Tuesday: A Song for Every Season
Daily Lesson for Tuesday, January 2, 2024
Read Psalms 3:1-8, Psalms 33:1–3, and Psalms 109:6-15. What different facets of human experience do these psalms convey?
The Psalms make the believing community aware of the full range of human experience, and they demonstrate that believers can worship God in every season in life. In them we see the following:
(1) Hymns that magnify God for His majesty and power in creation, His kingly rule, judgment, and faithfulness. (2) Thanksgiving psalms that express profound gratitude for God’s abundant blessings. (3) Laments that are heartfelt cries to God for deliverance from trouble. (4) Wisdom psalms that provide practical guidelines for righteous living. (5) Royal psalms that point to Christ, who is the sovereign King and Deliverer of God’s people. (6) Historical psalms that recall Israel’s past and highlight God’s faithfulness and Israel’s unfaithfulness to teach the coming generations not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors but to trust God and remain faithful to His covenant.
The poetry of the Psalms demonstrates distinctive power to capture the attention of readers. Though some of these poetic devices are lost in translation, we can still, in our native language, appreciate many of them.
1. Parallelism involves the combining of symmetrically constructed words, phrases, or thoughts. Parallelism helps in understanding the meaning of corresponding parts. For instance: “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name!” (Psalms 103:1, NKJV). In this parallelism, “my soul” is “all that is within me,” namely one’s whole being.
2. Imagery uses figurative language to strongly appeal to readers’ physical senses. For example, God’s refuge is depicted as “the shadow of [His] wings” (Psalms 17:8, NKJV).
3. Merism expresses totality by a pair of contrasting parts. “I have cried day and night before thee” denotes crying without ceasing (Psalms 88:1, emphasis supplied).
4. Wordplays employ the sound of words to make a pun and highlight a spiritual message. In Psalms 96:4-5 the Hebrew words ’elohim, “gods,” and ’elilim, “idols,” create a wordplay to convey the message that the gods of the nations only appear to be ’elohim, “gods,” but are merely ’elilim, “idols.”
Finally, the word “selah” denotes a brief interlude, either for a call to pause and reflect on the message of a particular section of the psalm or a change of musical accompaniment (Psalms 61:4).
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Psalm 109:6-15 probably fits into the third “heartfelt cries to God for deliverance from trouble” category. But wow, what a barnburner! (For those who haven’t heard the expression “barnburner” before, it comes from a story of an old Dutchman who burned down his barn to get rid of the rats. I use it to mean “dramatic”.)
Look at the things David is asking God for in payback to his enemy! (1) set a wicked man and Satan himself over this enemy; (2) let him become condemned; (3) let his prayer become sin; (4) let his days be few; (5) let another take his spot; (6) let his children be fatherless; (7) let his wife be a widow; (8) let his children continually wander and beg; (8) let them seek food in desolate places; (9) may his debtors demand everything back; (10) let no one show him or his children mercy; (11) let his family name go extinct; (12) let the sins of mothers and fathers never be blotted out; (13) let the memory of him be cut off from the earth. Did he forget anything?!
So maybe there needs to be another category: “Cursing Psalms”. Besides Psalm 109, I found Psalms 10, 35, 55, 58, 59, 69, 79, 137, 140 to all contain jaw-dropping curses. Things like “let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and make their loins tremble continually” (Ps. 69:23). Continually! “Let them be like the snail that dissolves into slime, like the stillborn child who never sees the sun” (Ps. 58:8). These sound almost like voodoo curses….I’d expect to see pins sticking out of a hidden doll somewhere.
And back to “burnburner” comparison, isn’t killing people to get rid of evil like burning down the barn to get rid of the rats? Isn’t the whole point of God’s correction to save people? Didn’t David respect life so much that he refused to hurt murderous King Saul, cutting his garment rather than stabbing him in the back while he slept (1 Sam. 24:4-6)? And he felt guilty for even doing that! Why is David writing so many psalms that have a focus on destroying and punishing enemies and bringing down God’s harshest judgments? Where is Christ’s love for sinners in David’s heart? Are these psalmists showing a vengeful spirit?
I have some thoughts in answer, but it is bedtime here …. and I’m sure it would be a greater blessing to have a little discussion and hear from y’all if you want to chime in…..
Thank you so much Esther for your post and I must say your post is really mind boggling and got me thinking.
And back to “burnburner” comparison, isn’t killing people to get rid of evil like burning down the barn to get rid of the rats? Isn’t the whole point of God’s correction to save people?
In the book of Psalms it is were all humans emotions are hidden both good and bad. The important thing for us to remember is that everytime we read the word of God it is like looking at the mirror. When you look at a mirror you don't see the person in the street but yourself. So in the book of Psalms it is were our emotions are hidden and we really thank God for the book of Psalms because there are Psalms that exposes what is in our heart. At times in our life's we struggle to forgive people who has wrong us and sometimes our forgiveness is conditional depending on what they've done to us. When we have not forgiven people they become our enemies and we don't wish them anything good.
The author of the lesson is also bringing some important lesson for us that some of the scriptures were written for us as a lesson and not to repeat what our ancestors has done in the past.
This is what Paul was saying in Romans 15:4. Such things were written in scriptures long ago to teach us. And the scriptures gives us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled.
Thank you once again to all of you for your helpful comments everyday. May the good Lord continue to use you and share with us your thoughts and helpful insights.
God bless you all!!!
Your post is really mind boggling.
This is an interesting comment. Before I began to somewhat understand the complex character that is King David, I just couldn't get how God called him "a man after my own heart". Now I think I understand a bit more. David was just human. Those imprecatory prayers are like some many of us may have said silently 🤫 when our enemies have threatened to overwhelm us...And we are emotionally complex too. But David's life was full of far more drama than we can probably relate to. He's praying from a really raw place- This is how I see it. Good thing is that he didn't seek to carry out the deeds himself. My encouragement in all this is that we don't need to pretend with God. He knows our thoughts anyway and at the end of the day, we can't make God do anything that He doesn't want to do. Take it all to God...like David did, and let Him deal with us - with our heart conditions and with our enemies. After all, there's got to be a good reason why those psalms are in The Book 💛
I agree with Paul, but would have said that our emotions are displayed rather than hidden, though we mean the same thing. We see people calling out to God in joy, in sorrow, and even in anger. He wants us to keep that connection in all circumstances and all emotions. I suppose one positive aspect of the cursing psalms is that the authors are asking God to avenge them rather than trying to avenge themselves. Most of the time we read the authors' cries and not God's responses.
I have heard various interpretations of the imprecatory (cursing) psalms, some that feel they reflect immature spirituality and others that feel they are divinely inspired judgment on evil people. I probably am somewhere in-between those two views and both sides leave room for feeling troubled.
I agree with those who mentioned that the psalmists take their feelings to God - they allow Him the space to make the decisions about evil people. He isn't afraid of our feelings even if they aren't quite as sanctified as they could be.
Also, perhaps being removed from the historical situation it's easy to criticize people for not praying for salvation for their enemies, but they probably saw clear evidence that some of these people were unredeemably evil. The best I can compare is Jews in concentration camps praying for the destruction of Hitler and his people. Somehow I suspect we wouldn't criticize that - yes, it would be best if these people could be saved, but their actions indicate most are probably beyond being open to the Holy Spirit.
Anyway, I'm glad these psalms are there as they encourage me in my struggles and conflicting emotions.
Today's lesson concentrates on word and language mechanisms used to construct the psalms and indeed hymns and worship songs even today. For some, this sort of construction comes naturally, for others, it is hard work. Fortunately, we do not have to be good writers to appreciate good writing. The psalms that are most meaningful to me are the ones that resonate with my own experiences.
For instance, much of my early life was spent on a farm with sheep and lambs being part of the everyday experience. Reading Psalm 23 becomes particularly meaningful when you have a rescued lamb being warmed in front of the living room fire and being taught how to feed from a bottle. Watching an orphan lamb respond to care on a freezing winter night is something that is deep and meaningful.
Psalm 19 invokes my scientific background. I have looked through telescopes and photographed the great star fields on the Milky Way. I understand the extent of distance and time that the heavens represent. I still get great joy in sitting out in nature and photographing birds flying in the heavens. (I have to mention that because I have just spent the morning photographing a Swamp Harrier)
It is not just the beautiful language but also the parallel experience that the psalmist and I share, that makes these passages so meaningful.
Greetings and Happy New Year to All,
I have accepted Brother Maurice’s challenge to write an acrostic psalm. Thank you for challenging us to expand our daily experiences with God through your thoughtful insights.
Put God first in everything we are doing
Serve Him faithfully and
Ask Him to breathe His Holy Spirit in us
Learn to let His Holy Spirit guide our lives
Meditate upon His words daily
So our lives can be a blessing to our families, friends, co-workers and church members.
In Jesus name. AMEN
Psalms 19 is a favorite of mine but I will admit that I cannot take the time to read Psalms 3:1-83:1-3.
I too find myself shocked and wondering about the vitriol found in the psalms Esther and thank you Paul for the thought the psalms are a mirror for human emotion rather than just sentiments of God. I do struggle with this because it is “the inspired word of God” and seems in conflict with all the love that God has for sinners. It is the music and poetry which is more often very dramatic…
I must leave it there and look forward to reading further comments after work.
A lot of the Scripture songs I've learned over the years were from the Book of Psalms. It has been my experience that these songs still come to mind even though I am trekking down the "other side of the hill".
