Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

Acts 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Acts 1:16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.

Acts 2:4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:17 “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;

Acts 2:18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

Acts 2:33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Acts 2:38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,

Acts 4:25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain?

Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

Acts 5:9 But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

Acts 5:32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 6:3 Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty.

Acts 6:5 And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.

Acts 6:10 But they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.

Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.

Acts 7:55 But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 8:15 who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit,

Acts 8:17 Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit.

Acts 8:18 Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money,

Acts 8:19 saying, “Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 8:29 And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

Acts 8:39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

Acts 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Acts 10:19 And while Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you.

Acts 10:38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Acts 10:44 While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.

Acts 10:45 And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles.

Acts 10:47 “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?”

Acts 11:12 And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man's house.

Acts 11:15 As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning.

Acts 11:16 And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Acts 11:24 for he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith. And a great many people were added to the Lord.

Acts 11:28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).

Acts 13:2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Acts 13:4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

Acts 13:9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him

Acts 13:52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 15:8 And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us,

Acts 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:

Acts 16:6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.

Acts 16:7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them.

Acts 19:2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

Acts 19:6 And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying.

Acts 19:21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”

Acts 20:22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there,

Acts 20:23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

Acts 20:28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

Acts 21:4 And having sought out the disciples, we stayed there for seven days. And through the Spirit they were telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:11 And coming to us, he took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

Acts 28:25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet:

We love the local church, and within the family you will see many people from all walks of life, gathered together by Jesus Christ. In this family of people you will see people with amazing gifts, and some of the people know how to use those gifts they have to serve the church body. Below is a great example of a couple from Redeemer Church (Jeffrey & Laura Kranz). They have put together some great resources for people to get to know God's Word better, so take some time and look through these wonderful info graphics. 

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Infographic: How Long Is The Bible? 

• How long is the Bible compared to other major works?
• What’s the longest book of the Bible?
• What’s the shortest book of the Bible?
• Which biblical authors wrote the most?
• How long should it take to read the Bible?

And I’ve been itching to make an infographic for some time, so I put all these answers (and more) here!

If you like the Bible and you’re a numbers geek, you’ll want to read and share this infographic.

Infographic: All The "One Another" Commands In The NT

I’ve heard a couple people reference the “one another” passages in the Bible. You’ve heard a few of them:

• Bear one another’s burdens.
• Encourage one another.
• Everybody get together; try to love one another right now. (Wait . . . that might be something else.)

But I figured it’d be good for us to have all those “one another” commands in one place, ergo, this infographic!

(I have the whole list in text form below, too.)

Infographic: David's Mighty Men (And The Stories Behind Them)

You’ve probably heard about David’s mighty men (if not, you’ll be ahead of the curve in a minute). David was a skilled soldier and leader, but he wasn’t alone. He had a band of very loyal, very powerful heroes who stood by him.

They accomplished incredible things in combat. Stuff modern soldiers couldn’t do. Stuff fictitious soldiers couldn’t do.

Seriously: ever hear of Legolas from The Lord of the Rings? He killed 42 orcs in one battle, and I think everyone agrees that he’s pretty hardcore.Well, you’re about to meet someone who took out 800 bad guys at once.

Here we go . . .

Infographic: Every Dream In The Bible (And What They Mean)

Sometimes in the Bible, God communicates to people in dreams. Some of them are symbolic (like the dreams inDaniel), and some involve explicit instructions from God.

Dreams fascinate me, and I figure they’re interesting to you, too. Since God has revealed some of His word through dreams, I thought it might be cool to find all the dreams in the Bible.

So, I Bible-geeked out and made this for you.

photo credit: green_is_in via photopin cc

For the last month or so we have blogged through Fee and Stuart's book, How To Read The Bible For All It's Worth. The foundational lessons that Fee and Stuart provide are very helpful in studying God's Word, which is valuable beyond description. Above all helps that Fee and Stuart provide, our greatest need in understanding God's Word is the help of the Holy Spirit. The only way for God's Word to be wonderful to us is if God Himself opens our minds and hearts and eyes to cherish the Bible for what it is. Pray that God would show you wonderful things in His Word, and as He does, thank Him and praise Him. Here is a pdf of all the posts from Fee and Stuart's book.

