A Personal Reflection on Psalms 8 and 112
A reflection on Psalm 8
Right off the bat, we see that the main theme of this psalm is the praise and glory of God. The psalmist drives the point home by repeating the refrain from the first verse again at the very end in verse 9; “Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (ESV)
It appears the psalmist also wants to remind us of the strength we can draw from God. Verse 2 demonstrates this by comparing the weak people of Israel to “babies and infants”. He continues this thought by saying “you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger”. (ESV) As the title suggests, this psalm was written either by, for, or about David; and we see this as
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This is accomplished in two ways. The first of these is found in the acrostic form; the successive use of the letters of the Hebrew alphabet. In using this form the psalmist is placing an emphasis on the use of the Torah as a guide for living according to God’s laws, thus living a righteous life.
The second, is through the words themselves. Once again the psalmist starts off with praise. This alone is instructional in that we should begin every day with praise and thanksgiving to God for all he has blessed us with and will bless us with throughout our day. In addition, he gently reminds us that we are to be delighted in spending time reading and studying God’s laws.
The psalmist continues on compiling a list of blessings the righteous man can look forward to: “His offspring will be mighty in the land”; “wealth and riches are in his house”; “his righteousness endures forever” (repeated twice throughout the psalm); “light dawns in the darkness for the upright”; “the righteous will never be moved”; “he will be remembered forever”; and “his horn is exalted in honor”.
We also see several characteristics of the righteous man, such as; “he is gracious, merciful and righteous”; “deals generously and lends”; “conducts his affairs with justice”; “he is not afraid of bad news”; “his heart is firm, trusting in the
St. Albans Psalter Psalm 68 is not long, but it does have lots of detailed material to study the author’s choice of language, and the power of the images that are being conveyed to the readers through an emotional and sentimental way. The simplicity of this psalm’s gives it power, since it expresses an emotional despair in a careful shaped prayer, which comes from a human being in what seems to be a life-threatening situation. In the image and the content, the psalmist’s travels an arc of desperation to salvation, in a vivid personal plea to Christ to save him from what seems to be a swirling vortex of hopelessness that threatens to pull him under forever.
The fiftieth psalm begins with the heading “A psalm of Asaph”. Whether it was officially written by him or simply dedicated to him , it is noteworthy to understand who Asaph was and the impact he had on the music and worship of Israel. Asaph was part of a music guild in the court of David along with Heman (1 Chronicles 6:39 ) and Ethan (1 Chronicles 15:19). These men were appointed to lead the musical celebration for the return of the Ark of the Covenant when King David danced passionately enough to embarrass his wife Michal (1 Chronicles 15:16ff). He also served under the leadership of King Solomon during an incredibly significant theophany of the glory of God (2 Chronicles 5:12-14). Perhaps this dramatic encounter with God led to the divine inspiration of Psalm 50’s theophany. Not only was Asaph a music leader, but also a writer of music and referred to as a “seer” (2 Chronicles 29:30). Evidently Asaph’s ability to “see” was an asset in the writing of this psalm, for Asaph “saw” quite a startling prophecy of God and his coming judgments on His people.
N. T. Wright’s The Case for the Psalms: Why They Are Essential reminds us of the differences found within the importance of God’s time, space, and matter in comparison to our time, space and matter perspectives. In our limited human capacity we as human kind take our miscues from the human perspective when chasing after the material gains of this world as we put our prayerful meditations and relationships to God on the back burner of our lives while redirecting our energies toward the relationships we cultivate with our wealth. If we as Christian cultivate our relationship with God we will be recognize the wealth we seek can only be found in our relationship with Our Father and Our Savior Jesus Christ as He is the provider of our wealth. He sees clearly our needs providing for them daily. If we could see the realities of our time, spac...
David said his soul will “make a boast in the Lord” (v:2). David does not dwell on his experience, nor even on his deliverance, but on his Deliverer. The Lord is both the subject and the object of David's praise. Psalm reminds me of the fellowship of praise, for the most part praise can be private, However, that is not the kind of praise which psalms practice and promote. When David publicly praise God at worship, he did so purposing to promote worship on the part of the entire congregation., for the most part, those who loved God, as David did, have the right to rejoice and praise God with him. In Romans 12:15, Paul's teaching indicates that the new testament worship should be a sharing in the joys of the fellow- Christians: “rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. David therefore urges his fellow-worshipers to join with him in magnifying the Lord so that His name will be corporately exalted (v:3). In Psalm 34 speak of David's deliverance, this poor man cried and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles, and the angels encamped around those who feared Him, and rescues
There is no doubt that the psalms are key to spirituality and take on a journey to true intimacy with God. In the book of psalms, the movement of the psalms portrays a life that is symmetrical and full of happiness to a life that has somehow ran itself into the ground. However, through God’s grace life is healed to a state of renewal where praises and thanksgiving are lifted up. These themes are common all throughout the Psalter. It is these themes that Walter Brueggemann refers to as periods of orientation, disorientation, and new orientation referred to above. It is these three themes that we must take in as one to fully experience the Psalter. For “the Psalms are not only addressed to God. They are a voice of the gospel, God’s good word for God’s faithful people” (pp. 2). Without the entire Psalter how can one manage to get the full aspect of the gospel. This is how the psalms become truly spiritual: orientation, disorientation, and new
The psalmist, in Psalms 42, begins with a thirst for the presence of God. The Psalmist is clear about wanting to return home. Home is where the temple or the ‘House of God’ was. The psalmist seems to believe that the only way to get in the presence of God was to return to the temple. The psalmist expresses feels of depression as the psalmist wrestled with feels of abandonment by God. The psalmist confronts God with two questions. “Why was he forgotten?” “Why does God allow the enemies to oppress him?” The psalmist is jaxaposited between despair and hope. Once again, the psalmist proclaims that continued hope will be in God and praises will be given.
