Our God is a Poet

When I think of Old Testament poetry, the first book that comes to my mind is the book of Psalms. Now someone might say, "Psalms? That’s more like Israel’s hymnal than it is poetry." But let’s face it, the writings we tend to remember best in our culture are song lyrics – and lyrics often begin as poems. Poetry is often used to help young school children remember things such as the number of days in a month, (30 days has September…) important dates in history such as, "In fourteen hundred ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue", and other important concepts. Just as we use poetry as a tool in this culture, the poetic books were used in Israel’s culture to help them to remember their history, the character of their God, and His directives for how to live in a way that’s pleasing to Him.


Recognizing Redemption

The Lord also used these "poems set to music" as a way to speak to Israel about the arrival of their Messiah. Here are a few specific examples:

Psalm 2:7 highlights the Messiah as God’s son (compare with Matt.3:17, Acts 13:33-34)
Psalm 78:1-2 states that the Messiah would often teach using parables (see also Matt. 13:35)
Psalm 22 speaks of how Messiah would die (compare with Mark 15:33-39)
Psalm 45 highlights Messiah’s victory over evil (compare to Revelation 1:5-8 and Revelation 19:11-16)

There are many other messianic prophecies, but these will create an outline to illustrate how our God often uses poetry to express His desire to have a personal relationship with us and the extent to which He will go to make it happen. All we have to do is confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord (the promised Messiah) and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. (Romans 10:9-10) And this particular scripture would highlight one of the major differences between Christianity and other religions. Buddha was not raised from the dead, nor was Mohammed, nor Joseph Smith (founder of Mormons), nor Charles Taze Russell (founder of Jehovah’s Witness / Watchtower society), nor any other alleged "prophet of God". Jesus warned us that many false prophets would rise up and deceive many (Matt 24:11). But it’s Jesus alone who was raised from the dead as payment for every sin ever committed. In Acts 4:8-13 the Apostle Peter testified to his fellow Jews that it’s Jesus alone who is able to deliver people from an eternity of suffering, shame and misery. And within that testimony, Peter quoted Psalm 118:22 as proof that Jesus is the Messiah – a Psalm that he would have learned as a boy in the Jewish culture.

Another important difference between Christianity and other religions is that Christians worship one God who offers forgiveness for all sins. All other religions require their followers to work for their forgiveness. In addition, they are required to perform good works in order to get into Heaven, though Heaven might be renamed something like Paradise, Nirvana or "achieving godhood". Now at first glance, working for forgiveness and working to get into Heaven might seem like the same thing. But it’s not. Earning repentance and earning a reward are two different things. But for Christians, it’s Jesus’ shed blood that grants us access into Heaven and a loving, Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers (Jeremiah 33:3). And we do our good works as an expression of our love and gratitude to Jesus – a free, joyous gift to Him: A way to worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Reinforcing Relationship

Another important concept that the Apostle Peter pointed out to his fellow Jews was that God’s promise of a personal relationship with Him is for anyone who will accept it (Acts 2:38-39). This being the case, that would make anyone accepting it a part of His chosen people – because He becomes our God. So we get to be grafted in (Romans 11:13-20). As those who are grafted in, we become eligible for the same plethora of promises proclaimed through out His Word. And the promises demonstrate His character.

Even in this culture we make promises to those with whom we desire to have some kind of relationship. For example, businesses sign contracts, credit card companies have people sign an agreement to terms, banks have borrowers sign an agreement, even a bride and groom make promises or vows to one another in front of witnesses.

In the same way, the Lord has made promises to His people and He put them in writing in the Bible. In fact, Jesus compares our relationship with Him to the relationship between a husband and a wife in many places throughout the Word. And anyone who’s been married for a while knows that a good, lasting marriage relationship requires effort. Many people want to put all the effort into the wedding rather than the marriage. If we rarely spent time with our spouse and we only communicated occasionally, there wouldn’t be much of a relationship there. While our spouse might respond when we mentioned a need or want, a relationship that lacked time together and communication would be somehow unfulfilling – sort of empty and irrelevant. But when we begin discovering our Spouse’s (Jesus’) interests, His likes and dislikes, we begin to see the beauty of our Spouse’s character. That beauty is laid out in every promise in His Word.

One of the most beautiful representations of the analogy of our wife and husband relationship with Jesus is the poetic book, Song of Solomon. It gives us an example of just how deep Jesus’ love for us runs and how much He enjoys us – His people. It gives us a glimpse of how he sees us in spite of our imperfections. Just as the lover in Song of Solomon looks past the flaw of the Shulamite woman’s tanned skin and sees the beauty of who she is, ( Song 1:5-10) Jesus looks fondly on a heart that is devoted to Him.

Reaching the Races

One of my favorite promises is in Jeremiah 29:11. "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope." The reason that I like this promise so much is because it shows me that the Lord has vision for my life – a destiny. And since I know He’s all-powerful (Matthew 19:26, able to finish what He starts (Phil 1:6), and loves me beyond my ability to
comprehend it (Jer. 31:3), I know He’ll be faithful. Of course these promises (as well as many other promises) apply to anyone who has accepted Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior. He has a plan for each of us as individuals, and a collective plan for us as His bride (the church). As we experience the joy of going where He leads us and using the talents He’s given us, we get to have the privilege of helping to add to His Kingdom. If we’re not experiencing joy, we need to ask Him why – He might be calling us to do something other than what we’re doing.

As we step into the giftings and talents that He has given to each of us, He will empower us to share with others the great things that He has done for us. He will extend His power to us and bring opportunities to us to share with others what we have learned about His character through each book that makes up the Bible. Each book shows us something different about the depth of who he is. And as we pray and take the time to listen for Him to speak to us through His Word, He will show us His heart – just as any husband longs to share his heart with his wife in a healthy, Christian marriage. Likewise, he will desire to hear his wife share her heart with him as well.

As we continue to make a point of communicating with our Lover in prayer and take the time to listen for His voice through His word, we will not only see that He is a poet, but we’ll see the deeper things too. Such as catching a deeper revelation of His unconditional, undying love for us – and gaining deeper insight into who we are becoming in Him.