called Laments) • “Happy Days” (called Praises and Thanksgivings) • “Green Fields” or Pastoral Psalms (called Encomiums) • “A B C’s” or Acrostic Psalms • These all tend to follow their own template

  6. Structural Outlining • more of a challenge with the poetical books • more parallelism than logical development • as in music, progression of thought is not as important as the emotion it seeks to convey

  7. Clues for Finding the Big Idea of Poetic Genre • Poetic clue #1: Description of the poet's situation • Poetic clue #2: What the poet says to the Lord (invocation) • Poetic clue #3: What the poet says to the worshippers • Poetic clue #4: An idea being developed • Poetic clue #5: Questions • Poetic clue #6: Repetition

  8. Poetic Clue #1: Description Of The Poet's Situation • Psalm 2:1 – Why do the heathen rage? • The Psalmist is going to answer the question about the situation he sees • He will show how ridiculous it is for the heathen to do this • Broad Subject: The heathen raging • NBS: How do the heathen rage and what does God do about it?

  9. Poetic Clue #2: What The Poet Says To The Lord (Invocation) • Psalm 3:1—”Lord, how are they increased who trouble me…” • Notice the accusation in vs. 2 “There is no help for him in God” • The rest of the Psalm shows the writer going to God for rescue • B. Sub: Dealing with increasing troublers • NBS: How do you deal with increasing troublers

  10. Poetic Clue #3: What The Poet Says To The Worshippers • Psalm 107:1—”O give thanks to the Lord for He is good” • Since this exhortation begins the Psalm, it probably contains the broad subject • B. Sub: “Giving thanks to the Lord” • NBS: Why do we give thanks to the Lord?

  11. Poetic Clue #4: An Idea Being Developed • Psalm 19:1—”The heavens declare the glory of God…” • Though the first verse may give you the subject, you still have to know how the rest of the Psalm answers it • B. Sub: God’s work declaring His glory • NBS: How does God’s work declare His glory?

  12. Poetic Clue #5: Questions • Psalm 15: “Lord, who shall abide in Your tent?” • The question forms the basis for the Broad Subject • B. Sub.: “Abiding in God’s tabernacle (or presence)” • NBS: Who gets to abide in God’s presence?

  13. Poetic Clue #6: Repetition • Psalm 29:1—”Ascribe to the Lord…” repeated three times • Several phrases get repeated in this Psalm that build it in power • B. Sub: Ascribing glory to God • NBS: How do (or can) we ascribe glory to God?

  14. Group Exercise Take a few minutes on each on the following Psalms to determine what you believe the Broad Subject and Narrowed Broad Subject might be. Psalm 40 B.Sub-- N.B.Sub-- Psalm 121 B.Sub-- N.B.Sub-- Psalm 16 B.Sub-- N.B.Sub-- Psalm 133 B.Sub-- N.B.Sub--

  15. Determining the Big Idea for Prophetic and Parabolic Genres

  16. Clues to Prophetic Literature • Clue 1: Find the direct statement explaining the vision • Clue 2: Often visions are written in either poetic or narrative forms. Use the clues related to them • Clue 3: Many visions and prophecies are messages. Most of the writers understood the concept of the Big Idea

  17. Clue 1: Find The Direct Statement Explaining The Vision • Often visionary passages are interpreted for us • For example: • Zechariah 5 • Ezekiel 1

  18. Clue 2: Use The Clues For Poetic Or Narrative Forms • For example: Isaiah 53—repetition of words for suffering combined with words for healing • Revelation 4—repetition of “throne” • Revelation 5—repetition of “book”

  19. Clue 3: Sermons--Look for the Big Idea • They preach exactly the way you should • True of sermons in Acts as well

  20. Group Exercise Find the Broad subject and the Narrowed Broad Subject of the following passages: • Isaiah 40:3-11 • Isaiah 53:1-6 • Obadiah 1-21

  21. Clues to Parabolic Literature • Clue 1:Parables are like illustrations in your messages, they usually illustrate a point • Clue 2:Jesus often explains His parables • Clue 3:Look for end comments where the point of the parable is often made or applied

  22. Group Exercise Find the Broad subject and the Narrowed Broad Subject of the following passages: • Luke 16:1-9 • Luke 17:5-10 • Luke 18:9-14

  23. Controlling Metaphors in Poetic (and Prophetic) Literature • Determine one “controlling metaphor” that will help focus the idea of the message • The controlling metaphor should be derived from the purpose and the point of the poetry

  24. The Purpose of Poetic Literature • The primarypurpose is to convey an emotion • Illustrations and applications should help people experience what the writer feels and why he feels it • Each Psalm has its own emotion to convey

  25. Common Emotions in Biblical Poetry • Serious questions that seem to remain unanswered (Psalm 39) • Complaints about specific troubles of body, in relationships, or with sin. (Ps. 38, 39, 51) • Praise and thanksgiving for specific acts or ways of God (Ps. 98, 100) • A truth learned with practical applications (Ps. 19) • A vision or characteristic of God that conveys how listeners should feel toward Him (Ps. 23, 121, 139)

  26. Group Exercise Determine possible controlling metaphors/ evocative images for the following Psalms Psalm 1Psalm 19Psalm 27Psalm 128 And for the following prophetic passages Isaiah 40:3-8 Habakkuk 3:16-19

  27. Illustration, Application, Introduction and Conclusion in Poetic Genre • Applications should be in line with the emotion conveyed • Poetic passages lend themselves to specific emotional contexts • Things like anniversaries, weddings, funerals, celebrations, dedications, times of national trauma, etc.

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