To the chief Musician. A Maskil 1 Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Selah 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly pray to you while you may be found; surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach him.
Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you. I am bowed down and brought very low; all day long I go about mourning. My back is filled with searing pain; there is no health in my body. For the leader. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
The prayer of one afflicted and wasting away whose anguish is poured out before the Lord. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy. A Prayer of David, when he was in the cave. A Maskil. Do not hide your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit. Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Be silent and stop your striving, and you will see that I am God! I am the God above all the nations, and I will be exalted throughout the whole earth! Hold to your heart every word He has spoken! This is the very day of the Lord that brings gladness and joy, filling our hearts with glee! I long to drink of You, O God, drinking deeply from the streams of pleasure flowing from Your presence. My longings overwhelm me for more of You! Lord, so many times I fail; I fall into disgrace, but when I trust in You I have a strong and glorious presence protecting and anointing me.
This forever-song I sing of the gentle love of God overwhelming me! Young and old alike will hear about Your Faithful, steadfast love, never failing! Enjoy these verses? Check out these thought-provoking Bible passages about worship —many of which are from Psalms!
Let us know what you thought of these top Psalms of the Bible. Which ones were your favorite? Did we leave out your favorite top Psalm of the Bible? When the second or third segment of a poetic line repeats, echoes or overlaps the content of the preceding segment, it usually intensifies or more sharply focuses the thought or its expression. They can serve, however, as rough distinctions that will assist the reader.
In the NIV the second and third segments of a line are slightly indented relative to the first. Determining where the Hebrew poetic lines or line segments begin or end scanning is sometimes an uncertain matter.
Even the Septuagint the pre-Christian Greek translation of the OT at times scans the lines differently from the way the Hebrew texts now available to us do. It is therefore not surprising that modern translations occasionally differ. A related problem is the extremely concise, often elliptical writing style of the Hebrew poets. The syntactical connection of words must at times be inferred simply from context. Where more than one possibility presents itself, translators are confronted with ambiguity.
They are not always sure with which line segment a border word or phrase is to be read. The stanza structure of Hebrew poetry is also a matter of dispute. Occasionally, recurring refrains mark off stanzas, as in Ps ; In Ps two balanced stanzas are divided by their introductory oracles see also introduction to Ps , while Ps devotes eight lines to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
For the most part, however, no such obvious indicators are present. The NIV has used spaces to mark off poetic paragraphs called "stanzas" in the notes. Usually this could be done with some confidence, and the reader is advised to be guided by them. But there are a few places where these divisions are questionable -- and are challenged in the notes. Close study of the Psalms discloses that the authors often composed with an overall design in mind.
This is true of the alphabetic acrostics, in which the poet devoted to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet one line segment as in Ps , or a single line as in Ps 25 ; 34 ; , or two lines as in Ps 37 , or eight lines as in Ps In addition Ps 33 ; 38 ; each have 22 lines, no doubt because of the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet see Introduction to Lamentations: Literary Features.
The oft-voiced notion that this device was used as a memory aid seems culturally prejudiced and quite unwarranted. Actually people of that time were able to memorize far more readily than most people today.
It is much more likely that the alphabet -- which was relatively recently invented as a simple system of symbols capable of representing in writing the rich and complex patterns of human speech and therefore of inscribing all that can be put into words one of the greatest intellectual achievements of all time -- commended itself as a framework on which to hang significant phrases.
Other forms were also used. Ps 44 is a prayer fashioned after the design of a ziggurat a Babylonian stepped pyramid; see note on Ge A sense of symmetry is pervasive. There are psalms that devote the same number of lines to each stanza as Ps 12 ; 41 , or do so with variation only in the introductory or concluding stanza as Ps 38 ; 83 ; Others match the opening and closing stanzas and balance those between as Ps 33 ; A particularly interesting device is to place a key thematic line at the very center, sometimes constructing the whole or part of the poem around that center see note on Still other design features are pointed out in the notes.
The authors of the psalms crafted their compositions very carefully. They were heirs of an ancient art in many details showing that they had inherited a poetic tradition that goes back hundreds of years , and they developed it to a state of high sophistication. Their works are best appreciated when carefully studied and pondered.
The Psalter is for the most part a book of prayer and praise. In it faith speaks to God in prayer and of God in praise. But there are also psalms that are explicitly didactic instructional in form and purpose teaching the way of godliness. As noted above Collection, Arrangement and Date , the manner in which the whole collection has been arranged suggests that one of its main purposes was instruction in the life of faith, a faith formed and nurtured by the Law, the Prophets and the canonical wisdom literature.
Accordingly, the Psalter is theologically rich. Its theology is, however, not abstract or systematic but doxological, confessional and practical. So a summation of that "theology" impoverishes it by translating it into an objective mode. Furthermore, any summation faces a still greater problem. The Psalter is a large collection of independent pieces of many kinds, serving different purposes and composed over the course of many centuries. Not only must a brief summary of its "theology" be selective and incomplete; it will also of necessity be somewhat artificial.
It will suggest that each psalm reflects or at least presupposes the "theology" outlined, that there is no "theological" tension or progression within the Psalter. Manifestly this is not so. Still, the final editors of the Psalter were obviously not eclectic in their selection.
They knew that many voices from many times spoke here, but none that in their judgment was incompatible with the Law and the Prophets.
No doubt they also assumed that each psalm was to be understood in the light of the collection as a whole. That assumption we may share. Hence something, after all, can be said concerning seven major theological themes that, while admittedly a bit artificial, need not seriously distort and can be helpful to the student of the Psalms.
Unquestionably the supreme kingship of Yahweh in which he displays his transcendent greatness and goodness is the most basic metaphor and most pervasive theological concept in the Psalter -- as in the OT generally. It provides the fundamental perspective in which people are to view themselves, the whole creation, events in "nature" and history, and the future. All creation is Yahweh's one kingdom.
To be a creature in the world is to be a part of his kingdom and under his rule. To be a human being in the world is to be dependent on and responsible to him. To proudly deny that fact is the root of all wickedness -- the wickedness that now pervades the world.
God's election of Israel and subsequently of David and Zion, together with the giving of his word, represent the renewed inbreaking of God's righteous kingdom into this world of rebellion and evil. It initiates the great divide between the righteous nation and the wicked nations, and on a deeper level between the righteous and the wicked, a more significant distinction that cuts even through Israel.
In the end this divine enterprise will triumph. Human pride will be humbled, and wrongs will be redressed. The humble will be given the whole earth to possess, and the righteous and peaceable kingdom of God will come to full realization. These theological themes, of course, have profound religious and moral implications. Of these, too, the psalmists spoke. One question that ought yet to be addressed is: Do the Psalms speak of the Christ?
Yes, in a variety of ways -- but not as the prophets do. The Psalter was never numbered among the "prophetic" books. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.
The LORD is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
0コメント