King David : Symbolism, And Personification In The Bible

There are 150 psalms in the Book of Psalms that were written over the span of 800 years. Most of the Psalms written were made to be sung. There are two main genres of Psalms, which are laments and hymns. David is know to have written 73 psalms, Asaph wrote 12, the sons of Korah wrote 11, Solomon wrote 2, Moses wrote 1 and 50 are anonymous . Although 50 were anonymous, David was certainly the author of the majority of the Psalms.

As we examine the heroes of the faith outlined for us in the Old Testament, we would be hard pressed to find a more faithful man that King David. After the death of King Saul, David became the King of the Hebrew people. David, who was meek and pious, steadfastly believed in the true God and tried to do His will. He had endured much persecution from Saul and other enemies but did not become bitter, did not lift his hand against Saul, as he was the Lord’s anointed, but placed all his hope in God, and the Lord delivered him from all his enemies.

The Bible is the Holly Book, composed by many text from different authors. The number of texts in the bible depends to the version. The Bible has two main parts, the ancient and the new testament. The Psalms, which are the object of our research paper, belong to the ancient testament. The Norton Anthology world literature offers us the King James version of the psalms, which played a key role in the literature. For our assignment, we will explore the historical context that lead to the writing of psalm, the information about of the author, themes treated by the psalms and the significance of those psalms in the world’s literature.

According to the New Living Translation (1996) King David lived halfway between the lives of Abraham and Jesus, in addition to becoming one of the most important leaders for Israel and "a man after God's own heart" ( 1 Samuel 13:14). David's place of birth was Bethlehem, City of David Jerusalem where he grew up as a shepherd, but he is better known for his youthful triumph over Goliath, as well as being a poet, musician, soldier, and a king (Holy Bible, NLT, 1996). King David died at the age of seventy after ruling for forty years.

What remains fascinating to me from this book is the Israelites ability to preserve these massive collections of psalms even after the destruction of the temple and subjection to a foreign religion in Babylon for a long time. Their discipline to pass on these psalms from one person to another through singing and reciting demonstrate how significant these psalms were to them. What adds value to this book more is the author’s ability not only to introduce the psalms, but offer tips to the readers on how to read the psalms better to understand them

The author is identified on all but thirty-four of the book of Psalms. The authors include, David; Asaph, David's choir leader; Sons of Korah, a family of Levitical musicians; Jeduthun; a Levitical choir leader; Solomon; Moses; The Ezrahite Ethan; Heman. Jewish tradition says Adam wrote Psalm one hundred thirty nine, Melchizedek wrote Psalm one hundred ten, Abraham wrote Psalm eighty-nine, Moses wrote Psalm ninety. The praise Psalms opens up with a call to praise and then has a reason to praise God. Finally, it has a concluding praise.

Barnes, Albert. Psalms. Notes on the Old Testament: Explanatory and Practical, vol. 1. Edited by Robert Frew. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1950.

In Psalms, we see a collection of lyrical poetry, songs and prayers. Many of these were written by King David himself. The book covers almost the entire gamut of human emotion, from sorrow to joy, from doubt to faith.

In 1 Kings 1-12 we start off by learning that David is becoming old and cold, for this reason his son Adonijah believes he is ready to take the throne. Nathan asks David if it’s truth about Adonijah becoming King and then David pronounces Solomon as King. Now that David had died and given some orders to Solomon, Adonijah wants Abishag as his wife, but Solomon refuses. Solomon now wants to construct a house in the name of the Lord and asks Hiram for help. Solomon gathers the congregation of Israel and then says some words in respect to the God of Israel and his love for them. Now that Solomon is dead, Rehoboam is next to become king, but Jeroboam and the assembly ask him not to be like his father.

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm 19:1–4). The book Psalms was written by King David, and in this verse he was talking about how the heavens proclaim the glory of God ,but does it really? Yes, the sky really does proclaim the glory of God; there are actually three areas of Christ's life when the sky shows signs. The first was when God showed signs of Christ's conception. The second sign was when the star of Bethlehem appeared and how it showed Christ's birth. The final sign of Christ's life was at the crucifixion of Christ.

Pslam 19 is a hymn with a focus on God’s creation and His revelation to the world through scripture. Through this psalm we are able to see how God has chosen to reveal Himself to the world. He chose to reveal Himself through creation and through His Scriptures. This Psalm also defines characteristics of God through how He describes His Word and Creation. The psalm scientifically provides insight as it describes the heavens and the action of the sun. As insightful as the psalm is, it’s important to recognize the poetry that lies on the pages.

The Book of Psalms is the Book of Prayer. Whoever wants to learn to pray let him pray to David and whoever prays with the psalms, David shall be a teacher for him, how he should pray as a father that shall hold his son's hand to teach him how to write. In the Book of Psalms we know ourselves and the weaknesses and pitfalls that are in us and we find in this travel fall and the advancement of prayers of repentance and thanksgiving and praise. Psalms are filled with many prophecies concerning the incarnation, pain and resurrection of the Lord. It is the greatest witness to the life of the Lord Jesus, so Peter said that David is a prophet (Acts 30: 2).

Several of the Psalms are noted as being a Psalm of David. Many are referenced by the word Miktam or Michtam. The meaning of the word is uncertain, but many scholars refer to it as a “golden psalm.” There are many other suggestions such as, stelegraphic publication, atonement psalm, or even secret prayer. Regardless, they all deal with situations going on in David’s life. In psalm fifty-nine it uses the word as David is writing about Saul sending men to watch him and of his fear Saul wanting to kill him. Some other situations surrounding the book of Psalms include; Psalm three, as David’s son rebels against his father, Psalm six focuses on David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. Psalm nine gives insight on the death of David’s son and

The authorship of Psalm 119 remains unknown. Most scholars believe the author to be King David because of its Davidic tone and expression. It is also assumed that this Psalm is written over a period of someone’s life, as it shows maturity as the Psalm progresses (Bible hub). Regardless of the identity of the Psalmist, Psalm 119 has very special and unique qualities. Psalm 119 is not only the longest chapter in the book of Psalms, but of the entire Bible. Some believe that since Psalm 119 is the longest chapter of the Bible, it shows the priority of God’s Word to God. (bible.org) Although Psalm 119 is quite a long chapter, it is written in a format that allows the reader to study and follow the structure of the psalm with ease. This specific Psalm is written in the form of an acrostic poem, meaning each section begins with a letter from the alphabet. In this case, each section, made up of eight verses, begin with each of the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Thus, the first eight couplets begin with aleph (A), the next eight begin with beth (B), then so forth in the same suit. (bible.org)

Take one leader in the Bible, other than Jesus, and evaluate his or her leadership style from using the framework of modern thinking on leadership and your own theological reflection.