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The Nature of Revelation:The hermeneutical problems are intrinsic. The book is in the canon; thus it is God’s Word, inspired by the Holy Spirit. Yet when we come to hear that Word, most of us in the church today hardly know what to make of it. At the same time, however, there is a rich, diverse symbolism, some of which is manageable while some is obscure. Most of the problems stem from the symbols, plus the fact that the book deals with future events, but at the same time is set in a recognizable first-century context.

The first key to the exegesis of Revelation is to examine the kind of literature it is. Revelation is a unique, finely blended combination of three distinct literary types: apocalypse, prophecy, and letter. Furthermore, the basic type, apocalypse, is a literary form that does not exist today.

The Revelation as Apocalypse: The Revelation is primarily an apocalypse. Some of the common characteristics of an apocalypse follow.

1. Apocalyptic literature was concerned with judgment and salvation. Its great concern was no longer with God’s activity within history. The apocalyptics looked exclusively forward to the time that God would bring a violent end to history.

2. Apocalypses are literary works from the beginning. John was told to write what he had seen not to verbally communicate it.

3. Most frequently the stuff of apocalyptic is presented in the form of visions or dreams, and its language is cryptic and symbolic. Therefore, most of the apocalypses contained literary devices intended to give the book a sense of hoary age. The most important of these devices was pseudonymity, that is, they were given the appearance of having been written by ancient worthies, who were told to seal up their writing for a later day.

4. The images in this writing are often forms of fantasy, rather than reality.

5. Most are very formally stylized. There was a strong tendency to divide time and events into neat packages. There was also a great fondness for the symbolic use of numbers and symbols. As a consequence, the final product usually has the visions in carefully arranged, often numbered, sets. Frequently these sets, when put together, express something without necessarily trying to suggest that each separate picture follows hard on the heel of the former.

The Revelation of John fits all of these categories but one. And that one difference is so important that in some ways it becomes a world of its own. Revelation is not Pseudonymous. John made himself know to his readers. He also did not seal up the book because he was inspired to distribute the message now.

The Revelation as Prophecy: John calls his book “this prophecy,” and says that the “testimony of Jesus,” for which he and the churches are suffering “is the spirit of prophecy.” This probably means that the message of Jesus, attested by him and to which John and the churches bear witness, is the clear evidence that the prophetic Spirit had come. Therefore, what makes John’s Apocalypse different is the combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements. John clearly intends this book to be a prophetic word to the church. It was a word from God for their present situation.

The Revelation as Epistle: It must be noted that this combination of apocalyptic and prophetic elements has been cast into the form of a letter. John speaks to his reader in the first/second person formula. The significance of this is that there is an occasional aspect to the Revelation. It was occasioned at least in part by the needs of the specific church to which it was addressed. Therefore, to interpret, we must try to understand its original historical context.

The Necessity of Exegesis: Exegesis is especially important when studying Revelation. It is the lack of this that has lead to so many speculative and bad interpretations.

1. The first task is to seek the author’s original intent. The primary meaning of Revelation is what John intended it to mean, which in turn must also have been something his readers could have understood it to mean.

2. Since the Revelation intends to be prophetic, one must be open to the possibility of a second, higher meaning, inspired by the Holy Spirit. However, such a meaning lies beyond what we can correctly define. Therefore, what we need to do is understand what John was intending his original readers to hear and understand.

3. One must be careful to not overuse the analogy of Scripture when interpreting Revelation. The analogy of Scripture means that Scripture is to be interpreted in the light of other Scripture. Therefore any keys to interpreting Revelation must be intrinsic to the text of the Revelation itself or otherwise available to the original recipients from their own historical context.

