Understanding Hebrew Poetry (with J Richard Middleton!)

Middleton Psalm 77

Biblical Poetry is….well…pretty hard to understand sometimes! And when you compare translations, they don’t always say the same thing! What is going on?? I invited my good friend J. Richard Middleton back into the Dojo for a discussion of Hebrew poetry, and the hauntingly beautiful Psalm 77 in particular. Sit back and enjoy the discussion, friends!
Dr. Middleton's Books and Resources can be found at:

Related Dojo resources:

00:00:00 - Intro
00:03:49 - What has Dr. Middleton been up to lately?
00:06:13 - How to present an academic paper without being boring!
00:10:13 - Is academia an “ivory tower’?
00:12:30 - How do you speak on biblical faith in a scholarly setting among non-believing colleagues?
00:14:14 - The importance of reading Scripture out loud in corporate worship…and why it’s usually done poorly!
00:24:20 - How do we safeguard against reading our own ideas into the text?
00:30:24 - The problem with theological “deconstruction”
00:36:50 - Is Richard a heretic??
00:38:34 - Let’s look at Psalm 77 in Hebrew…
00:41:15 - Opening observations on “crying out” and “meditating”
00:43:25 - Hebrew tenses…and why Biblical poetry is so hard
00:47:56 - What if you can’t read Hebrew?
00:49:57 - Why the A.C.T.S. model of prayer is actually kinda backwards!
00:52:54 - Psalm 77:4, Insomnia, A Clockwork Orange, and Bird Box
00:56:53 - Hebrew poetic imagery and Israel’s geography
00:59:12 - ‘Olam: “forever” or “a long duration”?
01:00:40 - Rhetorical questions and the effectiveness of ending an if/then statement with “…”
01:04:57 - The difference knowing Hebrew makes in our depth of understanding
01:07:30 - Does God “change”??
01:15:16 - When theology and experience don’t match…you get Lament!
01:17:37 - God’s mighty deeds and echoes of Exodus 15’s triumph hymn
01:24:25 - Singing the “big picture” and why we should do WAYYYY more of it in church worship!
01:28:12 - Ancient Near East stock imagery: Deep/Waters/Thunder/Lightning
01:36:04 - Seeing Israel’s story as OUR story too, and why that matters so much!
01:38:13 - God’s “footprints are not known”?
01:39:26 - Why does Psalm 77 seem to end unfinished?
01:45:00 - The danger of prooftexting from Hebrew poetry
01:46:43 - Final recap of Psalm 77 and what it means to us today
01:49:40 - Closing remarks and how to access Richard’s work online
01:50:45 - Richard’s upcoming books!

Subscribe to the Disciple Dojo podcast for more in-depth teaching and discussions:

[maseikula]

Hey [YouTube] we like this channel, we're glad it's here.

[amyk]

I could do this kind of teaching once every Psalm! Really enjoyed it!

[brendaboykin]

Thank you, Gentlemen 🌹🌹🌹🌹What a magnificent Psalm!!! I read it in several translations before kicking back and enjoying the lecture.

[Dillonhayes]

Loved Dr. Middleton's word on immutability. I've been digging into this subject recently and this is exactly what I've come to understand.

[mattwizy]

1:16:18 This made me tear. Thanks for this conversation

[Dillonhayes]

Also y'all's comments on corporate worship 👍

[SibleySteve]

Love how Gordon Fee and Martin Luther read and prayed aloud devotionally. The spoken word heard is somehow sacramental?

[lloydcrooks]

Loved the interaction best thing I did was learning Hebrew text comes alive do recommend Everett Fox translation of torah

[amyk]

Re verse 10: I read "the right hand of God" as God's power, or influence. "Has God's receptiveness toward me or influence in my life changed?" Then, the author speaks of God's path made through the sea, "though your footprints were not seen." (19c) The theophany forces the reader to remember the author's lament that God has forgotten him and conclude that God is at work even if we can't see it.

[amyk]

I really want to read and speak Hebrew, now!

[david]

He said, this is my pain. He didn't say, this is my theology.

[lawrencedee]

Wonderful video but I must be going hard of hearing! There is no audio. Maybe I have a bad internet connection

[rosbyduhart]

Kind of a basic question....Who was Asaph? I was using mostly the NASB during the reading.