Poetry in the Bible

[Great. The Compose feature isn't working, so I'm having to type this in HTML view. Even though I've saved my work and exited and re-entered, blogger won't let me type in compose. Since I don't know HTML, the post won't format properly. I'll post it and later go to another computer and hope I can format it in Compose.]

What a great day at church today! I arrived early, Lynda being in Oklahoma City and me therefore able to go in my own time. I arrived about 10 minutes early and went straight to the sanctuary to sit in quiet contemplation and prayer before worship. This is what I learned growing up, and I still like it. I said a simple prayer, asking God to bless the time at church today, both the worship services and the Life Groups.

Service was great. Since Pastor Mark was preaching from the poetry books (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs), the fifth week of his twelve week series titled "The Big Picture", which is through the bible in twelve weeks, all the songs were straight out of the Psalms. What a good time of praise. Mark had a good sermon, discussing the poetical nature of these books, and dividing them into lyrical, instructional, and dramatic.

He spent time in each. He had some excellent information in the sermon, including:

- The majority of the Psalms are laments, and we don't know them very well.
- Although laments, these psalms tend to capture both human despair but confess God's presence and help.
- The Proverbs are there to form and shape your character.
- Wisdom is the DNA building blocks of relationships.
- Job is about those things in life you don't understand, and there's some of Job's friends in all of us.

Life Group was just as good. It was my week to teach, and the lesson suggested, to go with the sermon series, was on Job. I had a good time of preparation, and knew that there's so much material there that I would have no trouble filling the time. I had some passages picked out from several chapters, and had someone from the class read a handful of verses, then we discussed.

Of course we couldn't be hard on Job, given all that he'd gone through. We were much harder on his friends, who, although they had some good lines, had a total lack of understanding on the nature of God and how He interacts with his world. Job did understand, however. He had an epiphany as he worked through his problems. Sure, he lamented and wondered why he had ever been born. But in all of it he never blamed God.

I have more to say, but think I'll save it for some other posts later in the week.