4. Because of the apocalyptic nature of the book there can be some exegetical problems specifically in regards to some on the imagery.

a. One must have sensitivity to the rich background of ideas that have gone into the composition of the Revelation. The chief source of these ideas and images is the Old Testament, but John has derived images from apocalyptic and even from ancient mythology.

b. Apocalyptic images are of several kinds

c. When John interprets his images, these interpreted images must be held firmly and must serve as a starting point for understanding others.

d. One must see the visions as wholes and not allegorically press all the details. In this matter the visions are like parables. The whole vision is trying to say something; the details are either (1) for dramatic effect, (2) to add to the picture of the whole so that the readers will not mistake the points of reference.

5. Apocalypses in general, and the Revelation in particular, seldom intend to give a detailed, chronological account of the future. John’s concern is that, despite present appearances, God is in control of history and the church. And even though the church will experience suffering and death, it will be triumphant in Christ, who will judge his enemies and save his people.

The Historical Context: The place to begin one’s exegesis is with provisional reconstruction of the situation that it was written. Try to read it all in one sitting, reading it for the big picture. As you read take notes on the main points, the author and his readers. Understanding that John wrote this book while in exile is crucial in understanding the occasion of the letter.

The main themes are abundantly clear. Church and state are on a collision course; and the initial victory will appear to belong to the state. But the prophetic word is one of encouragement; for God is in control of all things. God will finally pour out his wrath upon those who caused suffering and death and bring eternal rest to those who remain faithful.

It is also important to understand the distinction that John makes between tribulation and wrath. Tribulation (suffering and death) is clearly part of what the church was enduring and was yet to endure. God’s wrath on the other hand, is his judgment that is to be poured out upon those who have afflicted God’s people.

The Literary Context: To understand any one of the specific visions on the Revelation it is especially important not only to wrestle with the background and meaning of the images (the content questions) but also to ask how a particular vision functions in the book as a whole. One must think paragraphs because every paragraph is a building block for the whole argument. The book is creatively structured whole, and each vision is an integral part of that whole.

The Hermeneutical Questions: The hermeneutical difficulties with the Revelation are much like those of the prophetic books. As with all other genres, God’s Word to us is to be found first of all in his Word to them. But in contrast the Prophets the Revelation often speaks about things yet to be.

Our difficulties do not lie with understanding God’s Word of warning and comfort. Our difficulties lie with that other phenomenon of prophecy, namely that the temporal world is often so closely tied to the final eschatological realities.

1. We need to learn that pictures of the future are just that—pictures. Thus when the four trumpets proclaim calamities on nature as a part of God’s judgment, we must not necessarily expect a literal fulfillment of those pictures.

2. Some of the pictures that were intended primarily to express the certainty of God’s judgment must not also be interpreted to mean soon-ness, at least from our limited perspective.

3. The pictures where the temporal is closely tied to the eschatological should not be viewed as simultaneous. The eschatological dimension of the judgments and of the salvation should alert us to the possibility of a not-yet dimension to many of the pictures.

4. Although there are probably many instances where there is a second, yet to be fulfilled, dimension to the pictures, we have been given no keys as to how we are to pin these down.

5. The pictures that were intended to be totally eschatological are still to be taken so. This we should affirm as God’s Word yet to be fulfilled. But even these are pictures; the fulfillment will be in God’s own time, in his own way.

Just as the opening word of Scripture speaks of God and creation, so the concluding words speak of God and consummation. If there are some ambiguities for us as to how all the details are to work out, there is no ambiguity as to the certainty that God will work it all out—in his time and in his way. Such certainty should serve for us, as for them, to warn and to encourage.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Nature of Wisdom:Three Old Testament books are commonly know as wisdom books. Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, and Job. Also a number of Psalms can be included into this category. Finally, there is the Song of Songs, also commonly called the Song of Solomon.  All of these books contain a great deal of material considered to be wisdom. Wisdom, as it applies to Christians is, the ability to make godly choices in life.

