Eric W. Sayers

What are the Psalms?

As you’ll see from the video, this session emphasizes the role the Psalms can play in our individual and communal prayer lives. So it won’t be a surprise that the Bible Labs for this session are exercises that explore this relationship between Psalms and prayer. So let’s get started!

Bible Lab 1 – Finding Your Prayer in the Psalms

The first step in using a Psalm to guide a personal prayer is obvious: choose an appropriate Psalm! But there are a lot of Psalms! And they’re fairly mixed up…meaning that the various types of Psalms are not generally collected together. So if you’re dealing with a setback, how do you find an appropriate lament? Or if you’re full of thanksgiving, where do you find such a Psalm? Your study Bible may come in handy, as some do have tables or other guides, so take a look. In addition, there are many good resources on the internet, including AI models like ChatGPT or CoPilot. Ask them and you may be pleasantly surprised! Here are a few resources that helpfully list both the various categories of Psalms as well as many Psalms in each category:

• https://restitutio.org/2024/02/18/all-150-psalms-categorized/
• https://women.lifeway.com/2023/07/20/about-the-psalms/
• https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/tips/the-genre-of-the-psalms-part-1.html

The exercise here is simple:

1. Explore your feelings, and identify the kind of Psalm that you want to use.
2. Use one of the resources above to locate an individual Psalm of that category.
3. Read the Psalm quickly to get a sense of its content. Feel free to choose another Psalm from the category if it doesn’t seem to fit.
4. Finally, pray the Psalm: imagine that you are the Psalmist speaking to God, and read it slowly as feels natural. You might try speaking the Psalm out loud. It can make a difference!
5. Make a note of the Psalm if it was meaningful. You’ll likely want to return to it again. You may even want to memorize portions of it.

Bible Lab 2 – Exploring a Psalm: Psalm 91

1. Read Psalm 91.
2. What kind of Psalm is this?
3. What images, symbols, or metaphors do you hear in this Psalm?
4. How does this Psalm make you feel?
5. What does this Psalm teach about the nature of God?
6. When could you see yourself praying this Psalm?

Bible Lab 3 – Meditations on the Psalms

These are various questions that invite you to meditate on the Psalms and your prayer life. Choose one or two that are meaningful to you.

1. Are there particular poems or songs that have been meaningful to you in your life? Why?
2. Have you ever used a poem or song as part of a prayer? Why did you choose it?
3. What types of Psalms do you relate to most easily? Which seem the most foreign?
4. What does the diversity of the Psalms say about the relationship the Hebrew people had with God?
5. How can you see yourself using the Psalms in your personal prayers?

Who were the Prophets?

In this session we explore the Old Testament Prophets, a marvelous and diverse group of impassioned preachers who spoke the Word of God to the people of God over the course of many centuries. It’s time very well spent to get to know these books, as they never fail to speak clearly to today’s concerns and call us all to account. It’s amusing to me that YouTube’s AI chose the above image as the “thumbnail” for this video, as to me the image of coach perfectly encapsulates who and what the prophets are. That leads me to the first Bible Lab…

Bible Lab 1 – Amos the Coach

In the video I spend some time unpacking Amos as an exemplar of the Hebrew prophet. As suggested, cozy up in a comfy chair and read the entire book of Amos in one sitting. But before you start reading, think of a coach, teacher, director, or mentor who changed your life in a positive way. As you read Amos, imagine your personal coach saying the words, out loud, with intensity and passion. What hits home? What gets “under your skin”? Always remember that Amos loved his people, and wanted the best for them, and for you. And as you listen for those moments when you read, also remember that it is not Amos speaking to you, but God. And there (perhaps) you thought that God doesn’t speak to you!

Bible Lab 2 – Context of Micah

To start, read the introductory article in your study Bible for the book of Micah. You might also review the timelines in the video to locate Micah’s place in history.

When and where did Micah preach? To whom?

Read Micah 3 (chapter 3). What are some of the problems Micah is preaching against?

What images, symbols, and metaphors do you hear in his prophecy?

According to Micah, what does God want?

Think about our world today. What modern day problems are similar to those Micah preached against? What does Micah say about our modern problems?

Bible Lab 3 – Modern Prophets

Prophecy did not end with the Old Testament. Who are some modern prophets?

Are there particular people who have been prophets for you?

What role do you think prophecy plays in the church today?

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Next up: Session 4 – What are the Psalms?

View the entire series

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The reason the content of this session is particularly important, in my view, is that the first step when reading any Old Testament passage is to place it in the context of this history covered in the video. Every book in the Old Testament speaks to some part of this history, and so by understanding the overall story, we have a much better chance at understanding any Old Testament passage we might read. Let’s see how this works.

Bible Lab: I Samuel 16:1-13

There’s only one Bible Lab this time, and we’ll dig a bit more deeply. After reading the passage, try to identify what important moment in Old Testament history the passage describes. A study Bible will come in handy here, and you may also find the timelines in the video to be helpful.

