Psalms – Sing a Song – The Mind of Dan Perlman

We are into the third section of the Tanakh, having dispensed with the Torah and the Prophets. Ketuvim is literally the Writings, and consists of eleven books that have been collected together, more or less, it seems, because they’re what’s left over. That doesn’t make them less important to scriptural study, and many who do so simply treat them individually without thinking about them as a collection. Since we’re going through our usual chapter by chapter, it’s simply a convenience for organization. Ketuvim launches with Tehillīm, or Psalms, a series of 150, let’s be clear, song lyrics. Because though commonly simply read as poetic prose, the derivation of Tehillim, as well as historical records, are clear that these were praises set to music, sung by the Levitical priests in the Temple. There are some scholars out there who have attempted the re-creation of the original music based on notations found on various copies of the Psalms, but I gather, mostly unsuccessfully.

Don’t follow wicked ways, study the Torah and it will nourish you like water for a tree. The wicked will blow away like chaff. Shades of Kansas, Dust in the Wind….
Questions and answers that are as relevant today as they were back then. Why are kings and other leaders so self-important? Why do they take their nations down paths that lead to conflict with other nations? Do they not understand that God is the only king and ruler, and they are no different from the rest of us? Lead your peoples like their spirit matters, not your personal ambitions.
A random sort of song of thanks from David, yes, that one, as he was running and hiding from his own son, Absalom (see II Samuel 13 – 18), giving thanks to God for watching over him while he sleeps, so that he’s not constantly exhausted.
David again, presumed to be addressing his son Absalom, pointing out that while the wages of sin may seem attractive, even lucrative, in the long run they won’t be, and the only true path is repentance and prayer. This doesn’t necessarily seem a good move on David’s part when he’s the target of a patricide attempt in the offing. Maybe he’s just stalling for time?
This must be a whole section of David’s conversations with God, as he pleads not just for his freedom and deliverance from suffering, but pleads it in the name of being able to have a quiet, contemplative life, in the service of God. We’ve seen how much God likes being worshipped over these pages, so it’s a plea that David might well imagine would spur him to intervene and save David’s life.
Yup, David’s just on a long lament. He feels that all his woes are a punishment from God, and appeals to God’s mercy and love, because he’s weeping himself to sleep every night. This psalm includes instructions that it is to be sung along with the strumming of a sheminith, a type of harp.
Noted as an impassioned plea on David’s part, he offers up that if he’s the one who has sinned, then God should let his enemies overtake him and kill him. But, if they’re the ones who have sinned, then God should step in and make sure that the consequences befall them. Like many of these things that pop up throughout the Tanakh, I keep thinking, people just don’t take responsibility for their actions or what befalls them, and keep chalking it up to God, and demanding he fix their lives for them.
We have musical notes again, this time, the lament is sung to God, accompanied by a gittith, an instrument which, apparently, no one’s quite been able to figure out what it is, though there seems to be some consensus that it was sort of lute-ish. In this Psalm, David laments that it is the good people, those who follow the ways of the Torah, who are victims of evil doers out there, and often just because they are good people who follow the ways of the Torah. Anti-semitism has a long, long history.
To be sung as a dirge, to the tune of a prayer “on the death of one’s son”. In it, however, the theme seems somewhat in opposition to that, as David praises God for answering his prayers, leading him to victory, and vanquishing his enemies. Perhaps it is in theme with the ending, where David predicts the annihilation of all the wicked who do not worship God, and, of course, particularly those from the countries surrounding and opposing Israel.
Since wicked people aren’t likely to call on God, being self-confident in their own sins, one might think it worth calling them out. At the same time, God sees all, so he already knows about their sins, and has plans for them, in this life or the next. Calling them out to God is little other than boasting of your own faith, and sets you on the path to sin yourself. God doesn’t need your help figuring out others’ or your morality.
An affirmation of David’s belief, faith, and trust in God to protect and shelter him, and, in the end, to mete out punishment to the wicked. He opines that because he is so cared for, he has no need to run and hide from those pursuing him. Which is what he’s been doing for the last many months. Maybe he’s just tired of running and hiding and has decided to reaffirm his faith and ask for protection.
We’re back singing to the strummed sounds of the shemenith, a type of harp. David laments that the wicked are adepts at lying, flattering, and just generally have silver tongues when it comes to conning people. And, he praises God for figuring it out, and, some day, punishing them for it by forcing them to recant their words. Some day. Still waiting.
Although still professing his faith and love for God, David muses, no, laments, that as best he can tell, God isn’t really paying any attention to him. He’s not answering, he’s not appearing, he’s not fixing the situation. But, faith and love all the same. Maybe it’s time for David to stand and fix the situation himself instead of hoping and praying for someone else to do so?
David laments that all men are sinful by nature, and those who don’t believe in God are particularly susceptible to hateful behavior. And, God knows it, you can’t hide it, and there’s nothing you can do about it but keep trying to overcome your innate nature. Well that’s pretty bleak. It’s also a cornerstone of much of Christian theology.
