Psalms: Carefully Crafted Paintings

It can be humbling to stand before a great work of art. We might be captivated by its beauty, or drawn in

to contemplate the depth of meaning that it conveys. Alternatively, we may recognize that we are unable

to appreciate it fully because of our own limitations - we find ourselves without appropriate background

knowledge, or without understanding about the artistic medium, which can leave us with more questions

than answers.

This humility ought to accompany us as we approach the Psalms. The emotional connections we often

feel with the Psalms can cause us to believe we are quite familiar with them and that we have a firm grasp

on their contents. That is not always a bad thing, but it would be ideal if we could actually pin down the

intentions of the poets behind these psalms before allowing our feelings to get too connected to a line that

may have a slightly (or greatly) different intended purpose than we originally thought.

The task of pinning down authorial intentions is not always as easy as we would like. The literary patterns

of ancient Hebrew poetry are foreign to us, and some might be discouraged at how much of the biblical

text is beyond their current comprehension.

Thankfully there is no need to fear. The most central meanings of Scripture are often quite clear, even if

we struggle to fully understand the depth or the details. Furthermore, we are called to love God with our

minds, and we can come to know and appreciate Him more deeply by uncovering the intricacies of His

communications with us. The more one learns to do this, the more enjoyable it comes; God speaks to us

in fascinating and life-giving ways.

Psalm 25 is a great example of the literary complexity and beauty that we could (and should) meditate on

for hours. First, the structure of the whole Psalm is a chiasm. In this pattern, the first unit corresponds to

the last unit, the second unit corresponds to the penultimate unit, and so on, driving the focus to a key idea

right in the middle. Not only is the whole Psalm a chiasm, but there may be smaller chiasms present as

well.

Second, Psalm 25 is an acrostic poem, where each line begins with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet.

But, there are a couple deviations from the expected pattern, and these deviations match exactly with

another acrostic poem in Psalm 34. This begs the question of what the relationship between these two

psalms might be.

Third, numerous linking words and allusions connect this psalm to Exodus 33-34. The very center of the

chiasm harkens back to Exodus 34:6-7, which contains God’s longest self-description in the entire Old

Testament, a glorious proclamation of God’s character.

Good things often require effort, and our study of the Psalms is no different. While we will never fully

understand anything on this side of heaven, we can continue to pursue God through Scripture and come to

grasp the goodness of His promises with increasing clarity. The structure and allusions from Psalm 25 are

just two out of thousands of threads that we might chase in understanding God through his word to us.