Abuse of Wisdom Literature: Traditionally the Wisdom books have been misused in three different ways. (1) People often read these books in parts. They fail to see that there is an overall message according to the inspired author’s intentions. (2) People often misunderstand wisdom terms and categories as well as wisdom styles and literary modes. Thus they misdefine the terms used in the Bible in wisdom contexts. (3) People often fail to follow the line of argument in a wisdom discourse. Accordingly, they try to live by what was intended to be understood as incorrect.

Who Is Wise? Wisdom is not something theoretical and abstract—it is something that exist only when a person thinks and acts according to the truth, as he or she makes many choices that life demands. The wise person is highly practical not just theoretical. Wisdom literature sought to evaluate how best to make life’s choices, while remaining grounded in the only good choices or godly choices. The very first step in biblical wisdom is knowing God, not abstractly or theoretically, but in the concrete sense of committing your life to him. Wisdom literature then, tends to focus on people and their ability to make godly choices and whether or not they are learning how to apply God’s truth to the experiences they have.

The Limits of Wisdom: It is important to remember that not all wisdom in the ancient world was godly or orthodox. Moreover, wisdom does not cover all of life. Intensely practical, it tends not to touch upon the theological or historical issues so important elsewhere in the Bible. Remember that only when wisdom as a skill, is subordinate to obedience to God, does it achieve its proper ends in the sense of the Old Testament means.

Ecclesiastes: Cynical Wisdom This book is a wisdom monologue that is often puzzling to those who read it carefully. Its consistent message throughout (until the last verses) is that the reality of life and finality of death mean that life has no ultimate value. If we are all going to die anyway who cares if you’re good or not?

Everything about the book, everything but the final two verses, represents a brilliant, artful argument for the way one would look at life—if God did not play a direct, intervening role in life and if there were no life after death. The true aim of the book, however, is to show that such a view of life would leave you cold. When one relegates God to a position way out there away from us, irrelevant to our lives, then Ecclesiastes is the result. The book thus serves as a reverse apologetic for cynical wisdom; it drives its readers to look further because the answers that the author of this book gives are so discouraging.

Wisdom In Job: The book of Job contains all sorts of wrong advice and incorrect conclusions as they come from the lips of Job’s well-meaning “comforters.” This book takes the form of a highly structured conversation or dialogue.

Job’s comforters represent the viewpoint that God is not simply involved but is constantly meting out his judgment through the events of Job’s life. They express the commentary that what happens to you in life, good or ill, is a direct result of whether you have pleased God or not. Their message is that when life goes well for a person, that is a sign that he or she has chosen to do what is good, but when things go bad, it is obvious that that person has sinned against God.

The reader of the book of Job learns what is simply the world’s wisdom, seemingly logical but actually wrong, and what constitutes God’s wisdom and what builds confidence in God’s sovereignty and righteousness. Thus the dialogue and the story line combine to make the Old Testament’s paramount exemplar of speculative wisdom.

Wisdom In Proverbs: The book of Proverbs is the primary locus of prudential wisdom—that is, rules and regulations people can use to help themselves make responsible, successful choices in life. Proverbial wisdom focuses mostly on practical attitudes.

An important thing to remember about Proverbs is that in Hebrew they are called meshallim (figure of speech, parable, or specially contrived saying). A proverb is a brief, particular expression of truth. The briefer the statement the less likely it is to be totally precise and universally applicable. They must be understood reasonably and taken on their own terms. They do not state everything about a truth but point toward it. They tend to use figurative language and express things suggestively rather than in detail. Proverbs can also be like parables in that they express their truth in a symbolic way.

Proverbs are not a categorical, always applicable, ironclad promises, but a more general truth; it teaches that lives according to God and lived according to his will succeed according to God’s definition of success. When the Proverbs, then, are taken on their own terms, and understood as a special category of suggestive truth that they are, they become important and useful adjuncts for living.

Some Hermenuetical Guidelines: Proverbs state a wise way to approach certain selected practical goals but do so in terms that cannot be treated like a divine warranty of success. The particular blessings, rewards, and opportunities mentioned in Proverbs are likely to follow if one will choose the wise courses of actions outlined in the poetical, figurative language of the book.

If you approach Proverbs from a literalistic, extreme interpretation, you will miss the point of the proverb. A proverb frames the truth, in specific, narrow terms that are intended to point toward the broader principle rather than to express something technically.

Each inspired proverb must be balanced with others and understood in comparison with the rest of Scripture. Moreover, you must guard against letting their practical concern with material things and this world make you forget the balancing value of other Scriptures that warn against materialism and worldliness.

No proverb is a complete statement of truth. No proverb is so perfectly worded that it can stand up to the unreasonable demand that it apply to every situation at every time. The more briefly and parabolically a principle is stated, the more common sense is needed to interpret it properly. Proverbs tries to impart knowledge that can be retained rather than philosophy that can impress a critic.

Many proverbs express their truths according to practices and institutions that no longer exist, although they were common to Old Testament Israelites. Unless you think of these proverbs in terms of their modern equivalents their meaning may seem irrelevant or be lost to you altogether. Following is a list of some rules that will help you make proper use of proverbs and be true to their divinely inspired intent.

1.    Proverbs are often parabolic, i.e., figurative, pointing beyond themselves.

2.    Proverbs are intensely practical, not theoretically theological

3.    Proverbs are worded to be memorable, not technically precise.

4.    Proverbs are not designed to support selfish behavior—just the opposite.

5.    Proverbs strongly reflecting ancient culture may need sensible translation so as to not lose their meaning.

6.    Proverbs are not guarantees from God, but poetic guidelines for good behavior.

7.    Proverbs may use highly specific language, exaggeration, or any a variety of literary techniques to make their point.

8.    Proverbs give good advice for wise approaches to certain aspects of life, but are not exhaustive in their coverage.

9.    Wrongly used, Proverbs might justify a crass, materialistic lifestyle. Rightly used, they will provide practical advice for daily living.

Wisdom in the Song of Songs: The Song of Songs is a lengthy love song. It is an extended ballad of human romance, written in a style of the Near Ancient Eastern lyric poetry. The focus of this book is to provide its readers with the answers of whom to love and how to love. These are the two issues that the Song is mainly concerned with.

The Song has had a long tradition of odd translation, based on a combination of two common kinds of hermeneutical mistakes: totality transfer and allegorizing. Totality transfer is the tendency to think that all the possible features and meanings of a word or concept come with it whenever it is used. Allegorizing is interpreting writing as a figurative form that leads to abstract ideas about what the text is saying.

Here are some of the considerations that will help you use the Song in the way Scripture intends:

1. Try to appreciate the overall ethical context of the Song of Songs. Monogamous, heterosexual marriage was the proper context for sexual activity, according to God’s revelation in the Old Testament, and God-fearing Israelites would regard the Song in that light. The attitude of the Song is the very antithesis of unfaithfulness, either before or after marriage. Marriage consummates and continues love between a man and a woman. That is what the Song points towards.

2. Be aware of the genre of the Song. Its closet parallels are indeed love poetry of the Old Testament and elsewhere in ancient Near East, the context of which was not just love of any kind, but attraction in marriage. There is a solid moral overtone and a focusing of love into the right context.

3. Read the Song as suggesting godly choices rather than describing them in a technical manner. They are true as suggestions and generalizations rather than precise statements of universal fact.