David wonders, who would be a good guest in God’s house. After all, you wouldn’t want someone wicked, a sinner. But, as all men, according to him, have some sin and wicked in them, maybe no one will drop by for a visit, and God will be lonely. Or happy. Is he an introvert or extrovert? Inquiring minds want to know.
A poem recited by David as he reaches the conclusion that his only hope is faith and living in harmony with God, believing that that will protect him.
Deliverance, protection, vindication. David’s not asking much from God, who he asserts is paying close attention to what’s happening to him and is sure to jump in at any moment and help out.
David muses on and invokes the calamities that he suffered, equating them to earthquakes, hellish torments, lighting, fire, storms, and how God swooped in and rescued him. Wait, I thought he was just being chased by his nephew who wants to usurp his position? This seems a bit melodramatic, no?
David sings about the glory of God, and how he has revealed the natural and spiritual world through his words.
A brief soliloquy to let us know that God > Military > Money.
David thanks God for his past victories and looks forward to his future ones. Yay God.
A bit of a reprise – a long litany of David’s woes followed by thanks to God for rescuing him from them. Kind of could have skipped Psalms 3 to 21…. Could we have an editor over here?
This psalm is one many of us know – “The Lord is my Shepherd…”. It is David’s acknowledgement that God has been a constant, guiding force throughout his life. David, presumably, never intended it to be used to force a young carpenter and teacher to the status of sheeple tender.
David’s ode to the glory of God, meant to be sung at the dedication of the Temple. It’s a paean to God’s prowess in battle and his glory in victory that led to the possibility of the Temple being built.
We’re still doing a lot of reprising. I guess this is why many scholars treat these as individual writings rather than a book, which happened later as a way to keep track of them, or something. David reaffirms his trust in God, but wants to make sure God notices that he’s just a humble servant, devoted and faithful. Wait, I thought that declaring one’s piety was considered bragging and forbidden? Maybe that’s just to other people, not to God, who, I guess, David thinks needs reminding.
David opines to God that he’s been faithful, righteous, and humble, and shouldn’t be judged with the sinners and evil-doers, because he’s better than them. Methinks he doth protest too much. Let alone being a bit of an arrogant braggart.
David opines again… Hope and trust in God, but act in your daily life as if there is no God and it’s all up to you, and then hope and trust in God some more. Okay then.
This is a virtual repeat of Psalm 26, with David crying out to God to make sure he doesn’t get lumped in with the folk who aren’t faithful and good people, because he’s kept the faith and been good (except when he hasn’t, which we saw a fair amount of back in I and II Samuel as we wound our way through David’s story of mass assassinations, defections, betrayals, and more. Seems someone has conveniently forgotten his own past.
David wants you to know that God’s voice is so powerful, so majestic, that it can upheave wildlands and raze forests. Would be nice if we were praising its ability to create rather than destroy, but we have the psalm we have.
We’re just going to have to put up with David’s laments and praises for awhile. 73 (some say 75) of the psalms are his out of 150. Today he gives thanks for the completion of the Temple, a process he had to stay out of because of his past sins, but in a show of “the son doesn’t inherit the sins of his father”, his son Solomon was tasked with the building of the Temple.
David laments that nobody loved him, everybody hated him, and if it weren’t for God, he’d have just been a lost, lonely soul. Sounds like someone just being melodramatic about a life where, like, almost everyone loved him, and only his enemies hated him, but some of them even thought he was pretty cool.
David has an insight. Not covering up his sins, and confessing to God, and being forgiven, will make him happy. There is no suggestion on his part that he confess his sins to another person. Privately, in conversation with God, and reporting that he’s been forgiven for whatever he might have done, will do just fine, thank you very much.
David announces that musicians across the land should be singing God’s praises. And more specifically, accompanied by instruments that have either ten strings or ten holes.
David opines that you should keep your mouth shut if all you to say is hypocritical or slanderous. God pays attention and will eradicate those who speak evil, while answering and often rewarding those who speak truth and praise. If you have nothing good to say….
Repeated three different times, in different phrasing, David sings for vindication of his righteous path, the destruction of his enemies, and, of course, slips in a few phrases of admiration for God, especially if he helps out with those first two items.
Many seem to interpret this psalm as David praising God for providing refuge to the persecuted. I have to say, I don’t see that anywhere in the psalm, which seems more focused on calling out those who surround themselves with the aura of being pious believers, but are in reality transgressors who make a pretense of faith in order to hide their nefarious affairs.
Advice for? from? David. It’s not clear which. Don’t sweat the wicked. Don’t envy their ostentatious wealth or perceived success. Because judgment time is coming and pretty soon they’ll lose it all and be swept away. Still waiting on that, you know?
David is suffering, you know? I mean, aches and pains and illness while he’s been on the run. And hey, God, in case you haven’t been paying attention to the last 37 psalms of David trying to get in touch, he just wants to remind you that he’s suffering, and is really hoping that you’ll step in and make him feel all better. And maybe tuck him in and sing him a lullaby when it’s bedtime.
