Chapter: Book 1

Laments

More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.

Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others

38

Domine, ne in furore

¹ Rebuke me not, O Lord, in your anger, *

neither chasten me in your weighty displeasure.

² For your arrows stick fast in me, *

and your hand presses me hard.

³ There is no health in my flesh, because of your displeasure; *

neither is there any rest in my bones, by reason of my sin.

⁴ For my iniquities have gone over my head *

and are like a heavy burden, too much for me to bear.

⁵ My wounds stink and fester, *

by reason of my foolishness.

⁶ I am brought into such great trouble and misery *

that I go about mourning all the day long.

⁷ For my loins are filled with burning, *

and there is no wholeness in my body.

⁸ I am feeble and sorely smitten; *

I have roared because of the tumult of my heart.

⁹ Lord, you know all my desire, *

and my groaning is not hidden from you.

¹⁰ My heart is panting, my strength has failed me, *

and the sight of my eyes is gone from me.

¹¹ My friends and my neighbors turn away from my trouble, *

and my kinsmen stand afar off.

¹² Those also who seek after my life lay snares for me, *

and those who go about to do me evil talk of wickedness and imagine deceit all the day long.

¹³ As for me, I am like the deaf who do not hear, *

and as one who is mute, who does not open his mouth.

¹⁴ I have become like a man who hears not, *

and in whose mouth are no reproofs.

¹⁵ For in you, O Lord, have I put my trust; *

you shall answer for me, O Lord my God.

¹⁶ I have said, “Let not my enemies triumph over me,” *

for when my foot slipped, they rejoiced greatly over me.

¹⁷ Truly, I am about to fall, *

and my pain is ever with me.

¹⁸ For I will confess my wickedness, *

and be sorry for my sin.

¹⁹ But my enemies live, and are mighty, *

and those who hate me wrongfully are many in number.

²⁰ Those also who repay evil for good are against me, *

because I follow that which is good.

²¹ Forsake me not, O Lord my God; *

O be not far from me.

²² Make haste to help me, *

O Lord God of my salvation.

Wisdom Psalms

Some Psalms reflect the wisdom movement in Israel which taught that the foundation of wisdom is faith in God and reverence for him. Wisdom psalms are meditations on the good life, the blessings of living the wise way of life of dependence on God as opposed to the way destruction which the foolish live who rely on themselves to work out their own destiny.

Examples: Psalms 37, 49, 73

37

Noli æmulari

¹ Fret not yourself because of the ungodly, *

neither be envious of those who are evildoers.

² For they shall soon be dried up like the grass, *

and be withered even as the green herb.

³ Put your trust in the Lord, and do good; *

dwell in the land, and surely you shall be fed.

⁴ Delight yourself in the Lord, *

and he shall give you your heart’s desire.

⁵ Commit your way unto the Lord and put your trust in him, *

and he shall bring it to pass.

⁶ He shall make your righteousness as clear as the light *

and your just dealing as the noonday.

⁷ Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; *

do not grieve yourself over the one whose way prospers, over the one who carries out evil counsels.

⁸ Refrain from wrath, and let go of anger; *

fret not yourself, lest you be moved to do evil.

⁹ For evildoers shall be rooted out, *

but those who wait patiently for the Lord, they shall inherit the land.

¹⁰Yet a little while, and the ungodly shall be clean gone; *

you shall look for their place, and they shall not be there.

¹¹But the meek-spirited shall possess the land *

and shall be refreshed with an abundance of peace.

¹²The ungodly plot against the just *

and gnash at them with their teeth.

¹³ The Lord shall laugh at them in scorn, *

for he sees that their day is coming.

¹⁴The ungodly have drawn out the sword and have bent their bow *

to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay those who walk aright.

¹⁵Their sword shall go through their own heart, *

and their bow shall be broken.

¹⁶The little that the righteous has *

is better than great riches of the ungodly.

¹⁷For the arms of the ungodly shall be broken, *

but the Lord upholds the righteous.

¹⁸The Lord knows the days of the godly, *

and their inheritance shall endure for ever.

¹⁹They shall not be confounded in perilous times, *

and in the days of famine they shall have enough.

