This paper will be a textual analysis on Psalms 15. It will look at the historical context and genre. In addition, we will see if there are any contemporary expressions and/or uses for the psalm in today’s world. Finally, we will look at the literary features and technical elements on this poetic Psalm. After reading this hopefully you will have a better understanding of Psalms 15. Let’s begin by looking at the history behind Psalms 15.
Psalms is broken down in to 5 books and Psalms 15 falls under the first of the five books which is witness to David's life and faith. David was a young shepherd and knew the struggles and beauty of tending and keeping his flock safe. He viewed God as our shepherd and used this analogy to help spreads God’s
…show more content…
There are more categories but Psalms 15 falls under the category called Psalms of wisdom, which help the reader understand what God wants from us. Wisdom psalms have also been called didactic Psalms meaning the message is intended to teach or bring wisdom to the reader. This Psalm explains what and how God wants us to act in order to receive eternal life and therefore is classified as a wisdom/didactic Psalm. Specifically, this Psalms message is how we need to live and act in order to have eternal life with God. This Psalm not only gives directions but also specific examples of how God wants us to live. Two examples are; “5 who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.” (Psalms 15:5). God is telling us that we must lend to those who need it with no interest and take no bribes. Another specific example given is; “whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others;” (Psalms 15:3). In this example, he is telling us to not speak ill of others and do right to others causing no harm. The message in Psalm 15 is timeless and can be applied to today’s world. Let’s look at the wisdom of this Psalm and how it applies …show more content…
It follows an easy pattern starting with a question on who deserves to live with God and then answers that question with specific examples as answers. It is a great guide for the reader to better understand how God wants us to live our life and has a timeless message that can apply to any era. It has also been linked to have meaning with a group from Psalms 15 to Psalms 24 to bring messages from God to his followers. Both Psalms are focused on who deserves to hold eternal life with God. In addition, Psalms 15 is short but specific and well organized making it easy to read and understand. It reads as a poem and starts with a question followed by answers and examples. There are ten separate injunctions to the poem that some scholars feel can aid in memory and used on our 10 fingers. Other scholars found 11 examples in Psalms 15 and broke them down specially from the Psalm. First, God asks us to “Walk uprightly” meaning he wants us to worship with integrity and live an honest life. Second, we should “Practice justice” by treating others well epically the poor who may need our help the most. Third we should, “speak the truth in his heart” meaning to be free of the false and speak with sincerity and transparency. Fourth, he asks that his followers; “Does not trip over his tongue” meaning not to use our words against others. Fifth,
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.
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.
This paper provides a summary and an assessment of the approach for determining the relationship of a psalm to Jesus the Messiah proposed by Richard P. Belcher Jr. in his book The Messiah and the Psalms: Preaching Christ from all the Psalms . This paper also provides an analysis of Psalm 45 and whether Psalm 45 should be used to teach on the church as the bride of Christ. Lastly, this paper provides an analysis of Psalm 22 and whether Psalm 22 speaks of the Messiah.
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
In regards to the ethical standpoint of the Psalms, it is asked how a prayer might impact a person’s ethics? Or do ethics affect how a person prays? Does the person praying connect to the Psalms, and if so, understand their importance ? The Psalms also go back and forth between speaking in 1st and 3rd person. This is believed to help the person identify what the point of the psalm, or psalmist. This book also discusses the Psalms and their connection to the law. The significance of the
I sing of mercy and justice: to you, LORD, I sing praise. I study the way of integrity; when will you come to me? I act with integrity of heart within my royal court. I do not allow into my presence anyone who speaks perversely. Whoever acts shamefully I hate; no such person can be my friend. I shun the devious of heart; the wicked I do not tolerate. Whoever slanders another in secret I reduce to silence. Haughty eyes and arrogant hearts I cannot endure. I look to the faithful of the land; they alone can be my companions. Those who follow the way of integrity, they alone can enter my service. No one who practices deceit can hold a Post in my court. No one who speaks falsely can be among my advisors. Each morning I clear the wicked from the land, and rid the LORD’s city of all evildoers (The New American Bible, Psalm 101.1-8). An important allusion in O Pioneers is the one made to the 101st Psalm. The 101st Psalm is alluded to when Ivar repeats the verse in part five, chapter one. In the verse, David gives his guidelines for living life. This scripture was of the utmost importance in olden times, as many people memorized it and implemented David’s guidelines in their own lives. This scripture expanded on the novel’s theme of Christianity and drew my interest because I have similar views as some of the characters.
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.
Psalm 145:8-9, 15 & 16: It tells how the Lord is gracious full of compassion. He is a patient God, he is good to all and how he sent his commandments on things that needed to be obeyed.
The attendance of the Lord as shepherd is present throughout the Holy Bible. Whether being accountable of the primary duty of providing animals with sufficient food and water, protecting the sheep, or just plain caring for the sheep like David, the responsibility of the shepherd is making sure every facet of a sheep’s life is taken care of. The rationale of this paper is to give an exposition of Psalm 23, while reflecting on Psalms as a whole, in order to give adequate evidence for arriving at a conclusion that proves the LORD is the only necessity in an individual’s life in regards to the role of a servant.
Genre: The genre of Psalm 139 is Hebrew poetry, simply because the psalms were written in Hebrew and are a collection of poems and laments. The first principle of interoperation is that the psalms blend experience, emotion, and theology. This should be taken into account while reading the poem in order that the reader does not simply skip over the theology by only focusing on experience and emotion. The second interoperation principle is that each psalm should be read as a whole. Verses of psalms should not be taken out of context, in doing this the reader may distort the meaning of the psalm. Another interpretation principle to take into consideration is the different genres of psalms such as: laments, thanksgiving, hymns of praise, wisdom, and songs of trust. With that being said, Psalm 139 not only falls under the Hebrew poetry genre, but is also classified as a psalm of trust. Lastly, the fourth interpretation principle is that parallelisms are used. In other words, ideas correlate in many different ways such as: synonymously, antithesis, intensifying, specifying, and synthetically.
This psalm is a difficult psalm to break down due to differences in structure but also in it’s nature. This psalm is about the creator of the
In the first psalm teach us how it is the way of death and the way of life, blessing and curse, and how it leaves us free to choose. It tells us about the happiness of the good man and the wickedness and evil of the wicked.
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)
A synopsis of Psalm 90 is that man God is eternal, man is finite. Therefore man should repent of his sin, turn from his wicked way and be restored to the dwelling place of the Lord God. Also, because man’s days are numbered, he should seek to be the most productive during his youth as to reflect the glory of God. There is safety and peace in God’s design. good This theme of vocation and purpose is a constant theme in the both the Hebrew and Christian scriptures.