David opines to God that he feels like he’s been punished enough, thank you very much. And he’s mended his own wicked ways, and vowed not to repeat them, and to be faithful, and all the rest, so, like, could he just get on with his life and maybe God could make his persecutors go away?
David’s still going. After all, he points out to God, there have been moments when you’ve rescued me, given me hope, lifted me up. But then you let me down again and I’m on my own. It’s almost like you expect me to do something to help myself instead of just praying to you. What gives?
We often read news and social media posts where someone conflates two wholly unrelated topics and tries to make them seem like the same situation. Today, David laments sickness and treacherous friends, apparently deciding that both affect him, and others, the same way, and that faith in God will make him healthy, rid him of wicked acquaintances, and guarantee him spiritual immortality. Alrighty then.
A soulful poem of longing to be right with God, sung on behalf of the “sons of Korah”, which referred to a trio of biblical figures charged with protecting the tabernacle, not the Australian Christian folk band who have made a career out of modern musical interpretations of the Psalms.
Perhaps all this lamenting has done some good. All we know is that David suddenly switches from carrying on about his miserable state to thanking God for getting back to him.
A lament on behalf of the people, during the Babylonian exile, complaining that, well, they’re in exile, and God seems to have forgotten them, and left them to be scorned, left them to work as slaves, etc., etc. Apparently they’ve forgotten the whole thing where God caused the exile as a punishment for them straying from the path, and told them he’d get back to them in seventy years. Clearly no one brought a copy of the Book of Jeremiah with them.
Finally, something that isn’t a lament, complaint, or demand. An ode, a love song, to the messiah who is to come, and emphasizing his relationship with both God and the community. Not surprisingly, the Catholic church, I gather, treats this one as a reaffirmation of the bond between “Father and Son”. Since Judaism doesn’t consider Jesus to be God’s son, and we’re still waiting on the messiah, this psalm has very different meanings to the two faiths.
A song of praise to God for being the source of both power and salvation in times of trouble. They do attribute a bit of bluster to him, singing that all he has to do is announce he’s God, cease and desist from evil doings, and people will. I suppose, if God actually appeared to us, roiling clouds and all that, and boomed that out, people might actually stop what they’re doing and pay attention.
The song of praise continues, with allusions to the High Holy Days and Judgement Day. Ultimately, it’s just a continuation on yesterday’s psalm.
An ode to Jerusalem, Zion, as the shining city that represents God on earth.
Why make the choice to be “good” in life, if everyone just ends up dead in the end? This psalm posits that for those who choose, let’s call it The Dark Side, their souls will remain in darkness, in Sheol, for all eternity, while the souls of those who choose to be righteous will live on… somewhere. While the concept of “Hell” is a Christian one, the Tanakh does posit some sort of good and bad afterlives.
Yay, we’re a third of the way through the Psalms. While most of the Psalms are petitions or odes, there are about a dozen, specifically written to or about a compatriot of David’s, named Asaph, that are distinct for appearing to be prophecies or visions. In this first one, God chastises an unnamed wicked person for daring to reinterpret his laws, and attempting to redefine faith in him. There are some bible historians who believe this was a vision of God rebuking those who a millennium later created Christianity, though most tend to relate it to other attempts to change Judaism that happened more contemporaneously.
An act of confession of sins by David to the prophet Nathan, along with a plea to be pardoned for his past sins based on his acknowledgement of them. This psalm is ofttimes seen as a major impetus behind the Catholic practice of confession. And, it also fits with the Jewish version – once a year on Yom Kippur.
David opines that people who gossip, say bad things about others, and/or hurt other people will be punished by God. He has an awful lot of reliance, we’ve seen, on that God will take care of all the punishing. The problem to my mind is that it leaves the “bad people” free to do as they please until their afterlife, and the prospect of a bad afterlife clearly doesn’t deter them. God has said more than once that communities need to deal with miscreants during their life, not leave them for divine judgment.
David muses on those folk who choose not to believe in nor follow God, and declares them to be fools. The Hebrew word doesn’t imply someone stupid or lacking capability, but rather someone lacking in wisdom and judgement.
David goes dark, carrying on about the folk who are out to get him, and asking God to not only help revealing who they are, but protecting him from them, ending with expressing his confidence that God will do the right thing and save him.
A long and involved lament by David after having been betrayed by a close friend. He wails away about how such treachery is the worst that a man can be expected to endure. And, of course, ends up entreating God to utterly destroy this “traitor” and send him off to whatever hell or purgatory may exist.
David is afraid. According to some sources, this Psalm, echoing a passage in the books of Samuel, is the only time he ever admitted he was afraid. He is advised to trust in God and that will allay his fears. You know, with a good therapist, maybe David could have handled some of all these whiny issues and paranoia, and maybe Jonathan wouldn’t have left him. Just musing.
