Individual Psalms of Lament Songs of the Sick and Anguished C - PDF document

Individual Psalms of Lament: Songs of the Sick and Anguished (C. Hassell Bullock, Encountering the Book of the Psalms, 141 - 42 ) Ps 6 Ps 13 Ps 22 Ps 30 Ps 31 Ps 32 Ps 35 Ps 39 Ps 51 Ps 69 Ps 71 Ps 91 Ps 102 Ps 103 Ps 130 Problem vv. 2 - 3 illness and spiritual anguish vv. 1 - 2 spiritual anguish vv. 14 - 15, 17 - 18 physical and spiritual anguish vv. 1 - 3, 8 - 9 illness and spiritual anguish vv. 7, 9b - 10 illness and spiritual anguish vv. 3, 5 - 6 illness and spiritual anguish, perhaps a result of sin vv. 1, 3, 20 - 21 persecution / false accusations vv. 2 - 3, 13 illness and spiritual anguish vv. 1 - 4 spiritual anguish (and perhaps illness, v. 8) as a result of sin vv. 2 - 3, 5, 19 persecution, spiritual anguish, sin (and perhaps illness v. 3) vv. 9, 19 - 21 illness ( old age) and spiritual anguish vv. 3 - 7 pestilence vv. 2 - 11, 13 - 17 spiritual anguish, illness, national humiliation vv. 3 - 4 10 illness (and perhaps sin) vv. 3 - 4 sin Complaint Against God v. 5 “No one remembers you when he is dead.” v. 1 “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” vv. 1 - 2, 15c “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” vv. 5a, 7 “When you hid your face, I was dismayed.” v. 4 “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me.” vv. 13c - 14 “My prayers returned to me unanswered.” vv. 9 - 11 “Re move your scourge from me.” V. 20 “You have made me see troubles, many and bitter.” vv. 9 - 11, 23 “You have taken me up and thrown me aside.” Complaint Against Self vv. 6 - 8 “I am a worm and not a man.” vv. 3 - 5 “For I know my transgressions.” v. 5 “My guilt is not hidden from you.” Complaint Against Enemies vv. 7, 10 “My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.” vv. 2b, 4 “My enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him.’” vv. 7 - 8, 12 - 13, 16 “All who seek me mock me.” v. 1c “[You] did not let my enemies gloat over me.” vv. 1b, 11 - 13, 18 “Because of all my enemies, I am the utter contempt of my neighbors.” vv. 1, 3 - 8, 11 - 17 “Ruthless witnesses come forward.” vv. 4 - 5, 14, 18 - 19, 21 “Those who hate me without reason outnumber the hairs of my head.” vv. 10 - 11 “For my enemies speak against me.” v. 8 “You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishme nt of the wicked.” v. 8 “All day long my enemies taunt me.” Trust vv. 4, 10 vv. 5 - 6 vv. 3 - 5, 9 - 10, 24, 26 - 31 vv. 5, 7a vv. 1a, 6, 14 - 15a, 19 - 20, 21 - 24 vv. 10 vv. 10, 24 vv. 1 - 2, 17 vv. 13, 16, 33 vv. 1, 6, 7b - 8, 14 - 21 vv. 1 - 13 vv. 12 - 22, 25 - 28 vv. 8 - 18 vv. 3 - 8 Petition vv. 1 - 4 “O Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.” vv. 1 - 4 “Look on me and answer, O Lord my God.” vv. 11, 19 - 21 “Do not be far from me.” v. 10 “Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me.” vv. 1b - 5, 9a, 15b - 19 “Let me never be put to shame.” vv. 1 - 8, 17, 19, 22 - 27 “Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me.” vv. 4 - 13 “Show me, O Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days.” vv. 1 - 2, 7 - 12, 14, 18 “Have mercy on me, O God.” vv. 1, 6, 13 - 18, 22 - 29 “Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck.” vv. 2 - 4, 9, 12 - 13 “Rescue me and deliver me in your righteousness.” vv. 1 - 2, 24 “Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days.” v. 2 “Let your ears be attentive to my cry for mercy.” Continued – Figure 3: Individual Psalms of Lament: Songs of the Sick and Anguished Ps 6 Ps 13 Ps 22 Ps 30 Ps 31 Ps 32 Ps 35 Ps 39 Ps 51 Ps 69 Ps 71 Ps 91 Ps 102 Ps 103 Ps 130 Solution vv. 2 - 4 trust in the Lord’s unfailing love vv. 5 - 6 trust in the Lord’s unfailing love vv. 4 - 5 trust in the God who saved their ancestors vv. 2, 10 the Lord’s mercy vv. 9a, 15b - 20 the Lord’s mercy and goodness vv. 1 - 2, 5 confession and divine forgiveness vv. 4 - 10 divine judgment vv. 4 - 6, 7 - 8 recognition of the brevity of life, and the Lord’s mercy vv. 3 - 12 confession and divine forgiveness vv. 13 - 18 goodness of the Lord’s love vv. 19 - 21 the Lord’s salvation vv. 9 - 13 make the Most High your dwelling vv. 1 - 2, 13 - 20 the Lord’s mercy and intervention vv. 7 - 18 trust in the Lord’s mercy vv. 3 - 4, 7 - 8 the Lord’s forgiveness and mercy Vow to Praise v. 6 “I will sing to the Lord.” vv. 22, 25 “I will declare your name to my brothers.” vv. 1, 12b “O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever.” vv. 7 - 8 “I will be glad and rejoice in your love.” vv. 9 - 10, 18, 28 “My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.” v. 15 “My mouth will declare your praise.” vv. 30 - 3 1 “I will praise God’s name in song.” vv. 6c, 14 - 16, 22 - 24 “I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness.” vv. 21 - 22 “So the name of the Lord will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem.” vv. 1, 2a, 20 - 22 “Praise the Lord, O my soul.” Vow to Service vv. 13 - 14 “Then I teach transgressors your ways.” Appeal to History/God’s Mighty Works vv. 3 - 4 “In you our fathers put their trust.” vv. 16 - 17 “I will . . . proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord.” v. 7 “He made known his ways to Moses.” Oracle to Psalmist / Israel vv. 8 - 10 vv. 14 - 16 vv. 18 - 20