Reveal the Poetic Structure of the Psalms in Seconds

C.S. Lewis once said, “The most valuable thing the Psalms do for me is to express the same delight in God which made David dance.”

Poetry has the unique power to evoke the vast and varied expanse of human emotion. And the Psalms have it all—from fiery, righteous indignation to wild, unbridled joy and profound bewilderment.

How do they do it? What is it about these ancient songs that still captures our hearts, and, like Lewis said, compels us to delight in God?

Uncovering the Psalms’ unique power

Christians have always believed that God is the ultimate source of Scripture’s power. Even so, he used human authors—and the Psalmists used the tools of ancient Hebrew poetry to construct powerful songs that have lasted millennia. By discerning the poetic structures that undergird their work, we can understand how the Psalms so powerfully express divine worship, human emotion, and eternal truth.

In fact, because parallelism and chiasm are so essential in Hebrew poetry, understanding the poetic structure of a Psalm often reveals its primary message.

Today, I’m going to show you how Psalms Explorer in Logos 6 reveals that poetic structure in both the original Hebrew and English.

You’ll see that it does so much more than that, too.

Have you ever wondered how many psalms of lament were written by King David? Maybe you’re studying Psalm 109, and you want to compare this psalm of lament to other places in the Psalter where David prays for deliverance from his enemies. Finding information like this is simple and intuitive with Psalms Explorer.

In this video, I’ll show you how Psalms Explorer gives you an interactive, visual presentation of the Psalms that makes revealing parallel structure and sorting by genre, structure, author, and more a breeze.

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The Psalms Explorer is a great starting point for your study—but it’s only the beginning! If you’re looking for solid commentary on the Psalms and related Old Testament literature, you can’t go wrong with the Baker Commentary on the Old Testament Wisdom and Psalms, including John Goldingay’s three-volume commentary on the Psalms.

Getting started is easy

You can get Psalms Explorer in Logos 6 Gold and above. If you’re happy with your Logos library and aren’t ready to make the leap to Gold, check out the Logos 6 Feature Crossgrade. It’s an affordable way to get all the new features in Logos 6—including interactive media like Psalms Explorer, Proverbs Explorer, Morphology Charts, and more—without purchasing new books along with them.

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Start using Psalms Explorer—get Logos 6 Gold Now!

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