Hebrew Poetry

What ought one to expect when delving into Hebrew poetry?  How ought one to think about the distinctive features of Hebrew poetry to understand what it is doing?  David L. Peterson and Kent Harold Richards have written a brief and helpful book that answers these kinds of questions.  It's called Interpreting Hebrew Poetry. 

Here's a sample which gives you an idea of what's different about Hebrew poetry from, say, English poetry, and therefore gives the reader pointers for how to understand Hebrew poetry (p. 47):

Rythm in Hebrew poetry works in a way quite distinct from the way in which meter is often understood to function in the poetry of many other languages. . . . Rather than seeking or expecting the sort of uniformity that meter typically generates in poems written in other languages, one anticipates a delicate balance between regularity and variation.

In sum, Hebrew poetry possesses rhythm, not meter.  Such rhythm, often described in rhythmic patterns, is distinctive because it functions differently from meter.  As a result, one may read Hebrew poetry looking for both rhythmic regularity and variety, not metric predictability.

Directions for Killing Sin

How shall we go about killing sin?  In chapter 14 of On Mortification of Sin, John Owen gives specific directions for this work.  I'll post here the substance of these directions:

"Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin.  His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.  Live in this, and thou wilt die a conqueror; yea, thou wilt, through the good providence of God, live to see thy lust dead at thy feet" (p. 79).

There's Knowing and then There's Knowing

Regarding knowledge, what is the difference between believers and unbelievers?  Hear Owen, who needs to be heard, in my judgment, in our time, in our context, because I'm not sure we get this.  (By the way, the quotation follows working through many texts; Owen is not driven by philosophy but by Scripture!)

"The difference between believers and unbelievers as to knowledge is not so much in the matter of their knowledge as in the manner of knowing.  Unbelievers, some of them, may know more and be able to say more of God, his perfections, and his will, than many believers; but they know nothing as they ought, nothing in a right manner, nothing spiritually and savingly, nothing with a holy, heavenly light.  The excellency of a believer is, not that he hath a large apprehension of things, but that what he doth apprehend, which perhaps may be very little, he sees it in the light of the Spirit of God, in a saving, soul-transforming light; and this is that which gives us communion with God, and not prying thoughts or curious-raised notions" (John Owen, Works, vol. 6, p.69).

This needs to be recalled especially by those who study a lot or those who make a living by studying.

What We Really Know

"We speak much of God, can talk of him, his ways, his works, his counsels, all the day long; the truth is, we know very little of him. Our thoughts, our meditations, our expressions of him are low, many of them unworthy of his glory, none of them reaching his perfections" (John Owen, Works, vol. 6, p. 64).

Humanity Laid Low, YHWH Highly Exalted

Last Friday I posted an encouraging text in Isaiah: 2:11-12.  It comes in the middle section of the chiastic structure of Isaiah 1-5 (A, B, C, B',A'; 1:2-31//5:1-30; 2:1-5//4:2-6; 2:6-4:1).  Here's how it looks.

A: 1:2-31 (An Indictment of Judah and Jerusalem)
     B:  2:1-5 (The Eschatological Glory of Mount Zion )
          C: 2:6-4:1 (Proud Humanity Laid Low, Holy YHWH Highly
          Exalted)
     B': 4:2-6 (The Eschatological Glory of Mount Zion)
A': 5:1-31: (An Indictment of Judah and Jerusalem)

Structurally, 2:6-4:1 is the focus or high moment of Isaiah 1-5.  What is its message?  It is this: all that is lofty and lifted up among men will be brought low, and YHWH alone, high and holy, will be exalted in that great day, the day of God, that great eschatological day so often in prophetic view in the Scriptures. 

Hasten that day of God, O Sovereign Lord Almighty!  The holy heart breaks for that day when you alone will be exalted and praised and made much of!