²⁰As for the ungodly, they shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be consumed as in a fiery furnace; *

even as smoke shall they vanish away.

²¹The ungodly borrow and do not repay, *

but the righteous are merciful and generous.

²²Those who are blessed by God shall possess the land, *

but those who are cursed by him shall be rooted out.

²³The Lord orders a man’s steps; *

he makes his footsteps sure and preserves him on his path.

²⁴ Though he fall, he shall not be cast down, *

for the Lord upholds him with his hand.

²⁵I have been young, and now I am old, *

yet I never saw the righteous forsaken, nor his children begging bread.

²⁶The righteous is ever merciful in lending, *

and his seed shall be blessed.

²⁷Flee from evil, and do that which is good, *

and dwell in the land for ever.

²⁸For the Lord loves that which is right; *

he forsakes not those who are godly, and they are preserved for ever.

²⁹The unrighteous shall be punished; *

as for the seed of the ungodly, it shall be rooted out.

³⁰The righteous shall inherit the land *

and dwell therein for ever.

³¹The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, *

and his tongue talks of judgment.

³²The law of his God is in his heart, *

and his footsteps shall not falter.

³³The ungodly lie in wait for the righteous *

and seek occasion to slay him.

³⁴The Lord will not leave him in their hand, *

nor allow him to be condemned when he is judged.

³⁵Hope in the Lord, and keep his way, and he shall exalt you so that you shall possess the land; *

when the ungodly perish, you shall see it.

³⁶I myself have seen the ungodly in great power, *

and flourishing like a tree in full leaf.

³⁷I went by, and behold, they were gone; *

I sought them, but their place could nowhere be found.

³⁸ Mark the blameless, and take heed of the upright, *

for there is a future for the peaceable.

³⁹As for the transgressors, they shall perish together, *

and the end of the ungodly is that they shall be rooted out at the last.

⁴⁰But the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord, *

who is also their strength in the time of trouble.

⁴¹And the Lord shall stand by them and save them; *

he shall deliver them from the ungodly and shall save them, because they put their trust in him.

Wisdom Psalms

Some Psalms reflect the wisdom movement in Israel which taught that the foundation of wisdom is faith in God and reverence for him. Wisdom psalms are meditations on the good life, the blessings of living the wise way of life of dependence on God as opposed to the way destruction which the foolish live who rely on themselves to work out their own destiny.

Examples: Psalms 37, 49, 73

Hymns

Hymns extol the glory and greatness of God as it is revealed in nature and history, and particularly in Israels’s history. Hymns praise God in general terms for his power and faithfulness as creator of the cosmos, ruler of history, and creator/redeemer of Israel to bring blessing to all the world. Israel’s hymns stress God’s active involvement in the life story of Israel. Hymns typically demonstrate motives for worshipping and praising God. A clear example is Psalm 117, the shortest psalm, just two verses:

¹ O praise the Lord, all you nations; *

praise him, all you peoples.

² For (= Hebrew ki) great is his loving-kindness towards us, *

and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever.

Praise the Lord.

Hymns were used for exuberant worship in the temple and the synagogue. The people of God before the Incarnation invite us to celebrate and praise with them in hope of the kingdom of God and his Messiah. Hymns, like all psalms, show Christians how to praise God who has acted in creation, in revelation, and in redemption, and who is acting decisively in establishing his kingdom on earth. They do not ask anything; they simply rejoice in God’s presence.

Examples: Psalms 8, 19:1-6, 33, 66:1-12, 100, 103, 104, 145-150, and others

Laments

More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.

Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others

36

Dixit injustus

¹ My heart shows me the wickedness of the ungodly; *

there is no fear of God before his eyes.

² For he flatters himself in his own sight, *

until his abominable sin is found out.

³ The words of his mouth are unrighteous and full of deceit; *

he has left off behaving wisely and doing good.

⁴ He imagines mischief upon his bed, and has set himself in no good way; *

neither does he abhor anything that is evil.

⁵ Your mercy, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, *

and your faithfulness to the clouds.

⁶ Your righteousness stands like the strong mountains; your judgments are like the great deep; *

you, Lord, shall save both man and beast.

