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Reading the Psalms 293 Views
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Shmoop is our shepherd.
Transcript
- 00:04
Reading the Psalms, a la Shmoop. You may want to clear your throat.
- 00:09
Take a swig of water.
- 00:11
Practice your vocal runs. That's right... the Psalms in the Bible were
- 00:18
actually intended to be sung rather than spoken.
- 00:22
"Psalms" even comes from the Greek word psalmos, which means "song sung with a harp."
Full Transcript
- 00:29
But we won't make you lug that whole thing out of storage.
- 00:35
Many of the psalms are associated with David, the future king of the Israelites...
- 00:40
...but there were actually many authors.
- 00:45
These 150 poems were intended to praise God...
- 00:48
...and to express deep emotions felt by the Jews as a result of their experiences.
- 00:53
So...what makes a psalm a psalm? Well, if it praises God... it might be a psalm.
- 01:00
If it establishes a relationship between God and man... it might be a psalm.
- 01:05
If it expresses deep emotion... it might be a psalm.
- 01:09
If it is pastoral in nature... in other words, if there's more countryside than big city...
- 01:16
it might be a psalm.
- 01:18
If it uses simile, metaphor, repetition, personification and concrete language... then it just might
- 01:24
be a psalm.
- 01:26
If it is all of those things... well then, you've got a psalm on your hands, buddy.
- 01:30
Let's take a gander at an example and see how well some of the verses in Psalm 111 align
- 01:36
with our little checklist.
- 01:38
I will extol the LORD with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.
- 01:44
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
- 01:49
He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.
- 01:54
The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
- 01:59
They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness.
- 02:05
Okay, item numero uno. Does it praise God?
- 02:09
"Praise the Lord. I will extol the Lord with all my heart,"
- 02:15
"Great are the works of the Lord,"
- 02:16
"...his righteousness endures forever."
- 02:17
"the Lord is gracious and compassionate"
- 02:20
This passage certainly seems to think quite highly of the big guy. We're gonna go with
- 02:24
"yes." What about establishing a relationship between
- 02:27
God and man?
- 02:29
"He provides food for those who fear him."
- 02:32
"He provided redemption for his people"
- 02:36
Looks like this passage is telling us that God was a creator of, provider for, and savior
- 02:42
of his people.
- 02:43
Sounds like a pretty serious relationship to us.
- 02:47
Deep emotion... is that in there?
- 02:49
"I will extol the Lord with all my heart"
- 02:51
"They are steadfast for ever and ever"
- 02:54
"to him belongs eternal praise"
- 02:56
The speaker seems to be more than just a little choked up over the subject... strong emotion...
- 03:04
check!
- 03:05
Is the passage pastoral in nature?
- 03:07
righteousness, glorious, majestic, redemption...
- 03:09
Okay, so no particular mention of cows or meadows...
- 03:13
...but the poem tends to reflect a simple, calm and confident tone through the use of
- 03:17
these words.
- 03:18
And finally... does the poem use simile or metaphor, repetition, personification and
- 03:22
concrete language?
- 03:24
Metaphor: "He provides food for those who fear him"; probably the speaker is referring
- 03:29
to spiritual sustenance rather than "food."
- 03:33
Personification: "They are steadfast for ever and ever"; "they" refers to the commandments
- 03:38
which are given the human quality of being able to remain steadfast.
- 03:42
Repetition: The words "praise" and "Lord" are repeated, emphasizing the idea that we
- 03:48
should.... Praise God.
- 03:50
Concrete language: The following words appeal to one of our senses- covenant, food, nations....
- 03:57
We can "see" all of these things.
- 03:58
Check, check, check and check! Since we seem to be checking all the boxes...
- 04:00
...we could be pretty sure that what we are reading is a psalm...
- 04:04
...even if we hadn't been told as much from the beginning.
- 04:07
We'll leave you with something to think about...
- 04:09
... if you graduate from a Bible School...
- 04:11
...is that your psalm-a mater?
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