psalm 68

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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.
Asking Christ for help should not be shameful, therefore if you are ashamed to ask Christ for help, he will not do very much to help you in the end once you have sinned.
In the St. Albans Psalters image Christ is sitting in the center of the upper frame, on each side of him are two angels, the wings of the angels are touching the head of Christ. The two angels and Christ are all wearing blue tunics beneath the red and white outer robe. In the figure Christ has the psalmist by the hair, with his left hand. His right hand is extended out, with the palm up, as the hands of the angels. Both of the angels are looking up at Christ; however, the angel on the right to Christ, looks like he is doing some type of gesture of supplication or appeal.
The frame underneath of Christ, is the drowning psalmist, who is looking upward while water is pouring out of his mouth. As the water swirls around him, there are seven fish (the commentary suggest that the fish may represent the sins deadly sins). The feet of the psalmist are unpainted (commentary notes) the feet are partially obscured a...

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... a cry for help “Save me god (commentary note)”. Maybe the psalmist is saying that it is this coming to awareness of our failing as human beings and our efforts to transcend those flaws are those that will bring true salvation. It may not be misfortune that Christ does not look at the drowning supplicant, but to the angel next to him; perhaps man is really alone, he finally must come to Christ, confessing all of his sins and weaknesses.

Works Cited

Coogan, Michael David., Marc Zvi. Brettler, Carol A. Newsom, and Pheme Perkins. The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2007. Print.
"The St Albans Psalter. Translation & Transcription Page 202. University of Aberdeen." The St Albans Psalter. Translation & Transcription Page 202. University of Aberdeen. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2014.

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