Snoopy on the Psalms

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paradox3 said:
I have never been able to understand why God wouldn't want the people to grasp the nature of good and evil.
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AND, if they don't know the difference between good and evil, how were they to know that disobeying Godde's orders was bad?

I mean, I tell the dog yes and no; she doesn't 'generally' get it. She knows I'm mad, she may even know what I'm mad about, but she doesn't judge her own instincts/behaviour as 'bad'.
 
Psalm 11

The theme continues. The psalmist takes shelter in the Lord while the wicked surround him. He despairs but reminds himself of God's presence.

The Lord is watching and his eyes examine all people. Again, we read that the morally upright will experience God's favor. Godly deeds will be rewarded.

The psalmist still longs for divine justice. May burning coals and brimstone be rained down upon the wicked!
 
Who is an enemy today as described in several of these Psalms? I think of countries at war and people living under various oppressive regimes.

Who are the wicked of today? My mind is going to perpetrators of violent crime and the like. What about those who rent out substandard housing? Companies guilty of price gouging?

Is Psalm 11 one that you could pray? I wonder how many times I have recited these Psalms responsively in church and not really taken in the words?
 
Nice succinct piece. First give the problem: the wicked oppressing the righteous. Then the solution: The Lord's support for the righteous.

paradox3 said:
Who are the wicked of today? My mind is going to perpetrators of violent crime and the like. What about those who rent out substandard housing? Companies guilty of price gouging?
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I think a lot of it is contextual to the reader. I mean, a Ukrainian might think of Putin and his cronies. A Palestinian might think of Netanyahu and an Israeli might think of Hamas. Which, of course, leads to the problem of how The Lord knows who to support if there is wickedness everywhere. So many are both oppressed and oppressor depending on the angle you look from.

So it becomes personal. Who are the wicked in your life? Who are hurting you? The bullies who went after me in school, for instance, are quite personal to me.

Or is it not really the "wicked" but "wickedness" that The Lord opposes? Is this readable as a call to be among those righteous who are under The Lord's protection?
 
The situation continues for the next few Psalms. When we get to Psalm 15, there will be a nice description of righteous behaviour.

The one who lives like this will never be shaken. (15: 5)
 
paradox3 said:
Who are the wicked of today?
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The Hebrew word for wicked in this Psalm describes the wicked ---it would apply today as well in my view ---

Strong's Concordance
rasha: wicked, criminal
evil man , evil men , guilty , offender , ungodly
guilty of sin, against either God or man, wicked: ; Psalm 11:5

paradox3 said:
Who is an enemy today as described in several of these Psalms? I think of countries at war and people living under various oppressive regimes.
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I think the enemy today can be a person or persons that is coming after us personally ---in an aggressive or harassing manner ----either physically or verbally ----

In this Psalm David seems like he is getting advice to flee in fear and go to your safety ----but David says why are you telling me to flee when I trust God to protect me ----David knows that God has been Faithful in protecting him in previous situations and his Trust is strong in the Lord ----

When people do not know God and trust Him to be their refuge they Run in fear ----trying to protect themselves from harm

When Godly people face bad circumstances and situations in their midst --they can Pray and have confidence that God will protect them in these times -----

It is so freeing when one can Trust that God will do as He says in His word for His Children who Agape Him -----Fear is no longer in charge ---

God tests the righteous and the wicked this Psalm says ===

The testing of the Righteous is that their Faith should overcome Fear as we Trust in God to be incontrol and provide us a way out to be victorious in the end ---

1 Corinthians 10 :13

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The testing of the wicked in my view -------is so they might come to their senses and see that their Fear brings them to ruins both physically and mentally ----so they should choose wisely and choose Faith over Fear ----


In these last 2 verses we witness what will Come to both Groups ---the wicked and the righteous in their end ---we choose where we want to reside ----

AMP B

Upon the wicked (godless) He will rain coals of fire;
Fire and [a]brimstone and a dreadful scorching wind will be the portion of their cup [of doom].
7
For the Lord is [absolutely] righteous, He loves righteousness (virtue, morality, justice);
The upright shall see His face.
 
