Wednesday Bible Study: Specificity

The next four psalms -- 14 through 17 -- are particular reminders that these were mostly written for specific occasions, in response either to the writer ' s perception of current events, or his personal situation.  Actually I don ' t know if any of these might have been composed by women. While it ' s likely that the priesthood had a monopoly on literacy during the time most of these were composed, priests could have served as scribes for others. I note that in Exodus, Miriam leads a female choir and implicitly was the composer of their song.  Some are more general assertions of what the writer values morally, or general praise of God. But many, if not most, are not hymns that would be sung regularly. A few are regular parts of current Jewish liturgy, but note how few have been adopted as Christian hymns or common prayers. (We ' ll note those that have when we get to them.) These are mostly topical. Psalm 14 is notable because it asserts that there is not a single individual on earth that acts wisely and seeks after God -- presumably including the author? So the writer must have been alienated from society. In Psalm 15, the writer gives us a list of pet peeves. (Remember that the attributions to David are universally fictitious.) The Hebrew word " miktam " in the title of Psalm 16 is of unknown meaning. Note that the psalm refers to Sheol -- there is an ancient Jewish conception of hell, which for some reason people are wont to deny. The writer of Psalm 1...
Source: Stayin' Alive - Category: American Health Source Type: blogs