I believe that in teaching these songs to children over the years has helped them along in their journeys along the upward trail.
Thank you,Lord for inspiring folks to set Your Word to music, and for the blessing that allows us to experience it.
Thank you Esther for setting the stage for contrasts to salvation. To distrust God is to cut off our Source of Life. Adam and Eve committed suicide and we're all born into that curse of death. God became human in our stead, remained unquestionably loving in the presence of all the trauma life on this earth brings, died from the separation/abandonment that we generally reside in, and rested in the grave alongside humanity and rose up to bring us new life in Him. To as many as receive Him (without mantras of belief or scriptural incantation), He gives power to become His children. Those who don't are perishing. We have the opportunity to care for others as God cares for us, or perish with those who don't.
The Bible, including the psalms, isn't a Polyannish euphoria, but a "cursed is the ground for your sakes" offer of rebirth and redemption.
Happy New Year!!!
Psalm 1:3 Starts off with a negative statement. I thought we were supposed to only look at the "Bright Side" only? And Psalm 109 must have been by King David because Tens of Thousands sounds like "An Army" against him, and he was a very "Mighty Warrior" for the Armies of Israel in his day.
A good observation, Pete. The Psalms are not all peace and loveliness and any reader quickly comes up against the groanings, and worse, the cursings. I am currently reading the chapter on "The Cursings" by C S Lewis in Reflections on the Psalms. It's a challenge and I am not sure that we will have nice pat answers. I was going to say that David lived in different times but I listened to the news this morning to hear of the Ukrainians and Russians, and the Israelis and Hamas blowing one another to bits, and I am not so sure that we have come very far.
All I can say is that we have to tackle this difficult problem. Maybe we have to change our view of what inspiration is.
"Watch this space!" I will have more to write later.
I was looking at that book by C.S. Lewis, too. Lewis says,
I'm glad God knows the heart and can sort it out, which psalms might be petty or malicious and which are righteous indignation and a longing for justice.
Thank you Esther and Paul for your insightful comments on today's lesson. When I read passages of scripture, as are in today's lesson, I am tempted to conclude that we do not fully understand God. Christianity is generally presented as turning the other check, forgiving one's enemies, walking away from fights, keeping silent when wrongfully accused, etc.
However, Paul's comments have given me the opportunity to look at scriptural passages from a different perspective.
Thank you so much for your thoughts and insights to my questions about why the cursing in some psalms. I’ll try to weave in highlights of what y’all have said that have stood out to me, as well as some of my own answers….
(1) Joe said that the psalmists were asking God to avenge, and not asking that they could avenge themselves. I think this is important because the faithful psalmists knew that only the one true God had power over events. For instance, when Balaam was asked to curse Israel, he said, “How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?” (Num. 23:8). And even though he tried to speak curses, as a prophet of God under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he was not allowed to.
I mentioned voodoo dolls earlier……many cultures believe that pronouncements of harm over others have power to come true, especially if combined with a ritual or sacrifice. But we know - and any God-fearing people know - that any power coming from such cursing activity by humans comes from Satan and his demons. So the psalmists were not placing curses on wicked people directly. They were sending up prayers asking God to enforce His wisdom and justice…..and maybe suggesting how God could do so.
(2) God renewed His covenant with the Israelites on Mt. Ebal in an impressive ceremony where the law was read and blessings were promised for obedience and curses promised for disobedience (see Deut. 27:15-26 to read the curses). Note the repeated led response, “...and all the people shall answer and say, Amen”. The Israelites were to agree that these curses were fair. King David would probably have often heard these blessings and curses and prayed and meditated upon them. His harsh prayers may be statements saying “do what You have said you will do, God”. (Personal vengences were outlawed Lev. 19:17-18; Deut. 32:35)
God has judgments as well as mercies. In our permissive culture, we seem more comfortable with the loving, white-haired Grampa God than we are with the strong, I-mean-what-I-say Dad. We might think the psalmists are cruel, they might think we are too sentimental. God does not take lightly to His Name being dragged through the mud, either directly or as attacks on His Children, and we can be indignant that how the wicked treat the innocent is evil against God Himself. So while personal indignations may not be righteous anger - as Jennifer said “human emotion rather than just sentiments of God” - outrage over evils against God’s people may also be sentiments shared by God. We see the martyrs slain for God’s Word crying out for God’s judgment of justice (Rev. 6:10-11; 18:6) and heaven’s response in Rev. 19:1-3.
(3) Jamie and Melvin looked to Jesus and the New Testament where Jesus remained loving in tramatic situations and advised us to “turn the other cheek”. (Jamie, I love how you connect the “rebirth” to Jesus’ peaceful character - we will be able to hold our tongue in peace too.) We are to leave personal grievances with God to repay (Rom. 12:14,17,19,20; Matt. 5:44). Paulette, I agree, don’t pretend with God and pray from that raw place. And Paul, that is a really neat thought that the Psalms expose what is in our own heart like mirrors…and show us not to repeat the past.