⁷ How excellent is your mercy, O God! *

The children of men shall take refuge under the shadow of your wings.

⁸ They shall be satisfied with the plenteousness of your house, *

and you shall give them drink from your pleasures as out of a river.

⁹ For with you is the well of life, *

and in your light shall we see light.

¹⁰O continue your loving-kindness to those who know you, *

and your righteousness to those who are true of heart.

¹¹O let not the foot of the proud come against me, *

and let not the hand of the ungodly cast me down.

¹² There have they fallen, all those who work wickedness; *

they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.

Laments

More than 1/3 of the Psalms fall into the category of complaints to God in situations of limitation or threat. These laments were a form of prayer and praise based on the conviction that God is concerned about people and answers the human cry in ways surpassing human expectation or understanding. Israel’s laments out of distress were a way of praising God even when he seemed absent. The faith of the psalmists is founded on the good news that God intervenes in desperate situations to help those who are distressed. The psalmists share a deep confidence that God is compassionate, concerned, hearing his people and involved with them; God is faithful and trustworthy. A lament is an outcry to God from a responsive heart. Laments came from individuals or from the community.

Examples: Psalms 3-5, 22, 27:7-14, 42, 51, 69, 90, 130, 137 and many others

35

Judica, Domine

¹ Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me, *

and fight against those who fight against me.

² Take up the shield and buckler, *

and stand up to help me.

³ Bring forth the spear and bar the way against those who pursue me; *

say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”

⁴ Let them be confounded and put to shame who seek after my life; *

let them be turned back and brought to confusion who imagine evil against me.

⁵ Let them be as the chaff before the wind, *

and let the angel of the Lord scatter them.

⁶ Let their way be dark and slippery, *

and let the angel of the Lord pursue them.

⁷ For they have secretly laid their net to destroy me without a cause; *

indeed, without a cause have they made a pit to take away my life.

⁸ Let sudden destruction come upon them unawares, and the net, which they have laid secretly, catch themselves, *

that they may fall into their own trouble.

⁹ Then shall my soul be joyful in the Lord; *

I shall rejoice in his salvation.

¹⁰ All my bones shall say, “Lord, who is like you? You deliver the poor from those who are too strong for them; *

indeed, the poor and those who are in misery from those who rob them.”

¹¹ Malicious witnesses rise up; *

they charge me with matters I know nothing about.

¹² They repay me evil for good, *

to the great sorrow of my soul.

¹³ Nevertheless, when they were sick, I put on sackcloth and humbled myself with fasting; *

I prayed with my whole heart, as if it had been my friend or my brother.

¹⁴ I behaved myself as one who mourns for his mother; *

I was bowed down with heaviness of heart.

¹⁵ But in my adversity, they rejoiced and gathered themselves together; *

indeed, those who struck me came together against me, and I had no rest; they tore at me, and would not cease.

¹⁶ When I stumbled they mocked me exceedingly, *

and gnashed at me with their teeth.

¹⁷ Lord, how long will you look on this? *

O deliver me from the calamities they bring upon me, and my life from the lions.

¹⁸ So will I give you thanks in the great congregation; *

I will praise you among many people.

¹⁹ O let not those who are my enemies triumph over me deceitfully; *

neither let them wink with their eyes, those who hate me without a cause.

²⁰ For their talking is not for peace, *

but they imagine deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.

²¹ They open their mouths at me, and say, *

“Aha! Aha! We saw it with our own eyes!”

²² This you have seen, O Lord. *

Hold not your tongue then; be not far from me, O Lord.

²³ Awake, and stand up to judge my case; *

avenge my cause, my God and my Lord.

²⁴ Judge me, O Lord my God, according to your righteousness, *

and let them not triumph over me.

²⁵ Let them not say in their hearts, “Aha! We have what we want!” *

Neither let them say, “We have devoured him.”

²⁶ Let them be put to confusion and shame who rejoice at my trouble; *

let them be clothed with shame and dishonor who boast against me.

²⁷ Let them be glad and rejoice who favor my righteous cause; *

indeed, let them say always, “Great is the Lord, who takes pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.”

²⁸ And as for my tongue, it shall be talking of your righteousness *

and of your praise all the day long.