Weekly Assignment
1. In the Bible, King James Version, read Psalms 1 – 10; Ps. 22, 33, 38, 50, 51, 72, 98, 102, 103, 110, 125, 126,130, 137, 143, 148,
2. In the King James Bible Commentary, Read The Psalms: Introduction, Outline, and Commentary on each of the Psalms you are to read.
3. In The Bible as Literature, read Chapter 2:
Introduction:
In this lecture we focus on the Book of Psalms, which contains 150 devotional poems, intended to be chanted or sung utilizing a stringed instrument as in Psalm 33: "Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings. Sing unto him a new song; play skillfully with a loud noise." (Psalm 33:2-3, KJV)
Psalms: The Poetry of Praise and Supplication
I. Who wrote the Psalms? Tradition attributes many of them to David, a skilled harp player, but note that the caption "A psalm of David" can mean either "a psalm composed by David" or "a psalm about or concerning David."
A. Several are considered post-exilic psalms dating back to the 6th century B.C., such as the 137th psalm, beginning:
By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. (Psalm 137:1, KJV)
B. Seven psalms in particular are attributed to David as he repents of his treacherous adultery with Bathsheba. These "Penitential Psalms" are
numbers 6,32,51,102,130, and 143. This is from Psalm 102:
Hear my prayer, 0 LORD, and let my cry come unto thee.
Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily.
For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an health. (Psalm 102:1-3, KJV)
and then down to verses 8 – 12:
Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me.
For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping.
Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down.
My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass.
But thou, 0 LORD, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. (Psalm 102: 8-12, KJV)
II. The two main genres in Psalms are psalms of praise and psalms of supplication.
A. Psalms of praise extol the Lord's greatness. Psalm 33, which was quoted in the introduction to this lecture, is one example of this. Another example is Psalm 148: Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights. (Psalm 148:1, KJV)
B. These typically open with an invitation to praise God, or to sing, or rejoice. Or there are those that express thanksgiving. For example,
Psalm 103:
Bless the LORD, 0 my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Bless the LORD, 0 my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;
Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies; (Psalm 103:1-4, KJV)
C. A psalm of supplication is defined as a "poetic cry of distress to the Lord in time of critical need" by Robert Alter, Literary Guide to the Bible.
D. The main genres of psalms of praise and psalms of supplication can be divided into subgenres. There are Psalms that have an individual character and those that have a communal character.
1. Individual plea for help in times of trouble. For example in Psalm 3:1:
Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me.
Or in Psalm 22:1,
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
2. The communal supplication. For example Psalm 137:1, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
3. Other genres include the monarchic psalms such as Psalms 2, 72, and 110. Psalm 45 is a poem on a royal marriage, urging the wife to take up her wifely duties:
Hearken, 0 daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;
So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is thy Lord; and worship thou him. (Psalm 45:10-11, KJV)
III. The structure of Hebrew poetry.
A. The main structural element of Hebrew poetry is parallelism: that is, the juxtaposition of two or more clauses that are related in meaning. The two most common relations between the clauses are "synonymy" and "antithesis." But a third can also be found, "synthetic" parallelism.
B. Synonymous parallelism is the most common type in Hebrew poetry. The two clauses are different in form but roughly identical in meaning. For example in Psalm 38: 0 Lord, rebuke me not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure.
Or from Psalm 148: Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.
C. Antithetic parallelism occurs when the two clauses show an opposition or contrast of ideas. For example, from Psalm 20:8: [The ungodly] are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. Or in Psalm 1 :6: For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
D. Synthetic parallelism occurs when the second clause completes the idea begun in the first clause (e.g., "as x, so y"). For example in Psalm 3:4:
I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.
1. There is also cause and effect synthetic parallelism. For example in Psalm 126:3:
The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad.
2. And finally, in synthetic parallelism there is analogous parallelism. For example in Psalm 125:2:
As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever.
IV. The Book of Psalms also abounds in metaphors: these typically attribute permanence and frailty to humankind. God is a "tower of strength," "a rock," "a shield," "a mountain refuge," "a light," "a shepherd." Man, on the other hand is compared to a "puff of wind," "chaff," "smoke," "wax," "thistle," "down," "dust," or "flowers of the field."