4. Be aware that the Song focuses on very different values from those of modern culture. Our culture encourages people to fulfill themselves, whatever their sexual tastes, whereas the Song is concerned with how one person can respond faithfully to the attractiveness of and fulfill the needs of another. In the Song, romance is something that should continue throughout and actually characterize marriage.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)

The Psalms are a collection of inspired Hebrew prayers and hymns. The fact that the Psalms are often appended to copies of the New Testament and that they are used so often in worship and meditation has given this particular book a certain prominence. Yet despite the fact that they are well known, they are also misunderstood. The problem with interpreting the Psalms arises primarily from their nature—what they are. Because the Bible is God’s Word, most Christians automatically assume that all it contains are words from God to people. In fact the Bible also contains words spoken to God or about God, and that these words, too, are God’s Word.

The Psalms are not propositions, or imperatives, or stories that illustrate doctrines, they do not function primarily for the teaching of doctrine or moral behavior. They are profitable when used for the purpose for which they were intended by God. (1) For us to express ourselves to God, (2) and to consider his ways.

Some Preliminary Exegetical Observations: When reading the Psalms you must understand their nature, including their various types, as well as their forms and function.

The Psalms as Poetry: The most important thing to remember when studying the Psalms is that they are poems; musical poems. It is important to familiarize yourself with Hebrew poetry as we did in regards to the Prophetical books, but there are also special points that need to be addressed in connection with the Psalms.

1. One needs to be aware that Hebrew poetry, by it very nature, was addressed, as it were, to the mind through the heart (i.e., much of the language is intentionally emotive). Therefore, you need to be careful in over exegeting the Psalms by finding special meanings in every word or phrase.

2. The Psalms are not just any kind of poem; they are musical poems. It is intended to have emotions, to evoke feelings rather than propositional thinking, and to stimulate a response on the part of the individual that goes beyond mere cognitive understanding of certain facts. While the Psalms contain and reflect doctrine, they are hardly repositories for doctrinal exposition. When you read a Psalm make sure that you do not derive from it meanings that were not intended by the musical poet who was inspired to write it.

3. It is also important to remember that the vocabulary of poetry is purposefully metaphorical. Thus one must take care to look for the point of the metaphor. An inability to appreciate symbolic language (metaphor and simile) and to translate into actual fact the more abstract symbolic notions of the psalm could lead a person to misapply it almost entirely.

The Psalms as Literature: When studying the Psalms it is important to recognize certain literary features. Failure to note these features can lead to several errors of interpreting and application.

1. The Psalms are of several different types. It is important to realize that the Israelites knew all of the types. Therefore, to truly understand the Psalms one must invest the time to learn all of the types as well.

2. Each of the Psalms is also characterized by its form. By form we mean the particular type, as determined by the characteristics (especially structure) that it shares with other psalms of its type. When one understands the structure of a Psalm then one can follow what is happening in the psalm.

3. Each of the types of psalms is also intended to have a given function in the life of Israel. Each psalm has an intended purpose. It is not reasonable, for example, to take a royal psalm, which had its original function in the celebration of Israel’s kingship as God endowed it, and read this at a wedding.

4. One must learn to recognize various patterns within the Psalms.

5. Each psalm must be read as a literary unit. The Psalms are to be treated as wholes, not atomized into single verses or thought of as many pearls on a string. Each psalm has a pattern of development by which its ideas are presented, developed, and brought to some kind of conclusion.

The Use of Psalms In Ancient Israel: The Psalms were functional songs. By functional we mean that they were not simply used as hymns are sometimes used today, spacing material to separate out parts of a worship service in preparation for the sermon. The Psalms served a crucial function of making connection between the worshiper and God. Therefore, the Psalms are very good at remaining applicable in all ages.

Eventually the Psalms were divided into five books. Book 1 (1-41); Book 2 (42-72); Book 3 (73-89); Book 4 (90-106); Book 5 (107-150).

The Types of Psalms It is possible to group the Psalms into seven different categories. These categories serve well to classify the Psalms and thus guide the reader toward good use of them.

1. Lament: Laments constitute the largest groups of psalms in the Psalter. There are more than sixty, including several corporate laments. Individual laments help a person express struggles, suffering, or disappointment to the Lord. Corporate laments do the same for a group rather than for an individual. The laments in the book of Psalms express with a deep, honest fervor the distress the people felt, therefore serving as a valuable tool for expression of concern to the Lord.

