Map of life expectancy at birth from Global Education Project.

Sunday, May 05, 2024

Sunday Sermonette: David as egomaniac

Note: The reason Von Shitzinpantz didn't have a jury trial in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case is that his lawyers asked for a bench trial. I don't publish comments that are objectively false.

 

Psalms 108 and 109 are attributed to David, but Psalm 108 is actually a pastiche of psalms 57 and 60. In it, David purportedly wakes up in the morning and looks forward to conquering the surrounding nations. After all, God gave the land to the Israelites. 


Psalm 109 is another of those laments in which the singer begs God to torture his enemies and their children. The good Christians of the Republican party have put it on a bumper sticker, which you can purchase on Amazon.

The prayer specifically: 

May his days be few;
    may another seize his goods!
May his children be fatherless,
    and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg;
    may they be driven out of[c] the ruins they inhabit!


A Song. A Psalm of David.

108 My heart is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
    Awake, my soul!
Awake, O harp and lyre!
    I will awake the dawn!
I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the peoples,
    I will sing praises to thee among the nations.
For thy steadfast love is great above the heavens,
    thy faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
    Let thy glory be over all the earth!
That thy beloved may be delivered,
    give help by thy right hand, and answer me!

God has promised in his sanctuary:[a]
    “With exultation I will divide up Shechem,
    and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
Gilead is mine; Manas′seh is mine;
    E′phraim is my helmet;
    Judah my scepter.
Moab is my washbasin;
    upon Edom I cast my shoe;
    over Philistia I shout in triumph.”

10 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
    Who will lead me to Edom?
11 Hast thou not rejected us, O God?
    Thou dost not go forth, O God, with our armies.
12 O grant us help against the foe,
    for vain is the help of man!
13 With God we shall do valiantly;
    it is he who will tread down our foes.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 108:7 Or by his holiness

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

109 Be not silent, O God of my praise!
For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me,
    speaking against me with lying tongues.
They beset me with words of hate,
    and attack me without cause.
In return for my love they accuse me,
    even as I make prayer for them.[a]
So they reward me evil for good,
    and hatred for my love.

Appoint a wicked man against him;
    let an accuser bring him to trial.[b]
When he is tried, let him come forth guilty;
    let his prayer be counted as sin!
May his days be few;
    may another seize his goods!
May his children be fatherless,
    and his wife a widow!
10 May his children wander about and beg;
    may they be driven out of[c] the ruins they inhabit!
11 May the creditor seize all that he has;
    may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil!
12 Let there be none to extend kindness to him,
    nor any to pity his fatherless children!
13 May his posterity be cut off;
    may his name be blotted out in the second generation!
14 May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered before the Lord,
    and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out!
15 Let them be before the Lord continually;
    and may his[d] memory be cut off from the earth!
16 For he did not remember to show kindness,
    but pursued the poor and needy
    and the brokenhearted to their death.
17 He loved to curse; let curses come on him!
    He did not like blessing; may it be far from him!
18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat,
    may it soak into his body like water,
    like oil into his bones!
19 May it be like a garment which he wraps round him,
    like a belt with which he daily girds himself!

20 May this be the reward of my accusers from the Lord,
    of those who speak evil against my life!
21 But thou, O God my Lord,
    deal on my behalf for thy name’s sake;
    because thy steadfast love is good, deliver me!
22 For I am poor and needy,
    and my heart is stricken within me.
23 I am gone, like a shadow at evening;
    I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak through fasting;
    my body has become gaunt.
25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;
    when they see me, they wag their heads.

26 Help me, O Lord my God!
    Save me according to thy steadfast love!
27 Let them know that this is thy hand;
    thou, O Lord, hast done it!
28 Let them curse, but do thou bless!
    Let my assailants be put to shame;[e] may thy servant be glad!
29 May my accusers be clothed with dishonor;
    may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle!

30 With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord;
    I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31 For he stands at the right hand of the needy,
    to save him from those who condemn him to death.

Footnotes

  1. Psalm 109:4 Syr: Heb I prayer
  2. Psalm 109:6 Heb stand at his right hand
  3. Psalm 109:10 Gk: Heb and seek
  4. Psalm 109:15 Gk: Heb their
  5. Psalm 109:28 Gk: Heb they have arisen and have been put to shame

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