Today’s culture is one where people like to do as little work as possible. Even when it comes to reading our own scripture, The Holy Words of God, a lot of people like to look up one verse and reference it to something without knowing what the rest of the passage says. Psalms 109 is no exception, it is one the more widely misused passages as of late. A popular verse from Psalms 109 is verse 8 which reads “Let his days be few; and let another take his office”, this is seen in reference to our current president, but what people fail to realize is what else David is actually praying. This paper is going to go through Psalms 109 and unpack it verse by verse to show the true meaning of what David was praying and to give us a new look at how to pray.
Psalm 109 begins with a superscription that we have seen several times before, “A Psalm of David” (Bible 873). David is believed to be the author of this Psalm. Psalms 109 though is not a usual Psalm by David; this particular Psalm is classified as an Imprecatory Psalm or a Cursing Psalm. The idea of Imprecatory Psalms is very unsettling for people and the church. This though goes with a misunderstanding of what is involved in actually making an imprecatory prayer.
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:
2: For the mouth of the wicked and the mouth o...
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...scue of David will result in praise by David. In verses 30 and 31 we see David’s vow of praise. David says that he will praise God for His deliverance in the midst of the all of his trials and enemies (Bible v. 30, 874). The basis for this praise is David’s experience of seeing God stand at his right hand to defend him. David knows that the accusers will finally be silenced when God reveals Himself as his helper and defender.
In conclusion, in order to have a proper and healthy relationship with God, one will need to occasionally pray an imprecatory pray. To pray a prayer of imprecation is not wrong, you just need to be sure that your heart is right with God. Finally one must be sure to always leave it in God’s hands and to never take revenge yourself. God wants us to take everything to him good and bad, we are his children and he will take care of us.
Loving God and hating his own mother kept David strong. David loved God, he prayed every night to God. He hated his mother so much he wanted to outthink her tricks, he did. He used different tactics like over exaggerating his pain when he got beat, putting a wet cloth over his mouth when his mother put cleaning products in a room with him. David kept counting time in his head in order to make the time pass faster.
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.
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...
The Christian hero David has stood as an inspiration for numerous artists coming from a diverse set of backgrounds, as his story influences theses individuals in wanting to honor him by using him as an idea for their works. The basic story is David was a shepherd boy who lived in Israel. God chose David to take care of the Jewish people. The Philistine army was fighting the Israelis. A giant, Goliath, was part of the Philistine army and the Israelis were terrified of him. David was a young boy – not part of the army – but who was nearby. He saw how Goliath taunted and mocked the Israeli soldiers and he got angry. David volunteered to fight the giant. Not being a soldier, David wasn’t familiar with armor or weapons, and refused both. He went with his simple tunic and slingshot. David felt that his people were in the right and God would protect him – justice would prevail in spite of the weapons that the Philistine giant had. With one shot of his sling, he got a stone to pierce Goliath’s head, the giant collapsed, and David then took Goliath’s sword and cut off the giant’s head (Italian Renaissance).
Psalm 89 of the Book of Psalms, advocates the message of consequentialism, foreground by man’s relationship with God, with direct lin...
In conclusion, Psalm 56 uses strong imagery and metaphor to gain sympathy from both his God, who he is begging toward, and the reader who can relate to his plight and misery. Through similar stanzas of slightly varied yet repeated text, the author emphasizes his point and ties back to the main theme of anything and anyone being conquerable with His God on their
This phrase is later repeated three more times, in Judges 18:1, 19:1, and 21:25. Since the phrase is repeated several times, it emphasizes the need for a king to govern the people and lead them in better ways. The Davidic covenant also exemplifies this positive view, since God showed favor on David and his descendants. God said that King David’s descendants are God’s sons, and that the LORD will establish a “royal throne forever”, as in a line of kings until the end of time (2 Sam. 7:13). God also promises to give David “rest from all your enemies” (2 Sam. 7:11) and a place for his people to live (2 Sam. 7:10). Just like Abraham, King David is promised descendants, blessings, and land. Hezekiah, another good king of Judah, was also viewed favorably. In the LORD’s sight, Hezekiah did what was right, just like David (2 Kgs 18:3). 2 Kings 18: 5 also states that “and neither before nor after [Hezekiah] was there anyone like him among all the kings of Judah.” Unlike Solomon, Hezekiah observed the commandments and thus, “the LORD was with him, and he succeeded in all he set out to do” (2 Kgs 18:7). Therefore, the Deuteronomistic History looks favorably upon kings, since the need for a king is stated multiple times in Judges, and kings like David and Hezekiah are looked upon with favor by God and the people
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...
