Reading the Psalms: Part 1, Stay Romantic

A while back, I was introducing the Psalms to our Wednesday night Bible class at our church.

The big point I made was this: Stay romantic.

Before we do anything with the Psalms, categorizing them, analyzing them, pay attention to the genre. These are poems and songs. This is the language of the heart, the language of love. And there are times in the Psalms when the romance can be a bit embarrassing in its intimacy:
Psalm 42
As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, my God.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.

Psalm 63
My whole being longs for you.
Of course, not all the Psalms are sweet. But even in their lament and rage, the Psalms are expressing the stormy aspects of love in the face of grief, hurt, loss, and betrayal. No one gets that upset if they haven't been in love.

So that was my advice to the class as we started off the Psalms. We're going to analyze these loves songs, but as we do don't forget to stay romantic.

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