The Heartbeat of True Piety
If you have your Bibles, I'd invite you to turn with me to Psalm 111 as we continue our way through the fifth book of the Psalms. Hebrew poetry, unlike our poetry, is not based on rhyming, but you will find various devices in Hebrew poetry that indicate that it has an elevated sort of aesthetic style. One thing that you will find in Hebrew poetry is parallelism, where the same thing is said right next to one another in different words in order to sharpen our understanding of what has just been said. Another pattern that you will find in Hebrew poetry is the use of acrostics. And this psalm is an acrostic based on the Hebrew alphabet. Interestingly, the next psalm is as well. Psalm 111, Psalm 112, clearly go together as twins. They both focus on the fear of the Lord and they emphasize,…