Praise and Poetry

My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
For he has visited and redeemed his people
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of his servant David…

Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
According to your word;
For my eyes have seen your salvation…

If you spent any time reading the Bible book of Luke this Christmas, then these verses are fresh in your mind. Luke 1 and 2 are the classic Christmas story chapters, and for good reason: they beautifully portray the announcement and birth of Jesus, the long-foretold Messiah.

The words may be familiar, but something different stood out to me as I read them this time. There’s plenty of exposition and dialogue in the story, but there are four poems as well! Four different characters give their inspired speeches not in prose but in poetry. That’s because praise and poetry go together like peanut butter and jelly.

Case In Point: The Magnificat

When the angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will have a child born of the Holy Spirit, she responds in humility and faith. Then she hustles to her cousin Elizabeth’s house—a safe place to ride out some of the awkwardness of being pregnant before being married.

On the way she has plenty of time to meditate on the miracle taking place inside her. We know Mary is a meditator because after the birth of Jesus, the shepherds leave praising God at the top of their voices, “but Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.” She has the same response after they find the boy Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Mary’s heart is full of meditation.

So when Elizabeth greets Mary with joy over God’s miraculous plan, Mary responds with a long and beautiful poem—what we call the Magnificat. Her ponderings had become a poem. The only way to measure the depths of her heart was in lines of verse. To me, the Magnificat reads just like the Psalms, which are 150 more examples of worship overflowing in poetry.

Zechariah and Simeon’s Poems

In contrast with Mary’s response of faith, Zechariah demanded proof. He didn’t believe the angel who announced the upcoming birth of his miracle son, John the Baptist, so his proof was nine months of muteness. He couldn’t speak, but we know that he could meditate on all that had taken place. The minute he regained his speech, he exploded into a ready-made song of praise for God’s faithfulness.

Simeon was an old man who served God while waiting for the birth of the Messiah. When he saw baby Jesus in the temple, his long years of longing resolved into fulfillment. He praised God in a beautiful poem that celebrated God’s goodness not only to Israel but to the Gentiles as well. His meditation had grasped more than the temple leaders could accept for years to come. And he shared it in a poem.

Heavenly Poetry

Even the angels sing! What is a song but poetry put to music? The angels had centuries to compose a song about Jesus, but they kept it short and sweet. In poetry, less is often more. (Just look at the power-packed Haiku.)

The heavenly host sang not to Herod or the high priest but to the lowly shepherds. Poetry isn’t meant for the high-falutin’ alone; it’s just as rich and meaningful to the simple. Shakespeare felt the same way when he penned (feathered?) his plays in iambic pentameter and shared them with the masses. The rich chuckled and sniffled from their fancy seats, and the poor guffawed and wept on the filthy ground. The lines went to each heart equally. And when it comes to God’s inspired poetry, the impact is infinitely greater.

So What?

Maybe you’re still not convinced. You see that there are some stellar poems in the Bible, and that’s all well and good, but you still don’t love poetry as a general rule. I get it. Some people say they don’t like poetry just like others don’t like cats. But I have a theory about that.

I don’t think people actually hate cats; I think people hate stupid, mean cats. Guess what? Everyone hates stupid, mean cats. After all, they’re stupid and mean. But some cats are as chill as good dog and as cuddly as a baby. If you spent unbiased time with a really good cat, you could like (it if you let yourself).

In the same way, you may think you dislike poetry, but what you really dislike is bad, confusing poetry. Join the club. But if you met a really good poem, I know you’d like it. Understanding them and enjoying them may take exercise, but you’re strong. I know you can do it.

More to Come

To be honest, I’m not a great connoisseur of poetry. I have a few poets I love, and I don’t often branch out. But if you’ll trust me, I’d like to go on a poetry journey with you this year. Not for the whole year, probably, but at least often enough for both of us to strengthen our poetry muscles.

Poetry doesn’t just express praise, although that may be poetry at its finest. It can also express lament, confusion, peace, love, and anything in between. There’s so much variety! If God wrote some of the most important sections of scripture as inspired poetry, I think that’s proof that it’s a genre worth studying. I fully intend to, and I hope you’ll join me!