Invitation to Eden - Psalms 1-2

Introduction

ASK: What do you know about poetry? Have you ever read any of the Psalms before? Have you read them like you would read poetry?

SAY: The psalms are the Bible’s songbook. They were originally collected and organized as a corporate worship guide for the nation of Israel. Many people have noted something really incredible about the literary design of the psalms that stuck out to me for the first time while I was studying for this series: The psalms act like a mini-Bible within the Bible! From start to finish, the Psalms contain a glimpse and summary of the whole biblical story. And tonight, we are going to look at the introduction to the Psalms, the first two chapters, Psalms 1-2. Before we dive into the biblical poetry of the psalms, we need to have a general understanding of poetry so that we can be prepared to follow along with what the psalmists are trying to communicate!

READ: Jabberwocky & Shell Silverstein example

DISCUSS: What kind of poetic devices did you pick up on? Anything?

Hebrew poetry’s primary structure and most important design feature is parallelism, when two or more lines are strung together in similar writing style to form one unified idea.

The Bible also uses things that you would be familiar with like metaphor, simile, personification, alliteration, and more! These we will discuss as they come up.

Body

Listen to Psalm 1 on Streetlights while following along in the Bible

Q: What images come to your mind when you read this psalm?

It’s the Garden of Eden!

Remember how the Psalms are a mini-Bible within the Bible?

If this is the mini-introduction to the mini-Bible, think about what the introduction to the whole Bible was…it was about a Tree in a garden where there were streams of water flowing and producing abundance and life

Q: What makes you happy or gives you the most joy?

A: Eating a BIG bowl of ice cream or a warm, fresh-baked cookie.

“Blessed is the man...”

“Blessed” means happy but it’s happiness in its fullest and most perfect form!

How does the psalmist tell us that we are to experience this kind of happiness that is pure bliss?

“whose delight is in the law of LORD.”

“The term ‘delight’ here is like a gravitational pull that directs and changes your desires,” - Trevor Joy.

We experience true bliss when we “meditate on the law of God (day and night).”

Q: What comes to your mind when you think of meditation?

It’s not like sitting cross-legged and saying “ohm” a bunch.

The word for “meditate” in Hebrew means to “murmur” or “mutter.”

Does anyone silently read out loud to themselves when they read a book? I do. When I’m really intent on a book, I start to mutter or mumble or mouth the words on the page as I go. That’s the Hebrew concept of “meditating.” Basically, the idea here is that in order for us to attain the kind of abundant life that the Garden had to offer us, the kind of abundant life that is available in the presence of God alone, we are supposed to soak up his Word. Read it, study it, contemplate it, drink it in like tree roots drinking up the water from the streams.

“(Day and night)”

This is another poetic device

It’s called merism. That’s a new word I learned during the course of my studying for this series!

“Merism cites two poles of a matter and implies everything in between.” - Tremper Longman III

Q: So, when should we really be meditating on this?

A: All day, everyday.

Notice the contrast in the overall structure of this poem.

Verses 1-3 describe the life and reward of the righteous

Verses 4-5 describes the life and reward of the wicked

Verse 6 sums it all up.

What’s the point of this kind of parallelism in the poem?

As the introduction to the psalms, the poet is setting a choice before the reader. Just as there was a choice in the Garden, so there is a choice when we enter the psalms.

Who are we going to choose to be? Our entry into the rest of the psalms and, more importantly, the prospect of abundant life with God, rests on our answer to that question.

Listen to Psalm 2 on Streetlights while following along in the Bible.

Q: When read as a unit, do you notice who “the nations” of Psalm 2 are being compared with?

A: The “wicked” in Ps 1! Also, notice how write after the first psalm brings us to the Garden of Eden, the second brings us face-to-face with fallen humanity…Genesis 1-3, anybody?

This psalm was likely used in its original form as a coronation song for the enthronement of a new king in Jerusalem

When it was later arranged in the collection of the psalms, it would have found an interesting place in the heart of the Israelites experiencing the exile...

Q: Have you ever seen the state of the world around you and wondered where God is at work in all of it?

The first 3 verses of this psalm give an account of the rulers of the world and the response of fallen humanity to go against God. I think Ps 2:3 is particularly interesting because of the quote from the wicked rulers:

“Let’s tear off their chains and throw their ropes off of us,”

Rebellious humanity sees God as a slave-driver and prison warden

They think God’s rules are there to enslave them or to hold them back

This is the classic lie that was introduced by the serpent in the Garden: “God’s holding out on you.”

Q: Has there ever been a time in your life when you felt like God was holding out on you?

Notice the response of God to these evil human rulers in verses 4-6

God laughs and mocks the evildoers, he sees their rebellion as futile, why?

Because he has installed a different kind of human ruler to thwart them

Do you notice the role that humans are meant to play in God’s story?

Obviously, the rebellious rulers’ plots are futile because God is all-powerful and will ultimately stop their wicked schemes. But notice that he chooses to act through his divinely selected HUMANS to do that!

This reminds me of Gen 1:26-28 when God first invites humanity to rule the earth with him. It’s the ideal view of God’s chosen ambassadors and rulers.

Remember though, this idealistic view does not get realized in Israel’s historical lifetime. Through all these different coronations and enthronements, they would have been singing this song, hoping for the True King to come and fulfill all these hopes, but he never came. And when the psalms are finally collected and the people are using them as one anthology, the people are in exile, under the rule and authority of the wicked kings discussed in verses 1-3.

Q: Have you ever been promised something that you had to wait for?

David was longing for this promised Son to come!

All of Israel waited long after David died for the fulfillment of God’s promise in 2 Sam 7 and the fulfillment of this song.

They never experienced it in their lifetime; however, God was not slow in keeping his promise (2 Pt 3:9)

JESUS fulfills all of God’s promises. He is the King that David longed for, he is righteous king that rules from God’s holy mountain—the true Temple at God’s right hand in heaven.

If you feel like God is holding out on you or that he is delaying to respond to your prayers, just cling to this psalm. Remember that sometimes, God’s plans take longer to develop than we expect, but they’re always better than we can imagine!

Q: How does Psalm 2 tell us to respond to Jesus?

Conclusion

“Serve the LORD with reverential awe and rejoice with trembling,” (Ps. 2:11)

Think of something that you have experienced that has filled you with so much joy and excitement that you just stood in stunned silence, maybe even started to shake.

“Overwhelmed by his goodness and majesty and holiness and grace and righteousness—by all that God is—the faithful tremble,” (Michael Reeves, Rejoice & Tremble, p. 53).

This is our response to seeing King Jesus. Tonight, just as the Israelites were given an invitation to enter God’s presence through the “literary sanctuary” of the Psalms, so we are given complete access into God’s presence through the literal sanctuary of Jesus! Will you receive this invitation? Will you place your faith in Jesus? He will make you like a tree planted by streams of water. He will restore us to right relationship with the Father, just like in the Garden. And he is the One True King that will give you refuge in times of need.