Psalm 137: The New Interpreter's Study

Psalm 18 is the third longest of all the psalms and is one of the few to contain an extensive heading. This psalm also has a parallel text found in 2 Samuel 22 providing further information and highlighting its importance to the Israelite people. The text speaks of David’s military victories but the emphasis is not on himself but on the victory that was won through God’s power and might. God is shown to be a saving God, something present day Christians cling to daily.

BIB-370 Themes and Psalms Worksheet: Social and Religious Analysis Instructions: Complete the following questions about Psalm 3 and Psalm 34 with a minimum of 75 words per question using complete sentences. Use required readings, one or more references for each psalm, and any information from the superscriptions of the psalm in your responses. Ensure that you properly cite references when answering the questions on this worksheet. Psalm 3 1.

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.

This psalm was written by David when he was in a distressful state, being chased by Saul who

108Cf. Adele Berlin, “Psalms and the Literature of Exile,” in The Book of Psalms: Composition and Reception (SVT 99; Leiden: Brill, 2005), 74, 75; Frank-Lothar Hossfeld and Erich Zenger, Psalms 2: A Commentary on Psalms 51-100 (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2005), 183-84; Wilson, Psalms: Volume 1, 949. Most scholars agree that the destruction of the Temple and cities of Jerusalem is the background of Psalm 69.

In Lamentations 1-3, The whole metropolis of Judah was destroyed and the people who were not murdered were captured and made slaves in Babylon. The people who survived the destruction of Judah suffered immensely with no rest due to their new lives of hard servitude. This was believed to have happened because rulers or kings had mistreated the children of Israel. It is often necessary to express intense feelings when facing a tragedy, or in order to face a tragedy. " Sometimes fears may clearly be recognized as such and confronted openly" but other times an outlet is needed in order to release negative emotions, this supports the fact that Lamentations 1-3 and Psalm 137 are both written in the form of poetry (Cook, 44).

The book of Lamentations poetically describes the people of Judah's disillusionment after exile. "The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off

Psalm 29 “Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, Give unto the Lord glory and strength,” begins the signal to worship. This call to worship in the beginning of the poem flows smoothly into a praise of his power; the praises chiefly refer to “the voice of the Lord” and its attributes, using abundant natural imagery. The catalogue of characteristics is concluded by a quick closing benediction about how the Lord is king forever and how he will bless his people. Psalm 29 was crafted to credit the Lord with an all-powerful, kingly, yet gracious essence.

Psalm 35 was written by David with intense emotion and urgency. While the problem that provokes such a prayer is not fully identified, there is “sufficient ambiguity to classify it as an individual lament.” Since the piety of David is notable, and his nature is given to upholding the things of God, we must start our analysis of imprecatory Psalms with the understanding that his emotional prayers calling for the vengeance of God should not be classified as sinful, especially since they come only after his enemies repeated attacks. Thus, it is imperative that we examine the particulars of each imprecatory Psalm to gain a full understanding of each circumstance and

(2) Pride and Rebellion. LAMENTATIONS: Lamentations covers human suffering to a degree of depiction and deep regret as the writer laments over the fallen city with the feeling of being forsaken by God for their corrupt actions, while at the same time acknowledging Yahweh’s right to judge insubordination and rebellion. The lamentations writer speaks on divine abandonment amid the destruction of Jerusalem stating that Yahweh had rejected both kings and priests and has forsaken Israel.

After the determination of God to destroy his enemies as mentioned in 1:6, it suddenly mentions about comfort to those who seek refuge in him in 1:7. Also, it says God cares for those who trust in him. Then in the next verse, the hymn moves back to the main theme of destruction. It shows a contrast of two destinies of those who take refuge of God and those who oppose God. Why it appears at this location? The commentary refers this verse as parallel with Psalm 34:8; 100:5 and 135:3 (p.24). It suggests the absence of any names in the prophecy means that people (of Jerusalem or of Nineveh) have to decide whether they want to be people to whom verse 7 applies (care) or people to whom verse 8 applies (destruct) (p.25). I do not agree it is a choice for the people of Nineveh as in verse 8 it mentions about the unequivocal ending of Nineveh.

Psalms is the book most Christians turn to in times of trouble. Psalms is full of poetry expressing a multitude of characters responding to God with song. A person is having a tough day like David and in need of encouragement or a person full of such praise and joy they are unable to put into words, there is a psalm to fit every occasion. The book of Psalms was written between the time of Moses in 1440 B.C. and the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. to the people of Israel. Psalms parallels many historic events. Some of the events covered include: David’s flight from Saul, the destruction of the city and temple, David’s adultery with Bathsheba, David’s flight from Absalom, and Asaph retelling the history of the Jewish nation from their time

Because of the contrast that the psalmist makes in the text, we see that the Psalmist is living in a world where people are living two different walks of life. From the text we see that there are people in the land living holy lives for the LORD and then there are people in the land that are seeking other gods. The psalmist is vague when he mentions that the sorrows of those that seek other gods will multiply. There is no specific mention to what these sorrows are.

Where the Psalm speaks of the human life that we must spend with our Lord and also refers to evil and the devil

The Nations Rage (Psalm 2:1) In the beginning of the Psalm, David starts with an angry interrogation against the humans for God1. David is perplexed about why the people are even raging against God, he knows the have no reason to and they don't have a benefit too anyway. They're rebellion is motivated by vain2. With vain, especially against God, comes boundless foolishness in this Psalm3. The disturbance was not only created by the people but also their leaders who fostered the rebellion4.