Rooting Path · How to Read the Bible · Lesson 5: Reading Poetry and Wisdom
This lesson in one sentence: The Psalms teach us to tell God the truth; Proverbs teach us to know the time—they are wisdom, not formulas.
Timing (about 60 minutes)
- Opening5 min
- Read Together10 min
- Practice Together15 min
- Discussion20 min
- This Week5 min
- Pray for One Another5 min
Opening
When did you last badly want to ask God ‘How long?’—and about what? (You can just think it, not say it.)
Read Together
1How long, LORD? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? 2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart every day? How long shall my enemy triumph over me? 3Behold, and answer me, LORD, my God. Give light to my eyes, lest I sleep in death; 4lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed against him;” lest my adversaries rejoice when I fall. 5But I trust in your loving kindness. My heart rejoices in your salvation. 6I will sing to the LORD, because he has been good to me.
Ps 13:1–6 · WEB
4Don’t answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. 5Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
Prov 26:4–5 · WEB
6Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Prov 22:6 · WEB
Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your heart before him. God is a refuge for us.
Ps 62:8 · WEB
Practice Together
Each person takes eight quiet minutes to write a prayer of their own following the three steps of Psalm 13: name the difficulty, ask God, turn to God’s loving kindness. Those who wish can read theirs aloud; those who don’t are completely free not to.
Discussion
- “But I trust in your loving kindness” (Ps 13:5)—the situation has not changed; what turns a person’s eyes around?
- Prov 26:4–5 puts two proverbs side by side: when should we answer, and when can we ignore?
- Have you ever taken a proverb as a guarantee? What happened?
This Week
This week read one psalm a day (starting with Psalm 1), and in each find one line that can become your own prayer.
Each person says which psalm they will start reading from this week.
Closing
Read Ps 13:5–6 together, then pray in silence.
Tips for the leader
- When discussing Prov 22:6, the group may include parents whose children have left the faith, and parents who are raising children now. Speak to both: to the first, comfort—‘that does not necessarily mean you taught them wrongly’; to the second, a charge—‘the doing is ours; the outcome is God’s’. Don’t let anyone feel condemned.
- Don’t ask how anyone’s children are doing; if someone wants to share, listen.
- While people write their prayers, the leader writes one too, and does not walk around looking at what others are writing.
General principles for leaders
- The leader is not a teacher but someone who walks alongside everyone.
- Give everyone a chance to speak; with someone who talks a lot, you can gently say, ‘Let’s also hear from friends who haven’t spoken yet.’
- Don’t rush to give answers. If someone is silent, wait a few more seconds.
- For a question you can’t answer, you can say, ‘I don’t know either; let’s look it up together,’ and note it down for next time.
- What is said in the group stays in the group.
- At the opening, the leader can give their own answer first, showing that it can be simple and honest.