Psalm 139 Analysis

The book of Psalms contains some of the most beloved pieces of scripture across centuries and cultures of this world. Psalms have been frequently cited is sermons, devotionals, movies, poetry, and songs. Most often, Psalms are attributed to King David of the 10th century BCE. But regardless of the authorship of the different psalms, each seem to carry a special place in describing human relationships to God, to country, to friends, to enemies and more. As time has progressed, certain psalms have become favorites because of their encouraging and uplifting messages, such as the timeless Psalm 23.

Observation: According to the superscription, For the director of music. A Psalm of David we know the psalmist is David although superscriptions were added later. This psalm can be classified as an individual lament, presenting the aspects representative of that genre that is scattered about in the passage. It is believed it was written when David was persecuted by Saul; various passages correspond specifically to the inadequate escapes he had. There is no historical context to know if it was written upon any of the occasions of David's attempted escapes at Keilah, then in the wilderness of Maon and also in the cave in En-Gedi. This Psalm is a mixture of prayer, praise, and declaration of confidence in God. Although the writer of this

Although by observing the Psalms it can be seen that they are used for teaching and instruction, they also seem like windows into how Christians truthfully relate with God in every conceivable situation. Indeed, the main point of the Psalms seems to be communication with God.

The voice of the Lord is awesome. I do feel a very strong feeling in my heart when I hear a pastor preach and the message directly speaks into my situation.

The author of Psalm 78 writes with intentions of giving hope to people after the Northern disaster in 721 BCE. He is attempting to get the people to not lose their faith in God. He does this by reminding his readers of three key things, the first being how much both they and their ancestors disobeyed God. This is an attempt by the author to show the people it was only a matter of time before something like this happened. You cannot continue to disobey God and expect him to keep providing for you. The second reminder is about Gods power. Throughout this Psalm the reader is reminded of Gods divine power, and the past miracles that have been bestowed on the Israelites. The third and final reminder comes at the end of the Psalm, where the people are reminded that God handpicked the tribe of Judah, and handpicked David. This reminds the people to never forget they are the chosen people and God handpicked them. All three of these themes combine to produce the authors message-- As long as we trust in God we will be ok, we are the chosen people, and we have the greatest and most powerful God there could be.

In Psalms 34:17-20 it says “When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.” I believe this is a great symbolic allegory of the darkness that slavery birthed into our world. Each of these were bonded together in hopeless but in each case and region had different difficulties that had to face. Each using their life story to be a beacon of hope to others that freedom was within reach

Thank you for your text and for directing me to Psalm 103, it is one of my favorites. As far as my health, I have some fairly good days where the pain is controlled with the medication and others that are not, well, not as good. I go for my next five-day treatment next Monday. I was told that patience is required in all of this as full recovery for patients with this condition is slow, but successful in the majority of cases. Carla is doing a little better, but the last bit of the cold is hanging on as colds usually take a week or two to pass. She has to fly out early tomorrow to the Dominican Republic for her work and will be back late the following day. Damaris now has a lady that lives her and is her full-time caregiver. She really likes

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.

From introductions to soulmates, communication is essential at all stages of a human relationship. In the same way, it is communication with God is a required part of our walk with him. It is easy to look at this aspect of the Christian life and view it as a chore. However, we should not view prayer as an obligation we need to fulfill, but as a blessing we are able to enjoy. While there is no correct way to pray, there are guidelines that can be followed to make your prayer life richer than it would be otherwise. These strategies can be found in Paul’s writings to the church at Ephesus and through the prayer method represented by the acronym ACTS.

Thank you for sharing your opinion, “In my opinion, self-interest is the ability to fully become the person God created us to become. Psalms 139:13-18 illustrates the importance of self-interest. According to verse 13, we are all created with certain skills, abilities and traits.” I like to add some of my insights about Psalm 139:13-18. I personally believe that we are a person of destiny. God chose us to be here before the foundation of the world God knew us before we were ever formed in our mother’s womb. He actually knitted us together in our mother’s womb. God made us with a unique purpose, and we are a vital part of His divine plan.

Last fall one of my classmates brought Psalm 91 to my attention. I had been going through a tough time for several years and another cutting event had just taken place. I felt as if I was at the end of my rope. She reached out to me and told me to hang onto this Psalm, that it can be my refuge as I walk through this difficult journey. I like what Kidner says about dangers, “Most of these dangers are of a kind which strike unseen, against which the strong are helpless as the weak” (Kidner, 1973, p. 364). This is how I felt when going through this latest turmoil. I could not physically see the danger, but the pain of the danger enveloped me like a thick and heavy fog. I felt completely helpless and weak, but Psalm 91 gave me an atmosphere

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.

These words I one day want tattooed to my skin as a daily reminder of what He does for me every day, but the many verses preceding and following them provide an even more perfect picture of who God is and what drives how I understand this world and His calling for me while I’m a participant of it. It’s a long passage, so I’ll share the portions most relevant to this post and my title. Psalms 146 opens in exalting the Lord and continues on to warn readers about the dangers of hoping in man over Him. By verse 6, we begin to learn about the many ways He blesses and cares for His people. Then, in verse 7, we read about our

Have you ever had that feeling that something was about to happen? You don’t know what it is, but something is going on. The world is teetering, it is on the edge, everyone knows it, everyone can sense that feeling that something is about to break, some major, life changing event is about to take place, but no one knows for sure what it is.

As the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119 is a Psalm of delighting in the Word of God. Psalm 119 is comprised of 176 verses that give adoration to God and the Torah.