Psalms

Despite the minor flaws in the Psalms, I enjoyed reading them so far because they reveal cultural and spiritual aspects of the historic time period in which they were written. One of the aspects that I disliked was their repetitiveness. Most of the Psalms convey the same meanings but in slightly different ways. A lot of them involve supplications; the character or narrator begs for forgiveness because of a sin they committed. Perhaps the difference among these types of Psalms is the historical context because they many of them are about different events. I was also puzzled after reading the first few because I’m not familiar with the Psalms and I was expecting them to be more positive. I was surprised that a lot of them instead referred to the wrath and fury of God toward humans. I expected them to place more emphasis on praising or glorifying God’s greatness and benevolence than on fearing him. I also found surprising that the people in the Psalms actually wish other people harm and even death; they pray to God that he eliminate them because they sinned. But then when they themselves sin, they beg for forgiveness and mercy, which I found somewhat ironic.

On the other hand, I like the Psalms because they reveal some of the cultural and spiritual characteristics of the time period in which the Psalms were written. A lot of them talk about the events taking place like warfare, plagues, and prosperity. This indicates that perhaps they lived during turbulent times. Perhaps that turbulence motivated other people to find solace in God. Also, because some of the Psalms refer to a lead person or a group, they imply that they were possibly intended for a group to setting so that they could sing or read them together. Therefore, congregations were part of their culture.

In the Psalms, you can easily see signs of spirituality. The people who wrote or read the Psalms obviously had some kind of close relationship with God. They turn to him for guidance and help in times of need. They also feel compelled to respond to him for their wrongdoings; tbey consider him so important they ask him for forgiveness. In addition, they portray notable figures from Christian history in such a way that they seem like role models. For example, David sinned and repented. His action and response could have influenced people to apply that to their spiritual lives. It seems that people then had a strong relationship with God because they placed so much trust in him because they continued obeying and respecting him even in during adversities. They did not reproach him for their plight. They Psalms indicate that to them it was important to maintain the relationship with God. This aspect makes reading the Psalms more interesting. They are not just poems, but historical events that reveal the culture and spirituality of that era.