Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, is a well-known and popular phrase and idea. The origin of this saying is believed to be a book, published in 1878, called Molly Brawn, written by Margaret Wolfe Hungerford.
If this phrase did not appear till the late 19th century, then the idea it expresses is much older. In Love’s Labour’s Lost, written in the late 16th century, one of Shakespeare’s characters expresses a very similar idea by saying, “Beauty is bought by judgment of the eye.”
However, other conceptions of where beauty lies are available.
It’s all Greek to me!
I warm to the ancient Greek idea that an object, artefact, or work of art can only be beautiful if the person who made the object, artefact, or work of art can be said to be beautiful or noble of character. For the ancient Greeks, you could tell what kind of person the craftsman or artist was by the beauty, or otherwise, of what they made.
Psalm 103
I think Psalm 103 is a beautiful Psalm.
Its beauty lies not in the eye of the beholder or reader but rather in closer terms to that of this Greek idea of beauty.
A literary expert or lover of poetry and language may find a certain beauty in its form and structure. Yet, its true or deeper beauty lies in the beauty of whom it is describing.
God’s Character
Psalm 103 articulates the character of God in poetry.
It powerfully speaks of God’s hesed (or khesed). This beautiful Hebrew word, which speaks of God’s love, is hard to translate into just one English word. The talented people at The Bible Project have made a wonderful explainer video for hesed, and you can watch their video via THIS LINK.
God’s Character in Poetry
I like what Eugene Peterson says about the power of poetry and the importance of poetry in scripture. He notes that:
“A poet uses words not to explain something, and not to describe something, but to make something.”
And..
“Poetry is our most personal use of words; it’s our way of entering experience … and inhabiting it as our home.”
The Psalmist, by using poetry, does not explain God to us, rather they make something, they make worshippers.
As poetry Psalm 103 is beautiful because God’s character is beautiful and this beauty is powerful. It is powerful because it does not tell us who God is via a list of cold and rationalistic propositional truths, but through poetry, which, being personal, invites us to experience God’s character and find our true belonging (home) in him.
Eat these words.
My encouragement to us all, as we prepare for Sunday, is to read and re-read Psalm 103. Meditate upon it, let it enter you.
There are at least two occasions in the bible where someone is instructed to eat a scroll. Ezekiel (Ezekiel 3:3) and John (Revelation 10:9). I am not suggesting that you rip Psalm 103 out your bible and literally eat it, but I am suggesting that it is beneficial – nourishing – for us to meditate …digest its words.
Go Deep
The Psalmist starts this Psalm by speaking to himself, “Bless the Lord, O my Soul.”
Theologians and philosophers through the ages have debated what the soul is. Without entering that debate, I think we are on firm ground to say our soul speaks not of something in us (i.e. a separate part), but our deepest being, that aspect of being human which most readily connects to that which is transcendent (i.e. God).
Poetry speaks to the soul; it helps us go deep; it nourishes us.
Meditating, reading, re-reading, mulling over and digesting scripture helps us connect with God’s word in a way that deeply nourishes us. It is essential to our spiritual growth, our spiritual well-being. It is essential to develop a heart of worship.
See you Sunday.
Brodie