While his enemies may attack him like wild animals, David is quite sure that his faith in God will be answered by God protecting him from them, and in the end, they will only hurt themselves. You do realize that if some guy on X, or Facebook, or TikTok was spouting all these various rantings, we’d have relegated him to the tin foil hat crowd, and someone would be trying to get him into a treatment program?
David’s going a little psycho here, as he muses that wicked people are wicked through and through, they have no real redeeming qualities, and soon, very soon, God, or people on God’s behalf, will crush them brutally, and he, David, and others, who are beleaguered by the wicked folk will rejoice in their destruction and bathe in their blood. Someone’s not been taking their medication.
David cries out to God when he finds himself under siege from his enemies, calling them dogs and demanding that God destroy them. But make sure to do it openly, so people can see how bad it is to be against him, David. Wouldn’t want those wicked folk to just disappear and everyone not understand that David has God’s protection now would we.
David laments (again) of the time when he interceded with God on behalf of the Jewish people, whom God was busy punishing for their sins (i.e., not following his rules and worshiping him). And, hey God, you paid attention then, why not now, on my own behalf? I’m beginning to see the reason no one reads the Psalms straight through, we pick one out now and again and sing it or share it, but all together, most of them are just David whining about God not paying attention to him anymore.
David acknowledges that despite all his lamenting, wailing, and praying, he understands that while God may hear everything he says, he may choose not to pay any attention. He’s not obligated, after all. This feels like a setup for another litany of everything David has done on behalf of God and a demand for a bit more attention.
Another David lament (I thought he was only supposed to be in 50 of the 150 psalms…), where he basically announces that one shouldn’t trust in one’s fellow men, but only in God… well, Gods. Because, here, out of the blue, the deity is pluralized, and the psalm actually entreats one to trust in “the gods”. Someone forgot to proofread that text.
David. Yes, David again, goes on a mental wander, comparing his time hiding out in the desert, hungry and thirsty, to his spiritual world at the same time, which lacked a commitment and faith in God. And, in following, that finding God and committing to him, was akin to finally being able to eat and drink.
Oh, the evil things that David’s enemies have planned for them. He details out some of the nefarious plots, but winds down after a short bit and affirms that God will save him. You know, it’s interesting, at no point in all this moping, whining, and complaining, does David ever acknowledge the reason that Saul has sent men to kill him. It’s like he hasn’t read his own story. (To refresh your memories, check my thoughts on I Samuel, starting from chapter 17.)
David praises the various wonders of the world that God has created. Given the tenor of the 64 psalms prior to this one, we just know he’s gearing up to demand something. It’s like a kid buttering up a parent before asking for something he knows the answer to which is likely to be “no”.
Finally. No David in a psalm. Are we done with his part? I can only hope. Today’s psalm praises God for his great works on earth and in turn swears an oath to continue ritual animal sacrifices in perpetuity. It particularly notes the heavenly aroma of grilled meats. Fire up those barbecues!
A continuation, more or less, of the previous psalm, with the leaders calling on the entire community to praise God and ask for him to continue to bless the world with his presence and good works.
Well, David’s back, what can I say. He sings a long song of praise to The Divine Warrior, to the forces God uses to destroy his enemies. There’s lots of earth trembling, chariot smashing, and people scattering involved. You know, the fun stuff of the Bible.
It’s not David lamenting, but the community leaders lamenting on behalf of David, moaning, ad nauseum, over his time in exile and his trials and tribulations during that period. It is supposed to be sung accompanied by the “shoshanim”, a “lily-belled trumpet”, interesting given that the word means roses in Hebrew. But either way, I’m trying to imagine singing a lament accompanied by… a trumpet.
This is the Cliff Notes version of Psalm 40, repeating each theme in turn, but more concisely. Of course that may be because it’s the community leader summarizing David’s verbose lament for the congregation. I’m sensing had this logic been applied, we could cut to maybe 40-50 psalms instead of 150. Still set to music, of course. Where is Anna Russell when we need her?
An anonymous song of praise to God as an aging person finds himself subject to abuse by those around him, as they take advantage of his waning strength and faculties. He reminds God (why does everyone feel like they have to remind an omniscient, omnipresent deity of things) that he has been faithful not just for his entire life, but even before he was born, while still in the womb. That one’s got to be a boon to the “pro-life” set.
David prays that God will endow his son Solomon with wisdom and judgment and compassion so that he will become Israel’s most just ruler. And, dare I offer a small huzzah, as there is an end note on this psalm that this is the end of psalms related to David. One can live in hope.
The first of eleven psalms attributed to the Levite priest Asaph, where he muses on the superficial attraction of a wicked life – the money, the material objects, the food, the drink, etc. But as he looks closer, he sees the cost to their psyche and soul, and while having been initially tempted, realizes how dark that path is to go down. And then he muses some more on how good, spiritually if not materially, life is on the path that follows God.
Asaph continues on his lament, noting that it seems like forever since God has paid much attention to his people, even allowing for things like the destruction of the Temple (apparently Asaph never read the portions of the Tanakh where God actually arranged the destruction of the Temple). He entreats God to respond to his faithful and come back to them.