A. The Book of Psalms also abounds in personifications. For example in Psalm 98:8:
Let the rivers clap their hands: let the hills be joyful together.
Or, in Psalm 114:4,
The mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills like lambs.
B. With these notes on metaphor and personification, we turn to Psalm 22:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far
from helping me, and from the words of my roaring
0 my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in thenight season, and am not silent
But thou art holy, 0 thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.
Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. 5. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded.
But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.
All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him.
But thou art he that took me out of the womb: thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.
I was cast upon thee from the womb: thou art my God from my mother’s belly.
Be not far from me; for trouble is near; for there is none to help.
Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round.
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet.
I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me.
They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.
But be not thou far from me, a LORD: 0 my strength, haste thee to help me. (Psalm 22:1-19, KJV)
V. Evocation of Psalms in English literature. The Book of Psalms is most often invoked in English literature during moments of a character's penitence or spiritual awakening. Three brief examples are:
A. Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe shows a character who comes to repent of his past life. Crusoe learns to pray using Psalm 50:15:
And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.
In the end Crusoe celebrates not only his physical rescue but also his spiritual deliverance.
B. Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre (1848). Chapter 4 begins with a scene between young 10-year-old Jane and Mr. Brocklehurst, who is examining her about her Bible reading habits. We begin with Mr. Brocklehurst:
"Do you read your bible?" [Mr. B] "Sometimes." [the young Jane] "With pleasure? Are you fond of it?" "I like Revelations, and the book of
Daniel, and Genesis and Samuel, and a little bit of Exodus, and some parts of Kings and Chronicles, and Job and Jonah."
"And the Psalms? I hope you like them?"
"No, sir. . . . The Psalms are not interesting. "
Later, as an adult, when Jane's wedding day is ruined she finds comfort in Psalm 22, Be not far from me, for trouble is near.
There is none to help.
C. Oscar Wilde also drew penitential eloquence from the Psalms. Wilde turned to the Davidic Penetential Psalm 130, which begins,” Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. While in prison for gross indecency, Wilde wrote De Profundis (c. 1896), a title borrowed from the Latin version of Psalm 130. In it he writes, "The gods have given me almost everything. I had genius, a distinguished name, high social position, brilliancy, intellectual daring, but I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease. Tired of being on the heights I deliberately went to the depths in a search for new sensation I ended in horrible disgrace. There is only one thing for me now, absolute humility.”
D. The book of Psalms has become a central part of both synagogue worship and Christian liturgy. Perhaps the most famous of the psalms is Psalm 23. Look for the stylistic features we have discussed in this lecture:
The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.
(Psalm 23:1-6, KJV)
(This, by the way was the Psalm that Samuel Jackson recites to his victims in Quentin Tarantino’s film Pulp Fiction.
OSCAR WILDE
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), the son of an eminent Dublin surgeon, became the nineteenth century's greatest British dramatist, as well as a far-ranging man of letters who produced novels, poetry, and philosophical (but always humorous) essays. He attended Trinity College in Dublin, then Magdalen College in Oxford, where he founded the Aesthetic Movement-"art for art's sake." His first novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, catapulted his name into the public eye. He took the London stage by storm with his works. Wilde had two hits simultaneously in 1895 with An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. His final years were tragic, filled with legal battles, prison, bankruptcy, and broken health. "In this world there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it." - Oscar Wilde
CHRISTIAN LITURGY
Liturgy is the form of communal worship used by a congregation. The forms of Christian liturgy vary widely from denomination to denomination, from the spontaneity of meetings held by Friends (Quakers) to the elaborate rituals used by the Eastern Orthodox Church. The content of liturgies varies widely, too, and may include hymns by choirs or the whole congregation, psalms, other prayers, personal testimonies, blessings, and preaching. Readings from the Bible are an almost universal element of Christian liturgy. In general, one might say that Protestant congregations emphasize scripture and sermons, while Catholics and Orthodox Christians focus on the celebration of the Eucharist, an offering of bread and wine that becomes the body and blood of Christ. Christian liturgy is organized into a liturgical year, a cycle that commemorates events in the life of Christ as well as the entire history of the world. The liturgical year is broken into varying seasons that emphasize either repentance (Advent, Lent) or joyous celebration (Christmas, Easter, Pentecost), and its highpoint is Holy Week and Easter Sunday, which commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ.
MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE BIBLE
The most frequently mentioned instrument is the shofar, or horn. According to the Mishna (the first section of the Talmud, being a collection of early oral interpretations of the scriptures as compiled about C.E. 200), there were two types, one made from the horn of a ram and a second, larger one from that of an antelope. The horn originated, according to Genesis, with Jubal, and was used in a primarily military context (see, for example, Numbers 10:9, Nehemiah 4:20). It took on ceremonial uses that continue down to the present day in some synagogues, being sounded on the holy days of Rosh Hoshana and Yom Kippur.
The lyre is closely associated with David and the Psalms. Although similar, and sometimes interchangeably translated, the lyre and the harp were distinct instruments. The Jewish historian Flavius Josephus informs us that the lyre had ten strings and was played with a plectrum, while the harp had twelve strings stretched over a large resonant sound box and was played with the fingers.
The "khalil" (from Hebrew halil, to pierce or bore) was made from bone and similar to a flute or clarinet. This probably was fitted with a reed mouthpiece. The khalil is mentioned as having secular use rather than ceremonial. In addition, various percussion instruments are named, including the tambourine ("timbrel: "tabret"), cymbals, and the sistrum; the latter being of Egyptian origin and similar to a rattle or castanets.
DANIEL DEFOE'S ROBINSON CRUSOE
Daniel Defoe, English novelist, pamphleteer, and journalist, wrote Robinson Crusoe in 1719. Defoe's work is considered one of the first English novels. The character Robinson Crusoe is an English sailor marooned on a desert island for nearly three decades; here, he learns carpentry and farming from scratch, and also discovers, through his Bible, his proper relationship to God. The novel describes the life of an ordinary man struggling to survive in extraordinary circumstances. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe has inspired many subsequent novelists, as well as poets and philosophers; his tale has been retold in J.M. Coetzee's acclaimed novel Foe (1986) and in Elizabeth Bishop's poem "Crusoe in England" (1976). Castaway, with Tom Hanks, is another offshoot of this perennial favorite tale.
RITUALS OF ANCIENT JEWISH TEMPLE WORSHIP
The ancient Hebrews worshipped God at a number of mountaintop holy places, but after Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, it increasingly became the center of Jewish ritual worship. The chief rites consisted of grain or, more usually, animal sacrifice, officiated over by priests and offered to atone for sin, to render praise or thanks, or simply to establish union with God. Sacrifices were offered daily, with special liturgies conducted on holy days. Solomon's magnificent temple contained a number of courtyards and chambers that surrounded the main building, divided into two rooms. The larger, the Holy Place, was where priests offered sacrifice and incense. The smaller Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant; it was entered only by the high priest, and only on the Day of Atonement. Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.E. A second temple was built 70 years later and enlarged by King Herod. It was destroyed by the Romans in 70 C.E., at which time Jews discontinued the tradition of sacrificial atonement, replacing it with prayer and the performance of good works.
UNIT SUMMARY:
Composed between the time of David and the Jews' return from their Babylonian exile, compiled sometime later from the sixth to second century B.C., and subsequently invoked throughout Christian literature, the Psalms remain a powerful expression of the human needs both to petition God's assistance and to praise his perceived loving-kindness and mercy.
Suggested Reading
Bronte, Charlotte. Jane Eyre. New York: Penguin USA, 1999.
Defoe, Daniel. Robinson Crusoe. New York: Penguin USA, 2002.
Wilde, Oscar. De Profundis and Other Writings. New York: Penguin USA, 1977.
Other Books of Interest
Alter, Robert, and Frank Kermode, eds. The Literary Guide to the Bible. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987.
Lowth, Robert. Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews. Richard Gregory (trans.) (originally published in Latin, 1753).2 vols. London: J. Johnson, 1787.
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