@unsafe speaks from a position of steadfast faith. I am not personally convinced that we will ever see the divine justice longed for in these Psalms.

Not in this life anyways. I have faith in an afterlife. But I don't think we can be certain about what will happen on the other side of death. We can hold to hope, yes.

I am 100% on board with Harold Kushner in his book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
 
As I think I have commented in another thread, an afterlife does not satisfy the call for justice in my mind. If we have to wait until we and our oppressors die for justice to happen, there is ultimately no justice.
 
Psalms 12, 13 and 14 continue to lament the pervasiveness of evil but the psalmist trusts in the shelter offered by God. He longs for the deliverance of Israel.

The cycle of despair and hope carries on. Am I the only one growing weary of this? The poetic language varies but the same points are being made over and over again.

Tomorrow I will put up Psalm 15 which is quite different and then take a break, possibly for the summer. I am not sure yet.
 
paradox3 said:
Only Absalom has been named so far. I read somewhere that the Psalms make more sense if you understand early OT history.

So I don't know. Maybe @unsafe or @Mystic can fill us in.

Good question!
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David's reign was a period of great expansion as Israel was attached by her enemies: e. g.

David wins against his enemies – EasyEnglish Bible (1 Chronicles 18)

1 Chronicles 18:1-13 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY) – David wins against his enemies – 1 After some time, David attacked the Philistines and he won against them. He took Gath city and the villages around it from the Philistines …
www.easyenglish.bible www.easyenglish.bible
 
Mystic said:
David's reign was a period of great expansion as Israel was attached by her enemies: e. g.

David wins against his enemies – EasyEnglish Bible (1 Chronicles 18)

1 Chronicles 18:1-13 EasyEnglish Bible (EASY) – David wins against his enemies – 1 After some time, David attacked the Philistines and he won against them. He took Gath city and the villages around it from the Philistines …
www.easyenglish.bible www.easyenglish.bible
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paradox3 said:
Goliath, Saul, Absalom and Joab is Google's answer to "Who were David's enemies?"
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Nope, please read the quoted post.

Our Israeli guide took us to the Valley of Elah, the traditional site of the creek from which David took "5 smooth stones" for his slingshot to challenge Goliath. I took one of the stones in the creek bed home and used it in a children's sermon on the story. The kids were awestruck when I told them where I got the stone, pleading, "Can I hold it?" Quite an amusing scene.:) The creek was next to a steep cliff. An opening in the forest led to Bethlehem from which young David brought food for his brothers in King Saul's army.
 
paradox3 said:
Goliath, Saul, Absalom and Joab is Google's answer to "Who were David's enemies?"
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The Amelikites are described in the Hebrew bible as the enemy of Israel. Amelek was their leader and is a son of Eliphez,who was a son of Esau, and his concubine Timnia(a Horite princess) who wanted to convert to Judaism but was rejected by Abraham, Issac and Joseph. To punish the patriarchs she birthed Amelek whose descendents would cause Israel much distress.
They would become a recurrent enemy of Israel throughout the Hebrew Bible.
From Genesis, to Moses and Saul's time and David's time who also had to defeat them.
In Psalm 83, Amalek joins other historic enemies to annihilate Israel but are stopped by God.
Some historian's believe this occurred in the 9th and 7th century BC.
There are 3 commandments in the Torah that refer to Amalek...one negative and two positive. They are:
1.)Do not Forget (neg)
2.)You shall blot out the memory of Amelek (pos.)
3.)Remember what Amelek did to you?(pos.)

Today Netanyahou sees Hamas as the Amalakites and tells Kenya they don't know history when they suggest he is committing genocide. This would be a literal rabbinic meaning while some rabbis suggest it's not literal. Only a king can decide.
Yassar Arafat was referred to as the "Amalek of our day" by 200 rabbis.
 