I’m liking Asaph more than David – he doesn’t whine. Today, he praises God for not having forgotten that there are many Jews living in the diaspora, in exile, after the Roman colonization. He also addresses wicked folk directly, and reminiscent of recently departed comedian Bob Newhart, tells them to just “Stop it!”
Asaph sings of God’s justice throughout history, demonstrated by his power in intervening in the affairs of man to set things on the right course. Also, and I don’t know why it never occurred to me before, did you know that the name “Salem” is an archaic, shortened version of “Jerusalem”?
Okay, now Asaph is starting to whine. At least he’s moaning and lamenting over God’s recent inattention to Israel as a whole, and the Jews as a people, rather than his own personal woes. He recalls, nostalgically, when things were better and God used to appear regularly. This makes him more despondent, and he cries out, asking God to come back and hang again, do some more good stuff, you know, all that thunder and lightning and crushing of enemies….
Asaph praises God for having maintained being kind and wise over the generations, despite many people no longer following his rules. He calls out to the people to “do better”, to relearn what they’ve forgotten and teach it to their children. Wait, just a psalm ago, Asaph was lamenting that God has been pretty much missing for generations. Which is it, missing or hanging out being kind and wise?
Asaph’s back to lamenting about God’s behavior. Now it’s, “Yeah, look, we screwed up awhile back, but how long are you going to hold this against us and let our enemies just run roughshod over us? Either we’re your chosen people or we’re not, but, hey, a little help over here?!” At least Asaph is championing for the community as a whole, not just himself, as David did.
More of the same. Asaph gets all metaphorical, comparing Israel and the Jews to a vine that God planted and tended, and it was fruitful and multiplied, and then he started pruning it and letting wild beasts trample it, and on, and on, and on, and maybe God, it’s time to get back to taking care of the vine instead of challenging it. Then again, winemakers claim that vines that are stressed and overcome challenges produce better grapes for better wines.
Asaph’s song of praise for the festival of the new moon, as he recalls the time the Jews spent in slavery in Egypt and their escape.
Asaph speaks on God’s behalf, lambasting the leaders and judges who side with the wicked over the just, taking bribes, soliciting favors, and more. And, of course, in proper ancient God fashion, threatening their eventual downfall, without putting a timeframe on it.
Asaph lived around the time of King David, about 1000 BCE. In today’s psalm he catalogs the surrounding nations, the moabites, the hagrites, the ishmaelites, the assyrians, the philistines… all of whom want to wipe the nation of Israel from the face of the earth. He’s asking for divine national protection, and also, as best I can tell, making sure God doesn’t forget any of the opposing clans or armies. This conflict goes back. Just sayin’.
The first of a series of psalms sung by the Korahites, a familial lineage of professional singers – the precursors, one supposes, to modern day cantors. The singer marvels at the contentedness of small animals who just live their lives basking in God’s glow without a care in the world. One might assume that the singer knows very little about the struggles of daily survival for many a small animal.
This psalm has given conniption fits to Hebrew linguists, as it is phrased in past tense but refers to the future actions of God turning away from being pissed off at his people and instead blessing them with tangible benefits in exchange for them returning to his path from those to which they have strayed. The phrasing makes it seem as if the singer is imagining the future as an accomplished fact.
Dammit. I thought we were done with David. But… He’s Back… Still rambling on about all his moments of dark despair and how turning to God saved him from hell, and maybe he should have done that sooner and not been the arrogant twit he used to be. But, do people really change?
Thank goodness, yesterday was a mere echo back to David. We’re still in Korahite territory, and today they sing that anyone who comes to Zion, Israel, and embraces faith in the one true God, is reborn and considered as if he or she had been born there in the first place. Renounce your heresy all you 4.3 billion people who muck about in offshoot religions of Judaism and come back to the fold!
The lament of the psalmist amounts to a woe is me, I’ve been faithful, I’ve done everything I was supposed to, and still, it seems I’m headed to Hell, and God has forsaken me. You might think there would be an uplifting finale to this dirge, but no, the gist is that sometimes you do everything right and life still doesn’t work out. Scholars and rabbis for centuries have twisted themselves into knots over this to justify why one should still make the effort to do everything right.
An extremely long psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite, whom we’ve not encountered before, as he extols the various virtues of God, both carrot and stick. Ethan was a bit of a savant – a young boy in King David’s court who was already lauded for his wisdom, which many claimed, and theologians still sometimes claim, was second only to Solomon.
While there are seven psalms that mention Moses, this is the only one in which the text is attributed to him. Basically, it’s a laundry list of complaints to and about God, for responding to the occasional errors on the part of Moses himself, and others, by treating mankind with anger and sending ridiculous trials and tribulations against humanity over and over again. One might think Moses is peeved over those forty years in the desert, and trips up Mt. Sinai, and being told he can’t enter Israel.
