Show Don't Tell: Psalm 69
Vivid sensory description for preaching Psalm 69
This is a show dont tell prompt on homiletics and preaching technique for adults.
Instead of saying "David suffered and was vindicated," feel the drowning. "Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in the miry depths, where there is no foothold. I have come into the deep waters; the floods engulf me." Neck-deep, sinking, no bottom to stand on. "I am worn out calling for help; my throat is parched. My eyes fail, looking for my God." Throat raw from crying, eyes strained from watching. "Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head; many are my enemies without cause, those who seek to destroy me." John quotes this of Jesus—hated without cause. "You, God, know my folly; my guilt is not hidden from you." Honest about his own failures. "For I endure scorn for your sake, and shame covers my face. I am a foreigner to my own family, a stranger to my own mother's children; for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me." Jesus cleansing the temple—zeal for your house. "They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst." The cross—sour wine offered. "May the table set before them become a snare; may it become retribution and a trap." Imprecations against persecutors. Then the hope: "But as for me, afflicted and in pain—may your salvation, God, protect me. I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving."
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