Wednesday Bible Study: God is bad(ass)

Psalms 75 and 76 are classified as songs of praise, but what they are praising is not goodness or wisdom, but sheer power. And they use some weird metaphors. Psalm 75 appears to refer to a day of judgment, an idea which appears rather vaguely in the Tanakh but which is more central to Christianity. Note that the idea in Judaism of the coming of the Messiah and restoration of the kingdom is quite different. However, they have become conflated in the current political alliance between fundamentalist Jews and Evangelical Christians. One of the other would be really disappointed should it ever come to pass. (Again, "Do Not Destroy" is the [weird] name of a tune.)

Note in Psalm 76 that Salem and Zion are just different names for Jerusalem. The psalm refers to some obscure event or events, which the writer doesn't bother to specify, but it seems to refer to a plague. At least that's my guess.

To the choirmaster: according to Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

75 We give thanks to thee, O God; we give thanks;
    we call on thy name and recount^[a] thy wondrous deeds.

² At the set time which I appoint
    I will judge with equity.
³ When the earth totters, and all its inhabitants,
    it is I who keep steady its pillars.Selah
⁴ I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,”
    and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;
⁵ do not lift up your horn on high,
    or speak with insolent neck.”

⁶ For not from the east or from the west
    and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;
⁷ but it is God who executes judgment,
    putting down one and lifting up another.
⁸ For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup,
    with foaming wine, well mixed;
and he will pour a draught from it,
    and all the wicked of the earth
    shall drain it down to the dregs.

⁹ But I will rejoice^[b] for ever,
    I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
¹⁰ All the horns of the wicked he^[c] will cut off,
    but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 75:1 Syr Compare Gk: Heb and near is thy name. They recount
2. Psalm 75:9 Gk: Heb declare
3. Psalm 75:10 Heb I

 

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.

76 In Judah God is known,
his name is great in Israel.
² His abode has been established in Salem,
    his dwelling place in Zion.
³ There he broke the flashing arrows,
    the shield, the sword, and the weapons of war.Selah

⁴ Glorious art thou, more majestic
    than the everlasting mountains.^[a]
5 The stouthearted were stripped of their spoil;
    they sank into sleep;
all the men of war
    were unable to use their hands.
⁶ At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
    both rider and horse lay stunned.

⁷ But thou, terrible art thou!
    Who can stand before thee
    when once thy anger is roused?
⁸ From the heavens thou didst utter judgment;
    the earth feared and was still,
⁹ when God arose to establish judgment
    to save all the oppressed of the earth.Selah

¹⁰ Surely the wrath of men shall praise thee;
    the residue of wrath thou wilt gird upon thee.
¹¹ Make your vows to the Lord your God, and perform them;
    let all around him bring gifts
    to him who is to be feared,
¹² who cuts off the spirit of princes,
    who is terrible to the kings of the earth.

Footnotes

1. Psalm 76:4 Gk: Heb the mountains of prey

1.