A seemingly non-sequitur psalm that many scholars have termed an “amulet psalm”, i.e., a short inscription invoking God’s protection that could be inscribed on a small scroll in an amulet. Something, it might be noted, that isn’t exactly kosher in Jewish tradition, other than the mezuzah on our doors. It imagines God as a female bird and is often considered a precursor of the depictions of a dove by Jews of the shekinah, feminine side of God, and Christians of the Holy Spirit.
A call to prayer on Shabbat, a song of joy, and an imagining of a future where every day is Shabbat. This psalm is often sung at the start of afternoon prayers. While I suppose for one who believes that the ultimate bliss in the universe is to spend all day everyday in contemplation, study, and prayer, I can’t say that such an envisioned future for humanity would be high on my list.
The psalmist extols the decibel level of the ocean and opines that the only thing louder than the pounding, thunderous noise of the sea, is God. While I’m sure it was intended as a compliment of sorts, it seems very backhanded to me.
The psalmist cries out to God for justice, calling out all the opportunities for the enemies of our people to assume God either doesn’t care or doesn’t exist because he doesn’t step in and stop them from doing bad things. After all, the singer sings, if you don’t respond to our prayers, are you even listening to them?
This psalm starts out as an exaltation of God and the pivots to imagined musings by God about not wanting to be tested by the stubbornness of the Jewish people the way they’d tested him during the Exodus. Passive-aggressive guilt tripping by the psalmist.
How many ways can one psalmist proclaim that there is joy to be found in worshipping God? Well, this psalm has thirteen short paragraphs, each one rephrasing that concept and yet saying nothing different or new. So, at least thirteen.
This psalm is quite the description of the power of God, with melting mountains and dense clouds, and fire and lightning! All quite awe inspiring.
After yesterday’s psalm, the psalmists continues on with a bit more of a description of God’s might, but pivots to focusing on how we, and nature, must exalt God. It involves a lot of lyres, trumpets and horns on our part, clapping on the part of rivers, and singing on the part of mountains.
The last of the six “royal psalms”, exalting God as king, or ruler, of the world, in this one God is pictured flitting about on his throne, pulled by the cherubim (and, in contrast to the Christian interpretation of cherubs as chubby little angel children, we get reminded that in Jewish tradition, cherubs are huge, fierce winged lions with human faces), and we admonished to bow down to… hmmm… not him, but… his footstool.
Yeah, yeah, we are God’s sheep, he’s the shepherd, we have to do what he says, when he says, and not argue about it, and praise him for it. Wait, that’s not right. Judaism is all about arguing, and especially with God. Who wrote this psalm?
Dammit. David’s back. Just reporting in to God about how he’s trying to create a just, righteous world by rooting out and destroying the folk who are wicked, worthless, and perverse. You know, if God is supposed to be omniscient, why do people feel like they have to keep reporting in on what’s going on down on Earth, and all the things they’re doing to help out? It’s almost like they don’t really believe he’s all-knowing and all-powerful.
A middle aged psalmist lays withering away, and sings out about his various physical woes, then compares those to God’s strength and majesty, and coyly suggests that given that God is so all powerful and eternal, perhaps he might spare a bit of that for the psalmist, who’d just like to live to a normal old age rather than being struck down in his prime. I mean, come on God, what will it cost you to toss a few more years and some health my way?
Yup, David’s back again. Jeez Louise, as they say. At least this time he’s not lamenting his woes or touting his accomplishments. He’s buttering up God by enumerating all the good stuff that the deity does for humanity, even when us lowly human beings don’t deserve it. I can just feel it, there’s another David psalm coming and he’s going to ask for something big.
A song of praise to God, and all the things he provides for us, the human beings, for the animals, for the plants, for the planet. And a final line suggesting that all sinners be simply disappeared from the face of the earth, wink, wink.
The psalmist sings of the years of Jewish slavery in Egypt, followed by the Exodus, all orchestrated by God, in a couple dozen artfully written phrases, ending with a reminder to the Jewish people that it was all done to lead them to a point where they would be faithful to him. It really seems to me that an alll-knowing deity might have come up with a more effective way of making his point than slavery and desert wandering. Especially since it didn’t really work in the long run. Or maybe we’re due for another “lesson”?
The song from yesterday is more or less repeated in other words. Almost like someone said to a group of psalmists, hey, each of you write me a song about slavery in Egypt and the Exodus, and, I don’t know, maybe there will be a prize for the best song. Extra manna for dinner or something. I can’t wait for tomorrow’s entry. Oh, and nice shoutout to Pinehas, Aaron’s grandson, who was so righteous he killed his fellow Jews for sleeping around with non-Jews. Yay team.
I’m going to have to call out this psalmist as he continues on his songs of praise. Still on the Exodus, he extols God for that period of time, while the Jews were lost and wandering in the desert, for showing up and showing them “the direct route to their new, settled home”. Unless we’re giving God a pass for the whole “what’s years to humanity is a blink of the eye to God” schtick, forty years meandering in the wilderness does not seem to me like the direct route.