The book of Psalms is a collection of prayers, poems and hymns. Ultimately Psalms can be categorized under three main literary genres: laments, praise hymns, and thanksgiving psalms. Laments which the majority of psalms falls under are meant to be used in broad fashion rather than to relate to one set situation. Praise hymns are to praise God and all of his Glory. Last, thanksgiving psalms are to thank God for responding to our needs. In addition there is a natural breakdown of the Psalms into five main sections. Psalms was written over many centuries by many different people with King David being the main contributor. In addition to David we see the following contribute: Moses, Heman the Ezrahite, Ethan the Ezrahite, Solomon, Asaph, and the sons of Korah. Upon examination we find the oldest psalm (90) and the latest (137) are sometime apart. The latest being around 586 to 538 B.C. It is concluded that some person (albeit unknown) must have started the compilation around 537 B.C. Psalms is the longest book in the Bible, it includes 150 individual psalms. Key topics include God, his creations, war, wisdom, justice, worship, judgement, and sin. Some Major events that take place in Psalms include : The glory of God and the dominion of man, Praising God for His works and words, Psalm of the Good Shepherd, Psalm of the Great Shepherd, Psalm of the Chief Shepherd, The wedding Psalm, Psalm of life and the Psalm of
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 in 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 seems 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 title describes on the day when the Lord delivered David from his enemies and from Saul. The heading, which is the theme, identifies the setting in Samuel. Since the book of Samuel records many accounts when David was protected and saved by God from his enemies, it can be inferred that Psalm 18 is connected based on the common theme and not by the actual event. The use of imagery and metaphor in this psalm makes it difficult for the readers and scholars to conclude that the psalm is directly from the context of the events in 1 Samuel 24 and 27. The commonality between these two passages are that David called for help and God rescues him. He describes Yahweh as his refuge, shield, and deliverer (Psalms 18:2). This is observed in 1 Samuel, when God protected David from being killed by Saul. Though Saul may have tracked David and attempted to kill David several times, God protected him. This event, however, is not explicitly stated in the Psalms. Psalm 18 only portrays God’s sovereignty and love for his people. Psalm 18:31-45 resembles the battle David had with the nations in Philistines, and his victory that is described in 1 Samuel 27. Despite the common elements, Psalm 18 ends its poem by stating David and his descendants. If it was taken directly from 1 Samuel 24 and 27, a note about David’s offspring would not be stated. While reading the Bible, it can be noted that Psalms 18 is
These and added aesthetic expressions in the Bible do not aim to advise us some lesson. They are absolutely a action of adorableness and artistry. Abounding of the psalms are expressions of anguish or approbation or anger. The purpose of such psalms was not to acquaint information; they do not accord a hypothesis to evaluate. They are expressions of God’s humans with which we can identify.
The Book of Psalms is split into five books according to the material contained in them. There are 150 psalms in the entire book and together they form the “hymnal of Israel” . The word ‘psalm’ means ‘praise’, a common theme throughout the book. Most Conservative Jewish and Christian theologians believe that 73 psalms were written by David, 12 by Asaph (a musician in David's court), 10 by the "Sons of Korah;" 2 by Solomon; 1 each by Ethan, Heman and Moses. Most were written in the hundred years following 1030 BCE . In contrast, most religious liberals believe that the psalms form and use in worship services originated from Pagan nations surrounding Israel.
Psalm 113 reads like a 1st century pep talk for those with spiritual burnout. The writer makes his case for the Lord by pointing to the many ways that God earns our praise. These nine verses of scripture are saturated with three specific reasons to praise the Lord – He is Su...
The Psalms were written by several authors under the inspiration of the Spirit of God. The Oldest psalm preserved for us is Psalm Ninety. Other Authors of the Psalms include: David, who is attributed to writing Seventy Three of the Psalms. Asaph was the music director during the reigns of David and Solomon. He wrote twelve psalms.
In the introductory section, consisting of verses 1-5, David makes two claims: “(1) his innocence and (2) the sins of his enemies” (Spurgeon 28). When you read a Psalm by David, God is usually the subject of Praise and thanksgiving, but that is not the case here, God is instead the one who is being petitioned to do something. The plea that David makes for God to not remain silent in verse 1b is a cry for help. The basis for David’s petition is then given in verses 2-5: