Psalms

Psalm 3 contains the lyrics to one of my favorite songs that we sing in church: "Thou, O Lord, are a shield about me, my glory, and the lifter of my head."

I thought this was a funny verse: "O my God: for though hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly"

In Psalm 9, the writer says, "thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out their name forever and ever." But this verse is an out-and-out lie. God didn't rebuke the heathens, he didn't destroy the wicked (except for Sodom and Gomorrah), and he certainly didn't put out their name forever because we certainly still have them now. It seems like a lot of these Psalms are appeals to God's vanities--perhaps in hope of help with battles and wars, perhaps?

Jesus' last words occur in Psalm 22: "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" That verse always used to make me cry when I was little, just because I thought it was so sad that God would leave Jesus during the toughest time. When I was older, I understood, but this line used to really get me before I was old enough to understand.

It sounds like the Psalmist is being a little sarcastic in Psalm 51: "Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice." Well, it's somehow your fault that I have a broken leg, God, but at least you let me win the big game....

Around the mid-50s, David (or whoever...) gets a little whiny: "Save me, O God (54)," "Give ear to my prayer, O God (55)", "Be merciful unto me, O God (56 and 57)", "Deliver me from mine enemies (59)," and so on and so forth. Sounds like he's getting a little demanding. It must have been frustrating for God. It reminds me of this episode of Family Guy where Peter is looking at a bag blowing in the wind and talking about how beautiful it is, and God says something like, "It's just a piece of trash! Do you know how complicated your circulatory system is?" I could see God saying something like that to David.

Why does every important Biblical character have to wander around in the desert?

I just thought this line was really beautiful: "The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee; they were afraid; the depths were also troubled."

There's a lot of singing and dancing going on here. Again, I wondered why the puritans had such a problem with dancing when it's all over the Bible...

Another "bribe" to God: "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger." Slow to anger? Really?

Shortest Psalm: 117. Longest Psalm: 119. I counted 19 parts to this Psalm. It could be a book of the Bible by itself!

"Behold,how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity" (133). Unless your brethren are Philistines...