And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?
Psalm 82, known as A Plea for Justice, or A Psalm of Asaph within its first few lines gives credence to this idea of acknowledgment of other gods, “God has taken his place in the divine council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment…” Within these lines it can be seen that the ancient Israelites see their god as one of many, they see their god as sitting within a council. (NRSTV Psalm 82:1) However, while within the first line it does acknowledge that the ancient Israelites acknowledged the existence of other gods, later on, their specific god is seen as being angered by the other gods seeing them as unjust. (Patrick d miller psalms) “How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the orphan;
The main point that I would choose to speak from Psalm 119 is that the Word of God is a guide for us as we live our lives. In verse 105 the psalmist writes "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." Once I saw that verse and than read the first chapter from DeYoung's book, I tried thinking of times when I responded to it by saying "Yes!, Yes!, Yes!" as DeYoung writes about on page fifteen, and why I responded that way. Or why I respond to the Word in the other two ways that DeYoung mentions. As DeYoung describes the Word of God in his book I find it amazing that I struggle to find time to read and be amazed by it. DeYoung writes that he wants us to start believing that the Bible is perfect, understandable, the most important
Phrases such as “our bones have been scattered at the mouth of Sheol” and “my heart is appalled within me” show a similar theme to Psalm 142. Psalm 142 is given the heading “Maskil of David, when he was in the cave. A Prayer.” Some suggest that this refers to the cave at in 1 Samuel 24. At the time in 1 Samuel 24, David is being relentlessly pursued by Saul. He is physically endangered, as well as spiritually. Had he not been so weak of faith prior to this, David may not have needed to say a prayer of lament. David seeks shelter in a cave and awaits the Lord’s
There is no good reason why Absalom should try to revolt against David. Instead of becoming a great king, he ends up a dead fool. Even with the instance with Bathsheba, and inability to control his children (Amnor raping Temar), David is such an iconic king because all the reasons that would doubt his leadership makes him appear even greater than before he commits the sins. The Bible rather shows that David improves in righteousness when he cries and admits that he does wrong to God and begs for forgiveness. David overseeing Temar's rape is depicted to show how David has been scarred for committing adultery. The more issues that reveal David's shortcomings, they become more opportunities for David to better himself. By acknowledging what he has done wrong, David disproves any reason why the revolt against him would have any benefits for the kingdom.
Daniel was a man who had his priorities in order and his prayer life followed his theology. But what exactly was Daniel’s view of God and how did his prayers reflect that view – what was the theology of Daniel’s prayers? I believe the book of Daniel reveals seven main principles of theology concerning prayer in general. Beyond that, I believe Daniel’s prayer in chapter nine provides a model of intercessory prayer that we all can learn from. Despite the fact that Daniel does not reveal an abundance of information concerning himself or his past, one can glean a great deal concerning his character upon closer examination of the biblical text.
Interestingly, this is represented when he is given an opportunity to show some type of remorse, by way of contrition of his actions, as written by Coetzee “ ‘A spirit of repentance’ “ (58). However, David cannot bring himself to do that. It is as if he is incapable of viewing his errors in this light and suggests a subtle arrogance that he doesn’t believe he has done wrong. It’s not just that he doesn’t appear able to face up to his responsibilities, but rather that he may well be emotionally incapable of doing so. Institutions, such as Apartheid in South Africa, tend to disable an individual’s sense of morality in order to satisfy one’s