Let’s see how we did. First, we need to know what kind of book I Samuel is. It’s an historical book, part of the Deuteronomistic history contributed by the D source. That history begins with the book of Deuteronomy and stretches through II Kings. The story in I Samuel 16 describes the moment when God reveals to the prophet Samuel that David is to be the next king after Saul. If we remember that the writers of D viewed David as the greatest king of Israel, and that they were writing after the Exile to explain why it happened, perhaps we should expect them to show why they thought David was such a good king. Let’s explore this a bit.

At the beginning of the story, what kind of person did Samuel expect God to choose as king?

What did God say to Samuel about how God would choose a king?

What do you think it means that “the LORD looks on the heart”?

Now that we’ve thought about the passage in its own context, how might we understand what it says to our modern world? One helpful approach is to place yourself in the story and ask similar questions.

What kind of leaders do you (or our society) expect God to choose?

What does God say to you through this passage about how God chooses leaders?

How do we tend to evaluate other people for leadership roles?

Does this passage call you to change the way you evaluate other people?

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Next up: Session 3 – Who were the Prophets?

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What is the Bible?

In this first session, the topic seems simple enough: What is the Bible? But I think you’ll discover that this is a question you’ll continue to ask yourself the more you journey with Scripture. So let’s get started!

After watching the video, if you’d like to explore a bit further, I’ve added some “Bible Labs” below that you may find helpful. To get the most out of these, I’d recommend picking up a study Bible. There are many good ones, but here are some popular options that are tried and true:

• Common English Study Bible
• Oxford Annotated Study Bible
• New Interpreter’s Study Bible
• NIV Study Bible

Bible Lab 1 – Meditation on Oral Tradition

Think about stories that you tell or that others have told you that are meaningful and memorable. Perhaps they’re stories your family tells at gatherings, or you tell your children or your friends. Maybe a well-loved mentor told them to you. Maybe you bring them out at parties or when getting to know a new friend. What makes these stories memorable? What do the stories communicate? Why do you (or the storyteller) tell the story? What emotional reactions does the story generate? Why is it important?

Bible Lab 2 – Contrasting Old Testament Sources

Compare and contrast the two creation stories in the beginning of Genesis: the P (priestly) story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 and the J/E (old epic) story in Genesis 2:4-3:24. To get started, think about how the priestly story is structured like an act of worship (call and response), while the J/E story reads as a classic narrative. Here are some other prompts to consider:

• Where is the story set (what location)?
• Who are the named characters in each story?
• What is the main focus of each story?
• When were humans created in each story relative to other parts of creation?
• When were men and women created in each story?
• And finally… what we would lose if we only had one of these creation stories?

Bible Lab 3 – Comparing English Versions

Read the following three versions of Psalm 23 and ask yourself how you respond to each one. What do you gain from reading all three of them together?

• Pslam 23 – New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
• Psalm 23 – King James Version
• Psalm 23 – The Message

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Next up: Session 2 – What is the Old Testament Story?

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Many years ago, just after the birth of our first child, my wife and I moved to Howard County, Maryland and began attending Glen Mar Church, a Methodist church that was large enough that we both thought we could simply blend in to the background and remain anonymous. This project was an utter failure, as my wife soon embarked on a path that would result in her being ordained as an Elder in the United Methodist Church, and I began a joyous journey through many small group Bible studies, learning both how to facilitate such groups and being continually amazed at the power of Scripture to change lives. It was in this context that I first encountered “Bible 101”, a short class created by Andy Lunt, the long-time pastor of Glen Mar and a great man in the faith. Andy explained that far too often, when he mentioned a particular Biblical story or character, he was met with far too many blank stares from the congregation. Andy recognized this for what it was: the face of Biblical illiteracy. In response, he created Bible 101 to fill in gaps often left open by typical Bible studies that focus on passages of Scripture but that do not address the larger picture of the Bible as a whole: What is the Bible, actually? What do we really know about it? Where did it come from and who wrote it? Why is it often so hard to understand? Why does it sometimes seem to contradict itself? Are we expected to believe everything in it, especially in light of what we now know about our world and the universe?

Andy structured Bible 101 as six 90-minute lectures (three on the Old Testament, three on the New) featuring him simply standing behind a podium. That was it. Now, Andy is the rare individual who can pull this off, as he has the intellect, the presence, and most especially the voice that can keep people’s rapt attention as long as he wants. So when, as he neared retirement, he asked me to take the class and keep it going (gulp!), I knew I had to reformat it to push myself much more to the background. So it became a set of PowerPoint decks that underwent a number of revisions and restructuring over the years of presenting and discussing it. At one point its name became “Base Bible Study” to cast its material as a foundation for understanding Scripture and preparation for subsequent Bible studies. In its current incarnation, it is 10 videos, each about 20-30 minutes long. You’ll find much more information in the short introductory video, and I hope that you find this content a helpful companion on your own personal walk with Scripture!

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Next up: Session 1 – What is the Bible?

View the entire series

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