David is like a Whac-a-Mole, he just keeps popping up every few psalms. In this one, he enumerates the various promises of wealth and power that God had promised him back in the day, and then points out that he didn’t get those things. As usual, he seems to forget that he didn’t get those things because he didn’t uphold his end of the deal, and repeatedly violated ethical and moral standards to get what he wanted, to the point that his own family usurped him, sent him into exile, and wants to kill him.
David still. He really hasn’t become a better human being, despite all his protestations and claims of having reformed from his wayward youth. He prays to God for retribution against his own, personal enemies, demanding God ruin their lives for his own personal revenge. You know, if all this stuff had been taught back in “Hebrew School” when I was a kid, we’d all have come out with a very different view of the history of our forefathers/mothers.
Well, according to the psalmists, David is indeed the chosen one here. This song has God praising David as such, telling him to come sit at his side and watch as God gleefully destroys all of David’s enemies. We really didn’t learn these stories this way back in the day.
Summed up by the final line: The beginning of wisdom is fear of God. Yay God.
Continuing on the fear the Lord theme – the man who is properly afraid of God and is therefore driven to follow the Torah commandments scrupulously will be healthy, wealthy, and wise and never afraid of anything else. It’s worth parsing that idea for a moment – the idea that following the rules must be driven by fear of punishment from the entity that made the rules will lead to rewards. This sounds a lot like the model of various authoritarian governments out there today.
One of the six hallel psalms, or hallelujah verses, that are recited in synagogue during festivals. God is praised for his compassion, in that he holds the poor in just as high regard as the rich, and the childless woman in just as high regard as those with children. Though cat ownership is not mentioned, there’s a certain vice presidential candidate who might take note of that.
Just a reminder from the psalmists to Mother Nature that ever since the Exodus, she’s had to tremble and bow in the presence of God and Israel.
The songster enjoins God to make sure he’s visible and present in the world, so that folk of other religions won’t be able to avoid the obvious. After all, their experience and articulation of God is totally based on worshipping manmade idols.
This is an interesting one, since the psalmist sings of having been dead and found himself in Sheol, the empty place of limbo before redemption or condemnation for eternity. And, he praises God for redeeming him, not to heaven, but rather returned to the world of the living. The mystical Jewish belief is that the righteous will be returned to life only when the Messiah arrives, so here we have an example outside the usual framework. One wonders what this psalmist did that was worthy of such a deviation.
I imagine this is the shortest of psalms, coming in at one sentence. Basically, praise God because he loves us. We need a numbered psalm for that sentence? Set to music?
Yesterday was just an intro to today’s long praise of God. After all, despite all the negative things he’s done to us, better to trust and praise him than other people. In fact, why are you trusting other people at all? Don’t you know what they’re like?
I believe this is the longest psalm of them all, coming in at a whopping 176 verses, 171 of which reference the Word of God, and all of which boil down to that the true path to happiness is dedicating your heart and mind to said Word. Seems a bit wordy to me.
The psalmist sings of the woes of the treacherous speech of his enemies. While he (as a metaphor for Judea, or Israel) wants peace, his enemies feign that they do too, while meanwhile surreptitiously fomenting war with the intent to destroy him. The enemies’ words can fool the world, but he must remain committed to his vision of peace. Surprisingly poignant and relevant nearly two millennia after it was written.
Just a reminder from the singer that God is always with you, every step of the way, protecting you on your journey through life.
An ode to Jerusalem, the destination for the pilgrimage of the Judaic faithful.
Dear God, people have been mean to me, please be nice to me.
David pokes his head up again, thanking God for rescuing him. This guy just won’t go away.
Trust in God and you will be an immovable object when confronted by wickedness. So says this psalmist. At least the psalms seem to be getting shorter. Only twenty-five more to go…
The psalmist dreams of the restorations of Israel’s fortunes with God’s guidance.
A song (supposedly) written by David about his son Solomon, and, by extension, all progeny, and what a gift it is from God to have children.
Keep the faith and you will not only reap the fruits of your labors, but you’ll enjoy a happy wife, strong sons, and maybe even live long enough to see your grandchildren. I’m not sure that’s how it works, but, okay. And, just a kicker, your faith will affect the quality of your afterlife.
An interestingly prescient psalm these days, which opines that hating the Jewish people’s desire to return from exile to their ancestral homeland of Judea/Zion, and reestablish Israel, is the same as hating Jews.
The psalmist calls for all those who hear the psalm to not just recognize and embrace the mercy of God, but to, here’s an idea, support each other by practicing the same mercy. You know, person to person.
David again. Letting God know, in a song, that he was never arrogant nor ambitious and was always cool, calm, and collected. First off, David, your history says otherwise. Second off, David, if God is all powerful and all knowing, he doesn’t need you to tell him what’s in your heart. Though maybe he’s looking to see if you’re cognizant of reality, which apparently, you’re not.
