I. STUDY THE CONTEXT (Macro Hermeneutics) (See Part 1)
II. STUDY THE CONTENT OF THE PASSAGE (Micro Hermeneutics)
A. Identify the stanzas or strophes
1. Be aware of Alphabetic acrostics as in Psalm 119. “The obvious structure of Psalm 119 is that it is an acrostic of twenty-two sections built upon the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. A pastor could give a sermon that reflects the meaning of the entire psalm but do a close exposition of only one of the twenty-two sections (one could focus, for example, on the beth section in verses 9-16)” (Duane A. Garrett, “Preaching from the Psalms and Proverbs” ed. Scott M. Gibson in Preaching the Old Testament, Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006, 102).
2. Be aware of chiasmus (based on the Greek chi or X) or introverted parallelism as in Psalm 8.
3. Look for pronoun changes as in Psalm 32 and 103 to help identify the stanzas which in many cases will become the main divisions of your sermon.
4. Look for repeated phrases (“Why are you cast down, O my soul”) as in Psalm 42-43; 147 to help identify the stanzas.
1) The believer is in a spiritual storm (42:1-5)
2) The believer is in a devastating storm (42:6-11)
3) The believer is in a dark cave (43:1-5)
5. Look for tense changes as in Psalm 85 to help identify the stanzas.
6. Look for content changes in Psalms 19, 103, 139 to help identify the stanzas.
B. Write out the content of each stanza
Are there any significant theological words (law, fear of the Lord, kingdom, names of God as in Psalm 19), geographical locations (Psa 103), or repeated words (Selah)?
C. Find the one theme or proposition or main point of the sermon of the Psalm or passage
D. Find the number of ways or reasons for performing the main point of the sermon i.e. the main divisions
E. Explain, argue, illustrate, and apply each main division
For variety in preaching allow the form of the genre to influence how you prepare and preach Hebrew Poetry.
1. Allow the form of the Psalms to influence how you prepare and preach the Psalms.
Jeff Arthurs captures this concept of preaching: "The goal is not to mimic the exact form of the text but to reproduce the impact of the text. If the text is meditative, we would do well to promote meditation. That is the author's intent. If the text prompts emotion, we should too. If the text rebukes, we should rebuke" (Preaching with Variety, Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2007, 49).
Arthurs then gives nine ways to implement this thought of allowing the form of the text to influence the form of the sermon:
1) When Preparing Meditate
Just as the Psalms were written to be slowly read and experienced, model this as you read and prepare your sermon. Read and reread your passage sometimes out loud.
2) Use Concrete Language
The key to communicating concretely is verbs and nouns. Rather than telling the story about 'the man who went down the street,' describe 'the grandfather who shuffled' or 'the CEO who strutted' (page 50).
3) Use Metaphor
The Psalms are replete with metaphors, such as God is my Rock. Sometimes a controlling metaphor can dominate a sermon as in Pastor S. M. Lockridge’s famous sermon It's Friday, but Sunday is coming, and R. G. Lee's Payday Someday. I know we do not preach this style today but still, it is profitable to hear old classics that are masterpieces.
4) Create an Emotional Outline
An example is David Larsen's outline of Psalm 77 on page 53. In the first nine verses, the author is in the depth of despair asking “Will the Lord cast off forever?” (77:7). He rebounds in verses 10-12 when he remembers God’s goodness in the past. In verses 13-2o, the author now is praising God’s greatness: “Who is so great God as our God? Larsen suggests we not outline this psalm as much as reveal our own depth of despair experience when explaining 77:1-9 and then sharing the victory the Lord gave us as we reflected on His goodness in 77:10-12 and our praise for the Lord as we work through 77:13-20. Larsen calls this an emotional outline.
5) Use Parallelism
The use of parallelism is most often found in the outlining of the main points. If the first point starts with a preposition all the points should start with a preposition.
6) Use Music
Arthurs provides at least five ways to use music. I once used a 15th-century funeral dirge to illustrate Habakkuk's doleful pronouncement of judgment on Babylon in Habakkuk chapter two and then a Casting Crowns clip for Habakkuk's more upbeat chapter three. We had a Southern Gospel as the special before I preached. Two-thirds of the congregation was mad throughout the music service.
7) Work in Concert with the Entire Service
8) Use Actual Images
One easy way to do this is to use the gracewaymedia.com title slide for your background (or Google images).
9) Use an Expressive Voice and Body
Express through your rate, pitch, and volume and gestures the mood of the text. The lament in Psalm 88 should be preached differently than the pure praise of Psalm 103. For example, I heard a preacher tell a joke just before he preached about hell. Not appropriate.
2. Allow the form of the Proverbs to influence how you prepare and preach the Proverbs. We study how to allow the form of the Proverb to influence how we preach Proverbs in the Factual Data Sheet for Hebrew Poetry for Proverbs, Parts One and Two.