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paradox3 said:
The cycle of despair and hope carries on. Am I the only one growing weary of this? The poetic language varies but the same points are being made over and over again.
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The Book of Psalms is repetitive and does go over the same points but there is a reason for this ---

David was being pursued ---people wanted to kill him so he kept praying and asking for God to protect him and give him refuge ---from his enemies --if you don't pray at every turn and ask for help God can't help you


The Book of Psalms is a prayer book ----for God's people ---it teaches we are to always pray and ask God for help in times of despair ---we can bring our troubles to God in Prayer and He is faithful to help us when we Love and Trust in Him ---

The Psalms teach the importance of praying and and the power of giving God Praise and Thanks for being there for us --protecting us and looking after our needs daily and in our troubled times --- helping us to obtain victory in bad situations ---

The Psalms teach us to acknowledge our pain and suffering in Prayer and God is faithful to comfort us ---

The Psalms offer us ways to rejoice in our worship of God and to exalt God for the Blessings He gives us ----

So the Psalms are going to be repetitious in their content ---but for the Believer the Psalms convey a very uplifting and inspirational message --- of Hope --Joy --Faith ---Trust ---Strength and Encouragement --

1 Thessalonians 5

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Psalm 15 opens with a question. Who may be a guest in the Lord's home and live on the holy hill? (v. 1)

The answer? Whoever lives a shameless life, does what's right and speaks honestly. (v. 2)

This means: No slander, harm or insults.
Honoring God's followers and despising reprobates
Making firm commitments and keeping promises
Lending money without interest
Not taking bribes to testify against the innocent

The one who lives like this will never be shaken. (v. 5)
 
I wonder why David chose to highlight these particular points? Is Psalm 15 a moral code for living in community with other godly people?

Reprobates are to be despised. The loathsome are to be loathed, another version of the bible says. Who exactly would these ones be?
 
paradox3 said:
Who may be a guest in the Lord's home and live on the holy hill?
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This is a good question ? many believe they can get there on their own power -but can they ?

my view
Many believe all they have to be is a good person to live on God's holy hill ---But is this enough ?---How Good do you have to be ? ------Jesus said ----no one is Good ----

Many believe that God would never send anyone to be away from Him -----but is this false hope on their part ?

Many believe that as long as they love their neighbour and go to church on Sunday ---pray every few days ---- serve in the soup kitchens and sing in the Quire that they will live on the Holy hill -----but are these works enough for God to say your righteous and deserve to live on His Holy hill ?---

Many believe that God is Love and He would never turn anyone away from living on His Holy Hill ----but is this a realistic assumption on our part ? believing that God never uses
punishment or discipline on people who disobey Him ----in this life or the next life ----

This Psalm lays out the God's will for us to live on God's Holy hill ----I wonder how many of us can really say we have mastered the list on our own and don't need God's help to live on His Holy hill ----

Here is the thing Folks ---if you fail in one of the list then you failed them all as far as God is concerned ----and we don't know when our end will come ---we could leave our house in the morning and never return ---so those who think they are secure in their end better make sure they have mastered on your own power all that is listed here without failure to live on the Holy Hill ---

from the AMP B

He who walks with integrity and strength of character, and works righteousness,
And speaks and holds truth in his heart.
3
He does not slander with his tongue,
Nor does evil to his neighbor,
Nor takes up a reproach against his friend;
4
In his eyes an evil person is despised,
But he honors those who fear the Lord [and obediently worship Him with awe-inspired reverence and submissive wonder].
He keeps his word even to his own disadvantage and does not change it [for his own benefit];
5
He does not put out his money at interest [to a fellow Israelite],
And does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things will never be shaken.

This word shaken here in this scripture means

Strong's Concordance
mot: to totter, shake, slip

deviate from right course; A primitive root; to waver; by implication, to slip, shake, fall be out of course, be fallen in decay

often of righteous, as secure, Psalm 15:5;


Not one of us knows the day or hour we will --as the scripture says ---fall asleep and find ourselves somewhere else ----
 
Interesting thing to know about Psalm 14. It is almost identical to Psalm 53. Here is a link to our previous conversation about Psalm 53.

Thanks @Mendalla for that BPoTW thread. It's worth revisiting and relevant to this discussion.

Fools say there is no God - Psalm 53

Well, that a statement that might provoke a debate in this day and age, eh. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2053&version=NRSVUE But what does it really mean in historical context. A recent podcast on Gone Medieval discussing atheism in the medieval world made the point that...
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