The Book of Psalms, in the Old Testament, includes prayers that reveal the inner lives of the early Israelites in Jerusalem. These prayers are classified into a plethora of categories which include songs of thanksgiving, petition or lament, praise, or trust and confidence. Therefore, a psalm’s classification can help clarify the meaning of the text and reveal its context. However, people of different religious traditions can agree or disagree about the meaning and application of a psalm. Religiously charged readers can interpret and apply the messages of a psalm in ways that coincide with the traditions and beliefs of one’s religion. Psalm 137, Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem, describes the sorrowful feelings and hopes of the early …show more content…
The New Interpreter’s Study Bible describes Psalm 137 as “a lament of the community that turns into a curse against oneself and the community’s enemies” (881). This community, the Israelites, mourns over the destruction of Jerusalem, also known as Zion, by the Babylonian Empire and turns to God to seek vengeance against them. Before Jerusalem’s destruction, the kingdom to the north was destroyed because the people worshiped false idols over God. The southern kingdom, the people described in this psalm, walked on this same path of idolatry which forced God to raise the Babylonians to destroy them and Jerusalem in 586 BCE. This psalm begins with the aftermath of the Israelites wandering in exile, suffering the torment of their Babylonian captors. The Israelites intent to worship God in exile turns into a sorrowful realization of their displacement and the crushing of Zion (New Interpreter’s Study Bible, Ps. 137. 1). While hanging up their instruments, the Babylonian captors mock the Israelites and demand to be entertained by saying “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” (Ps. 137. 3). This mockery of the Israelites serves as the transitionary period in the psalm from complete sorrow to vengeance and
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.
The Psalm states how it’s going to rebuild, what this means is that everything wrong that has happen there will be a good in. That everything will be peaceful, that thing will soon find its way back. Also it means to wait and see what will happen next. In the book,” It tells how over the year the war
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 Lamentations 1-3, Judah is expressed in the text as "she" and the description of the destruction was similar to that of a "rape scene". In extent, Because the destruction of Judah was extremely treacherous and the opposers had no right to enter the land of Judah let alone ravage it, the metaphorical comparison to rape was one that was made to express immense grief. Lament Psalms is also poetry, one significant underlying theme was that Babylon will suffer what it forced on others. In continuance, the mere act of writing out the pain and suffering of the entrapped, in a way, allowed the people of Judah to become closer to their god. They now contained within them the capacity to remember "that the One who gave and cherished life would be there to protect and console" them throughout their entrapment (Rupp, 1).
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.
(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.
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.
This psalm was written by David when he was in a distressful state, being chased by Saul who
The community was disillusioned with God, and unsure if he was faithful to his promises. Exile and the fall of the Davidic Monarchy had caused hopelessness and the nation was living in a state of despair and apathy. The shortsighted misinterpretation of prophetic words uttered by the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel (Jer. 33:15; Ezek. 34:23-24) left them anticipating a king, in the lineage of David, reigning in the Promised Land. With that not coming to pass, when and as anticipated, it shook their core beliefs and national identity.
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
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.
The Book of Psalms has many categories that each reading falls under. Those categories include: Royal Songs, Repentant Songs, Songs of Wisdom/teaching, Praise, Songs of Ascents or degrees, and Lamenting songs (Commentary on Psalms). Psalms has various teachings with a wide variety of lessons. Through songs, phrases, and poetry, Psalms teaches how to love life, know God and know yourself (The Significance of Psalms). Psalm 65:9-13 reminds us that God is everywhere, physically, spiritually and mentally.
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.