Not only did psalm 42 stand out immediately to me for its literary elements within the first verse, but for its poetic style and language as well. This psalm is a lyrical one with plenty of emotion and literary figures. The latter ranges from similes to parallelism and everything in-between, all accumulating to form the psalm’s meaning. To begin with, I will point out that the psalm is told through first-person point of view. The speaker or persona is present throughout the entire psalm, using “I” and “my” to describe his thoughts, feelings, and memories. One instance is in the beginning stanza where he asks himself, “[when] shall I come and behold the face of God?” (Ps. 42.2). Already this tells the reader that this will be a very personal psalm, allowing insight into the speaker’s mind. The speaker is filled with anguish, but also strongly desires God’s presence in his life. The setting of this psalm takes place in both the past and present. In the past, the speaker mentions “how I went with the throng and led them in procession to the house of God” (Ps.42.4). The footnotes provide information about how the speaker recollects his memories of the Temple, seemingly homesick for its protection. The present location for the speaker is “from the land of Jordan and of Hermon, from Mount Mizar” (Ps.42.6). As the footnotes point out, this is far from Jerusalem. God is addressed directly in the psalm as the speaker declares that his soul “longs for you, O God,” (Ps.42.1).
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.
The historical context delivers two distinctly different accounts of the purpose of the hymn. Both David and Solomon stand as the possible writers of Psalm 24 with liturgical intercession remaining the focus. The focus is on the creative nature of YHWH and the unlimited honor and reverence due unto him. The psalmist passionately
In the Christian Bible, King David penned psalm after psalm filled with sadness and despair. Psalm 6: 3: reads, “My soul is in deep anguish”, and Psalm 6:6-7: “All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears. My eyes grow weak with sorrow”.
"Psalm 23" comes from the Christian Bible. It is one of the most famous of these Biblical psalms. The beginning of the poem reads, "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want" (line 1). In the poem, the first-person narrator asserts that as long as they believe in God, then they will never be in need. Further, the poem reads, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me" (line 4). This narrator believes completely that no matter what negative issues they may have to deal with in their life, they will be fine because of their faith. The Bible is the written history of the Christian religion and its purpose is both to inspire and instruct people of that faith. The Psalm's purpose is to underscore the potency of the power of belief in Christianity.
This Psalm is the longest and has 196 verses. When I read it, I feel like the verses keep coming, no ending. It’s like a continuous praise or prayer. Psalmist cannot stop praising God, for God is so great. Psalmist well arranged by 22 paragraphs according to 22 Hebrew letters. The structure help people to remember it and hidden God’s
The Book of Psalms is a collection of 150 Praises. It is believed the collection was written over a span of time, possibly from 586 BC and earlier. The Psalms were originally written as songs. About half of these were actually written by David. The Psalms are broken up into five sections and Psalm 123 and Psalm 124 are from the last section dealing with captivity. Psalm 123 focuses on lifting our eyes to the Lord who is on Heaven’s throne, and seeking His mercy. Our yearning for God is similar to the way a slave looks to the hand of its master. We seek God’s mercy as we endure ridicule and contempt from others because of our Christian faith. Psalm 124 focuses on the fact that God can help people overcome all adversaries.(Kranz). Even those who appear to be stronger and better. This essay considers
The first nineteen verses of Psalm chapter forty-four focus on the different seasons of the favor of God. This Psalm Begins with praise to God for what He has already done in the generations of the writers’ fathers saying that even though they were the ones who fought the battle, He is the one that gave them the favor to succeed. The writer continues to glorify God up to a certain point where it all seems to drastically change. At this point, the writer states that God has rejected and humbled “us” referring to his generation of people and armies. The writer states how they now retreat from their enemies and get “devoured like sheep”; they even say that it feels like they did nothing wrong.
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.
“The Twenty-Third Psalm” is a very ancient poem that was translated into English. The predominant metaphor is that of a shepherd and his sheep. The poem is meant to give comfort to people. It shows that God looks after people, like a shepherd looks after his sheep. It is often recited at funerals to give solace to grieving folk. I feel a lot of hope when I read this poem. I have a heavenly father who cares about me and this poem reminds me of that. When I face severe challenges and it seems no one cares about me. It is good to know that I am loved and that I am not alone.
Psalm 24 can easily be summed up as a Psalm that articulates the power of God, or as Kidner(2009) sums it up in the chapter of Psalm 24, the “King of Glory, The All- Creating, The All-Holy and The All-Victorious.” But to fully grasp what the Psalmist is trying to say one must
The psalms 42 -51 all deal with Israelites particular the Israel leaders. Psalms 42 to 52 were one combine entries. The proper geographical name for each psalm was Judea. The each psalm reference to korah who they were “Levite and leader of guilt of psalmists”(brueggemann and Bellinger 204). The sons of Korah in the Old Testament are truly a tales. The story begins with the Israelites during the time of Moses’ journey through the wilderness after leaving Egypt. The three sons of Levi they were Gershon, Merari, and Kohath. Therefore, the Kohathites were responsible for the care of the sanctuary. They were responsible for the care of the ark, the table, the lamp stand, and the altars. They were under the direct supervision of Eleazar, son
It would seem probable from this that the psalm was composed in a time of pestilence, or raging sickness, which threatened to sweep all the people away - a supposition by no means improbable, as such times occurred in the days of Moses, and in the rebellions of the people when he was leading them to the promised land. Psalm 90, is the only psalm attributed to Moses, and picks up the question of “How long?” (89:46; 90:13), and responds to the problem by taking the audience/reader back to a pre-monarchic context, emphasizing Yahweh ‘as Israel’s place of security’ and downplaying human-orientated assurance and confidence. This serves as a key signpost for the following collection of Psalms, notably lacking Davidic superscripts, and commonly identified as the Kingship psalms. Here, most of all is the explicit expression of Yahweh’s kingship in the Psalter, a motif and metaphor that has been consistent throughout, but is given particular shape and elevation by the structural dynamic of the arrangement. In these psalms the kingship of Yahweh is extended from merely Israel to much more than Israel – all of creation and all the nations. Such a move is grounded in the pre-Davidic context generated by Ps 90, as well as the appeal to creation for the basis of Yahweh’s kingship. This emphasis on creation as the original context for Yahweh’s imperial rule means that Israel’s own experience of God’s historical acts
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
Since Psalm 119 is a Psalm of reverence go God and His Word, Scripture is referenced repeatedly. The Psalm is unique and outstanding for its recurring reference to God’s written revelation. Scripture is
The last segment of the Psalm is Moses’ appeal to God for him to return his presence to his people: “Return, O LORD, how long? And let it repent thee concerning thy servants.” Not only should God return, but Moses asks for complete restoration and for God to bless the work of man: “Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.