Dignoscentia

I can’t help thinking as I read this psalm that the author is praying in vain. It’s like crying for spilled milk. The deed is done, you can’t bring back the old times. Focus on the future, and work in the present with a view of that future.
You may wonder why I’m so cruel [...]

The message of this psalm is very nicely summed up in verses 27-28: “Truly, those who abandon You will perish; You destroy those who adulterously desert you, whereas my happiness is to be near God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, to tell of all your works.” That’s not to say you shouldn’t [...]

This psalm is a marked improvement on the prayer in psalm 70. It’s interesting to find pretty much the same phrases in verse 13 of this psalm as in verses 2 and 3 of psalm 70. Having encountered them in other psalms, I can venture to say they’re probably formulaic.
It appears that this psalm is [...]

This short psalm records a self-professed “poor and needy” man’s cry to God. From the looks of it, he appears to be in a serious situation, where others may demand his life. And yet others mock him for his “misfortunes”. It’s interesting how many of the psalms, including this one, demand retribution for the behavior [...]

This psalm is rightly called a “harvest song”. It is a prayer of thanks, that once again calls our attention to the complete dependence of Israel’s agrarian society and economy upon God. More on this in my comments on Psalm 65. But here, in Psalm 67, we see the results of those pre-harvest prayers: “The [...]

This hymn of thanksgiving is a pleasant and insightful demonstration of the dependence of the Israelites on God. Let’s enumerate the ways in which they counted on God:

Fulfillment of vows (verse 1)
Answers to prayers (verse 2)
Judgment (verse 3)
Forgiveness of sins (verse 3)
Blessings and “good things” (verse 4)
Justice (verse 5)
Hope (verse 5)
Control of nature (verses 6 [...]

God’s goodness and constancy is made all the more relevant and poignant in contrast with the evil present in the hearts of men, and the dirty deeds they commit. This psalm is full of profound advice, and great quotable lines. I believe there’s even a hymn inspired by verses 1 and 2.
How majestic they are! [...]