Still reading, lax on blogging
Right now I'm in Psalms and today I had to put it down because I just wasn't getting that much out of it. I mean some passages really resonated with me because I recognize them in the songs I sing or have sung.
Other passages where David is asking God to annihilate his enemies, well I'm having a hard time understanding that.
So I finally picked up a book I have by Philip Yancy called The Bible Jesus Read. Perhaps I've had the wrong idea about Psalms. Yancy says the Psalms are prayers to God. And they are prayers from various people famous (like David) and otherwise (just regular Israelites) that are recorded for our benefit. It is like reading someones prayer journal that they write to God. They teach, but not in the way that Paul teaches in his letters. Mostly they help us relate. They validate how we feel.
One other note, the Bible isn't just for Americans. I sometimes forget that. Someone in the Sudan may more identify with some of the Psalms that call down wrath upon the writer's enemies. All the emotions are there and maybe the lesson is that God's people bring their requests, whatever they may be, to the Lord. Even in prayers where they call for annihilation of their enemies they are recognizing that such actions, if they are to come, must come from God.
Other passages where David is asking God to annihilate his enemies, well I'm having a hard time understanding that.
So I finally picked up a book I have by Philip Yancy called The Bible Jesus Read. Perhaps I've had the wrong idea about Psalms. Yancy says the Psalms are prayers to God. And they are prayers from various people famous (like David) and otherwise (just regular Israelites) that are recorded for our benefit. It is like reading someones prayer journal that they write to God. They teach, but not in the way that Paul teaches in his letters. Mostly they help us relate. They validate how we feel.
One other note, the Bible isn't just for Americans. I sometimes forget that. Someone in the Sudan may more identify with some of the Psalms that call down wrath upon the writer's enemies. All the emotions are there and maybe the lesson is that God's people bring their requests, whatever they may be, to the Lord. Even in prayers where they call for annihilation of their enemies they are recognizing that such actions, if they are to come, must come from God.
posted by Leslie at 7:35 PM
4 Comments:
Funny you should bring up the Psalms. That is the book I turn to when I'm mad or when I feel like justice isn't being served. It is reassuring that others have felt the same way and it always brings me back to praising God instead of telling him what to do. :-)
Excellent point that the Bible isn't just for Americans. Wow. It was written for every culture and in every century. Other peoples relate to certain parts that North Americans don't, and vice versa. I'll ponder that thought some more. Thanks.
I love your blog. I, too, am going through the Bible in 90 days and am always encouraged by what others write about that journey. Keep looking up! :)
I actually meant to say, as well, that it's interesting you mentioned your thoughts on forgetting at times that the Bible isn't just for Americans (I'm not American, but I'll include myself in that as a Canadian, as I live in North America :) ). So much in the Bible is cultural and can be left as such, but I fully believe that, no matter where you are in the world, you can relate to the Bible and can hear God through it. He has given us the Holy Spirit to give us understand. There are many things we won't understand from the Bible, I'm sure, until we reach Heaven, but that doesn't mean we can't understand what we need to. We just have to be open, no matter what culture or time our outlook is from.
Keep reading & keep looking up! :)
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