Psalm 69 is one of the Messianic psalms highlighting scenes of Jesus at the Cross, and it is also one of the cursing psalms, with a long section in Ps. 69:22-28 asking that the wicked be damned and receive no forgiveness or mercy. Jesus is recorded referring to this psalm twice (John 15:25; John 19:28).
So God allows curses into this world to show Jesus’s sacrificial love. Jesus became the curse for us (Gal. 3:13). Jesus took on God’s judgement for us. All curses for every sinning human on the planet come together in Jesus. All the horrible curses we read in the psalms, things that are the result of willfully turning away from God, Jesus took on Himself. It is only by God’s grace that the results of sin are not killing people already every moment. The 4 winds are being held back until the final Judgment Day (Rev. 7:1).
And to wrap up, when I look back at the curses in Psalm 109:6-15, I think of Pharoah in Egypt. Each plague was a curse that was to turn Pharaoh’s heart. Each curse in this psalm is like a deepening of someone into sin: his prayers become vain because they sorrow only for the results of sin, and God’s mercy is eventually cut off as the Holy Spirit is grieved away repeatedly. His days will be few, ie won’t live forever (Ps. 109:8). Again, these are statements of what will happen to those who choose against Jesus. They are not God’s wish for anyone, as He desires all to be saved (2 Pet. 3:9).
Thank you for staying with me through this long post....I'll finish with this quote...taken from an article that inspired many of my thoughts....
Thank you Esther. I like how you processed and articulated all these ideas and thought. It was helpful to me. The contrast in messages was actually just the very wide range of emotions that humans experience and the true depth of evil that resides as potential in us all. It also reveals on a bigger scale what God really did when He saved us and illustrates to me how He must suffer as He watches ones so loved perpetrating hurt and suffering on others that He holds so very dear ( the blood of Able crying out to God against His own grandchild comes to mind). It also reassures me in any doubts I might have in Gods ability to forgive…anything. I am truly privileged to have lived in the time and place that I have, sheltered from so much evil. I am a fan of CS Lewis and will have to get and read that book! 🙂
Parallelism, Imagery, Merism, Wordplays – might be the technical aspects of how Psalms are ‘formed’, though I am sure all agree that they cannot rise from an unredeemed heart and uninspired mind. Let us all praise Him with using our own heart's most simplest terms to express our thanksgiving and acknowledg His Power to set right whatever the enemy purposed to destroy.
Who or what did the ancients call upon to provide wisdom and understanding? Who do we ask for help in trying times? Who provides confidence or solace when the mind is confused or the heart is confounded by doubt? Now it is made known to all that it is our heavenly Father - God Supreme - after introducing Himself to mankind as the God of Israel!
Man always needed ‘someone’ or ‘something’ to help him deal with the uncertanties of life – especially success in life, death and the fear of dying. Someone or something to seek counsel from when things in life did not turn out in the petitioner’s favor. Or, as needs arose too complex to be addressed by themselves, they sought the counsel of the oracle.
Salomon states emphatically: ‘There is nothing new under the sun’ - everything man encounters was present from the Beginning! But how long did it take man to come to the full knowledge of the Truth that there is but one living Creator God – our God Supreme – Yehovah, who gave us His Son Jesus Christ, to become mankind’s Lord and Savior?
It took all of humanity’s history - millennia until His Spirit reached into the far corners of the world to set at peace those seeking righteousness. But the time will come when every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord – Phil.2:10-11. Songs of Praise and Psalms of contemplation speak the language of man’s heart reaching out to touch its Creator’s heart - knowing that we are created by Him.
It is strange to see the "Cursing" Psalms and ugly side of human nature that calls for revenge and vengeance. Yes, people have not changed throughout the centuries.
But even worse I have found in my heart these same ugly seeds that sprout from my pain, perceived lack of justice, and feeling threatened. I have often had to remind myself that if I am angry with my brother it is as murder (Matt 5:21-22)and that vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:19).
Thankfully we learn to submit all things to God and put our faith in Him. It is our faith in Him that is counted as righteousness. David's robe of righteousness was woven from his trust in God and reliance on Him instead of taking matters into his own hand. When we trust in God He can transform the dark areas of our hearts into love for even our enemies.
We see here faith and love being transformed into righteousness and love. Oh wrenched man that I am... praise God for the work of the Gospel that transforms me when I trust in Him and bring all things before His throne!
It is my prayer that the life I live be in faith and love so that all who look back upon it see that God directed my steps and turned it into a blessing (despite my struggles and failures) because I trusted in Him and not in myself.