The Danger of Unmortified Sin: Loss of Peace and Strength

In chapter 10 of John Owen's On Mortification of Sin, Owen discusses the manifold danger of unmortified sin.  One of the dangers is a loss of peace and strength all one's days.  Of this he says:

To have peace with God, to have strength to walk before God, is the sum of the great promises of the covenant of grace.  In these things is the life of our souls.  Without them in some comfortable measure, to live is to die.  What good will our lives do us if we see not the face of God sometimes in peace?  If we have not some strength to walk with him?  Now, both these will an unmortified lust certainly deprive the souls of men of.  This case is so evident in David, as that nothing can be more clear.  How often doth he complain that his bones were broken, his soul disquieted, his wounds grievous, on this account!  Take other instances: Isa. 57:17, 'For the iniquity of his covetousness I was wroth, and hid myself.'  What peace, I pray, is there to a soul while God hides himself, or strength whilst he smites? 

A Clear and Abiding Sense

In chapter 10 of John Owen's justly famous On Mortification of Sin, we are given this direction: Get a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and consience of the guilt, danger, and evil of any and all indwelling sin that perplexes and afflicts you. Shortly I will focus in on the second element: the danger of unmortified indwelling sin.

This whole book is worthy of reading once every year or two. It's only 86 pages, and it's an exposition of Rom. 8:13. And it may be purchased here or here. To use a hackneyed expression that is actually true in this case: it's worth its weight in gold. So the price placed on this book is a virtual steal.

God's Good Design in Disability

I recently finished a little but weighty book—which touches the depths of my soul. I've now been moved to tears twice looking at the glory in this book. It's called Just the Way I Am: God's Good Design in Disability by Krista Horning. You may purchase it at Desiring God.


I'm a physical therapist, and I'll be giving a copy to my colleagues. Most of them are not Christians, but some of them may appreciate it. At least this is my hope and prayer. Perhaps those who are not believers may be drawn in by the good news of this book.

Inconceivably Evil

How evil is the sin that a believer allows to abide in his or her heart?  Here at least is John Owen's estimation, with which I agree, and which I think accords with Holy Writ:

"There is inconceivably more evil and guilt in the evil of [a believer's] heart that doth remain, than there would be in so much sin if [he or she] hadst no grace at all."

In other words, sinning against the light, mercy, grace, love, power, wisdom, truth, and authority of the Father, Son, and Spirit is infinitely grievous.

YHWH Alone Will Be Exalted in that Day

Speaking of that great day of the Lord:

"The haughty looks of man shall be brought low,
and the lofty pride of men shall be humbled,
and YHWH alone will be exalted in that day.
For YHWH of hosts has a day
against all that is proud and lofty,
against all that is lifted up--and it shall be brought low . . ." (Isa. 2:11-12). 

Don't you just love it when the word of the Lord speaks this way?

Greek, Hebrew, and the Love of Christ

"The main point is, with all and above all, study the Greek and Hebrew Bible, and the love of Christ" (John Wesley, 1703-1791).

Creation Sings the Father's Song

Emily and I have been thoroughly enjoying Keith and Kristyn Getty's album "awaken the dawn."  It may be purchased at amazon. What follows are the soaring gospel-soaked lyrics of the third song on the CD, one of our favorites:

Creation sings the Father's song
He calls the sun to wake the dawn
And run the course of day
Till evening falls in crimson rays
His fingerprints in flakes of snow
His breath upon this spinning globe
He charts the eagle's flight
Command's the newborn baby's cry

Hallelujah!
Let all creation stand and sing
Hallelujah!
Fill the earth with songs of worship
Tell the wonders of creation's King

Creation gazed upon his face
The ageless One in time's embrace
Unveiled the Father's plan
Of reconciling God and man
A second Adam walked the earth
Whose blameless life would break the curse
Whose death would set us free
To live with Him eternally

Hallelujah!
Let all creation stand and sing
Hallelujah!
Fill the earth with songs of worship
Tell the wonders of creation's King

Creaton longs for His return
When Christ shall reign upon the earth
The bitter wars that rage
Are birth pains of a coming age
When He renews the land and sky
All heav'n will sing and earth reply
With one resplendent theme
The glories of our God and King!

YHWH: It's ALL Mine

"The earth is YHWH's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and those who dwell therein" (Ps. 24:1).

The Second Coming

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand;
The Second Coming!
Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

—William Butler Yeats [1865-1939]

(For background, click.)

Were the Puritans Puritanical? (Part 6)

"Contrary to a popular misconception, the Puritans were not squeamish about physical or erotic contact between couples.  Thomas Gataker said that 'the Holy Ghost did allow some such private dalliance and behavior to married persons between themselves as to others might seem dotage.'  Many Puritan writers used Genesis 26:8, which describes Isaac's fondling of Rebekah, to argue that erotic love was legitimate.  One of them commented that in marriage 'a play-fellow is come to make our age merry, as Isaac and Rebecca sported together,' while Gouge cited the same passage to charge husbands who reject such contact as taking no more delight in their own wives than in any other women.  Perkins described one of the ways by which couples should show 'due benevolence' to each other as 'by an holy kind of rejoicing and solacing themselves with each other,' in connection with which he mentioned kissing" (Ryken, Worldly Saints, p. 45).

True Spiritual Mortification

"Hatred of sin as sin, not only as galling or disquieting, a sense of the love of Christ in the cross, lie at the bottom of all true spiritual mortification" (John Owen, vol. 6, Works, p. 41).

Thinking for the Sake of Loving God and Others in God

The Desiring God national conference turned out once again to be invigorating.  My wife and I needed to be stirred out of dullness (especially me), needed to rethink thinking as a means of loving God more, needed to be reminded of some basics in this God-centered cosmos.  All of the speakers convicted us with their messages.  Even Rick Warren, to my pleasant surprise.  For instance, he said (as did my hero John Owen long ago in different language), you only know what you practice, only believe what you practice.  If we say we believe something and don't act on it, we don't really believe.  Sounds like James 2, doesn't it?  Faith without works is dead.

The highlight of the weekend was, oddly perhaps, the presentation of John Piper with a Festschrift by editors Justin Taylor and Sam Storms.  It moved me to tears.  John Piper is, by God's free grace, a truly great man.  Yes, warts and all.  (If we know how to value greatness, that is, in relation to the object of one's love.)  His influence under the sweet, mysterious movement of the Spirit is incalculable.  The man's God-centered, Christ-exalting, man-abasing, soul-stirring and soul-satisfying preaching has fed thousands upon thousands upon thousands.  It has slain God-belittling pride and man-centeredness millions of times over.  And it did so again for me this past weekend. 

As Piper approaches his last days of preaching and leading as a pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church, we would do well to listen carefully to him.  He is one of the greatest preachers, not only of our time, but doubtless of all time.  And this, not because he has mastered all the books and advice and how-tos of the preaching sages (I doubt he even reads them), but because God in Christ has been supreme in that holy act, not the sermon.  The structure of the message, the expositor's prowess in navigating a passage, the rhetoric of the message, the hearers of that message, and so on—these have not been supreme.  God has!  God himself in Christ by the Spirit has been supreme.  Gloriously supreme!  And for this above all else John Piper has been a great preacher.  For this he is among the greats of all Christian history.  For this I love this man whom I've never met, to the bottom.  For it is in this that I and thousands upon thousands have been led to love God more.  So for this I bless and thank and praise and exult in God—from whom and through whom and to whom are all things.  To him be glory forevermore!

May God be pleased to raise up generations of preachers in the wake of Piper's legacy of God-centeredness to carry on and forward, without shame and without apology, openly and boldly, Piper's vision of God's supremacy in all things for the joy of all peoples.  The Church and world need nothing more than God-glorifying, Christ-exalting, man-abasing, soul-satisfying preaching.

I Got a Good One

The title of this year's Desiring God National Conference is this: Think: The Life of the Mind & The Love of God.  It's being held this weekend at the Minneapolis Convention Center.   My wife Emily and I are going to celebrate our third anniversary.  When I asked my wife what she'd like to do for our anniversary, this conference was her answer.  Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!  How grateful I am to be married to this woman!  I got a good one.  How many wives would suggest a weekend like this?