2. Thanksgiving Psalms: These psalms expressed joy to the Lord because something had gone well, or circumstances were good, and/or because people had a reason to render thanks to God for his faithfulness, and benefit. There are both community and individual psalms of thanksgiving.

3. Hymns of Praise: These psalms, without particular reference to previous miseries or to recent joyful accomplishments, center on the praise of God for who he is, for his greatness and his beneficence toward the whole earth, as well as his own people. God deserves praise. These psalms are especially adapted for individual or group praise in worship.

4. Salvation History Psalms: These psalms have as their focus a review of the history of God’s saving work’s among the people of Israel, especially his deliverance of them from bondage in Egypt and his creation of them as a people.

5. Psalms of Celebration and Affirmation: In this category include several kinds of psalms, all of which deal with different aspects of celebration and/or affirmation.

Covenant Renewal Liturgies: Designed to lead God’s people to a renewal of the covenant he first gave to them on Mount Sinai. These psalms serve effectively as worship guidelines for a service of renewal.

Davidic Covenant Psalms: These psalms praise the importance of God’s choice of the lineage of David. These psalms provide background for his messianic ministry.

Royal Psalms: There are nine psalms that deal especially with the kingship. The kingship in ancient Israel was an important institution, because through it God provided stability and protection. God works through intermediaries in society, and the praise function of these intermediaries is what we find in the royal psalms.

Enthronement Psalms: These psalms celebrate the enthronement of the king in ancient Israel, a ceremony that may have been repeated yearly. Some believe that they represent also the enthronement of the Lord himself, and were used as liturgies for some sort of ceremony which celebrated this.

Song of Zion or Songs of the City of Jerusalem: According to the predictions of God through Moses to the Israelites while they were in the wilderness, Jerusalem became the central city of Israel. Inasmuch as the New Testament makes much of the symbol of a New Jerusalem (heaven) these Psalms remain useful in Christian worship.

6. Wisdom Psalms: Eight Psalms can be place in this category. Also Proverbs chapter 8 is considered a psalm, praising as all of them do, the merits of wisdom and the wise life. These psalms can be read profitably along with the book of Proverbs.

7. Songs of Trust: Ten psalms that center their attention upon the fact that God may be trusted, and that even in times of despair, his goodness and care for his people ought to be expressed. God delights in knowing that those who believe in him trust him for their lives and for what he will choose to give them. These psalms can help us express our trust on God, whether we are doing well or not.

Some Concluding Hermeneutical Observations: How do these words spoken to God function for us as a Word from God? Precisely in the ways they functioned in Israel in the first place—as opportunities to speak to God in words he inspired others to speak to him in times of past.

Three Basic Benefits of the Psalms: From the use of the Psalms both in ancient Israel and in the New Testament church we can see three important ways in which Christians can use the Psalms.

1. Remember that the Psalms are a guide to worship. The worshipper who seeks to praise God, or to appeal to God, or to remember God’s benefit, can use Psalms as a formal means of expression of his or her thoughts and feelings. It can help express our concerns in spite of our own lack of skill to find the right words.

2. The Psalms demonstrate to us how we can relate honestly to God. One can learn from the Psalms to be honest and open in expressing joy, disappointment, anger, or other emotions. To cry to God for help, or with other emotions, is not a judgment on his faithfulness, but an affirmation of it.

3. The Psalms demonstrate the importance of reflection and meditation upon things that God has done for us. They invite us to prayer, to controlled thinking upon God’s Word (that is what meditation is), and to reflective fellowship with other believers.

(This post is a summary and partial abridgement of Fee And Stuart’s book “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth.” It is based solely on Fee And Stuart’s work and any help that this content gives should be credited to God’s grace through their effort. In other words, give God glory, thank Fee and Stuart and buy the book.)