David remembers all the times God made sure he was sheltered, and wants to repay the favor by building a home for God (in the form of the Ark of the Covenant). God, however, tells him not to bother, no favors owed, and besides, he’s planning to have Solomon build the Temple, and then, somewhere in the future, another of David’s descendants rebuild it. This psalm is often used by evangelical Christians as part of the Messiah prophecy – i.e., that Jesus was that future descendant.
A brief psalm extolling the virtues of living in communal harmony, with shared power and responsibility. Is it just a fantasy? Or can it exist?
Another very brief psalm urging the priests and caretakers in the Temple to spend their nights in devotional activities rather than, one supposes, engaging in idle chatter.
An ode to God’s greatness as he helped the Jewish people against their worst enemies – the Egyptians, the Ammonites, and the Canaanites. And, further, that one day, he will reign over the entire world and those other gods (once again, the Talmud acknowledges that other deities exist, just touting that he’s the better one) will be subjugated to him. Especially, apparently, the sea god. Someone doesn’t like the sea god.
Pretty much just an extended play of yesterday’s psalm, praising God for his steadfast support and love throughout history. The verses make a point to call out particular enemy leaders who have been previously crushed, pointing out that, more or less, our God is better than your god.
We jump to the Babylonian exile, where the psalmist laments the exile, yearns for Jerusalem, and offers up messages of hate and images of violence against Israel’s enemies that have caused the exile/diaspora. It feels a bit like someone is off their meds.
Finally, a psalm of some interest. While simple, a thanks and praise to God, what stands out is its source. The simple prayer of thanks comes from an obscure, mystical work called the Perek Shirah, which purports to be a litany of the 84 prayers of thanks from 84 different animals created by God on the Day of Creation. This particular prayer is the one said by The Mule.
The psalmist praises God for being omnipresent. No matter where he goes, God is there. Even if he tries to hide away, God is there. Even when he doesn’t want him to be, God is there. Always present, following, and watching. Always there, in the shadows. This is basically an ode to a stalker. Or Batman? Daredevil?
David’s back, again, asking God to keep an eye out for the wicked people who are out to harm him, and, you know, just kind of get rid of them so that David doesn’t have to stop doing his own thing. I’m still torn between whether David was a whiny little prick, or an arrogant one.
David’s still going. Really, why did they bring him back? Apparently, he’s incapable of controlling himself, as this entire psalm is him praying to God to stop him from saying and doing the things he wants to do to all the wicked folk around him. Which, I suppose, fits with yesterday’s psalm where he prayed to God to just handle them for him. Seriously, all this guy wants is to lounge around, probably with Jonathan, and have God be his Alfred.
More of the same, though harkening back to David’s time hiding in a cave from his pursuers. Just him, crying about not having any friends, and demanding God fix everything for him.
David. <Sigh>. It’s okay, I can see the light at the end of this tunnel of psalms. Only a few more to go. David, lamenting that his enemies have gotten the best of him. Lamenting that he’s screwed up royally and, at times, been as wicked as his enemies. Lamenting that he can’t fix it all himself, he needs help to be back on the right path. And then, of course, being David, asks God to just set him back there on the path, because getting there on his own looks so hard.
David promises to write and sing a new song for God if he will only step in and save him from the slanders and libels of his enemies. So, literally, umm, a mercenary for the price of a song.
Apparently, once again according to David, our entire reason for existing is to be blown away by the God’s glory and spend out lives extolling his virtues. We have no other purpose. Oh, and by the way, again, just mentioning, it would be great if you, God, would snuff out some enemies and wicked folk who are arrayed against me.
A lament, of sorts, as the psalmist sees the world around him filled with injustice, disappointment, and strife. Imagining that the world of heaven is a better place than that, he sings to God, hoping that perhaps a bit of that better world could be visited upon the world of the living.
One of the series of the “Hallelujah Psalms”, this one addresses those whose spirit is broken due to the exile from Israel, and praises God who will return the Jewish people there, and make both the country, and its capital Jerusalem, strong and protected against its enemies. It envisions a sort of protective aura around the country that will repel attacks launched against it… almost like… an Iron Dome.
This is quite the popular psalm, having been used as everything from a rap lyric, to a trio of French, Jewish scientists claiming it as the basis for Aristotelean cosmology. It’s a call to the various orders of beings, from celestial to more or less demonic, and all types of people, animals, trees, plants, rocks, etc., to take up the praise of God. No one and nothing left out, and everything praising in harmony. A bit of an overkill in the loyalty test arena, no?
Although it starts with Hallelujah, apparently this is not one of the Hallelujah psalms. It calls on the Jewish people to celebrate God through music and dance. And some of it, apparently, suggests that the daily reciting of the Shema, the central, twice daily recited prayer of Judaism, is not just an act of faith, but one of defiance, using the power of words to protect against one’s enemies.
Hallelujah! We have reached the final psalm, which exhorts us to praise God not just with song, dance, and prayer, but with every breath we take. I am so past ready for the psalms to be over. Breathe.