History Literature / BookOfPsalms

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The form of Hebrew poetry used in most of the psalms is called "parallelism," meaning that rather than rhyming single words with similar sounds, the same ''idea'' is repeated in similar ways. [[note]]In some cases the same idea is expressed with different words, sometimes with more detail, and sometimes by contrasting the original thought with an opposite one.[[/note]] One characteristic example:

* DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment: The form of Hebrew poetry used in most of the psalms is called "parallelism," meaning that rather than rhyming single words with similar sounds, the same ''idea'' is repeated in similar ways. One characteristic example:

The Book of Psalms is the first book of the Ketuvim ("Writings"), the third section of the Hebrew Bible, and the book of the Christian Old Testament. It is a rich collection of poems, hymns, and prayers that express the religious feelings of the Jews throughout many periods of history. With each of its 150 poems (151 in Eastern Christianity) having its own chapter, it has more chapters than any other book of the [[Literature/TheBible Bible]].

The Psalms have played a core part in Jewish and Christian liturgy, and are frequently used for devotion and prayer. Psalters are sometimes sold as their own books apart from the Bible, and some [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrical_psalter Metrical Psalters]] have been made to [[{{Woolseyism}} better fit English poerty]].

* ThePowerOfHate: Some of the passages contain the psalmist admitting that he hates the wicked. For example, Psalm 139:21-22 has the psalmist declaring hating those who oppose God.

* PowerEchoes: Psalm 29 describes the powerful voice of the LORD, declaring that it “breaks the cedars of Lebanon” and “shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.”

-->'''The voice of the LORD''' is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters.\\
'''The voice of the LORD''' is powerful; '''the voice of the LORD''' is full of majesty.\\
'''The voice of the LORD''' breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.\\

'''The voice of the LORD''' divideth the flames of fire.\\
'''The voice of the LORD''' shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh.\\
'''The voice of the LORD''' maketh the hinds to calve, and discovereth the forests: and in his temple doth every one speak of his glory.

* BullyHunter: “O LORD, who is like you, delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him, the poor and needy from him who robs him?” -- Psalm 35:10

-->"''If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments; Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes."''

-->''For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against thee:''
-->''The tabernacles of Edom, and the Ishmaelites; of Moab, and the Hagarenes;''
-->''Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;''
-->''Assur also is joined with them: they have holpen the children of Lot. Selah.''

-->''"I have no complaint about your sacrifices or the burnt offerings you constantly offer. But I do not need the bulls from your barns or the goats from your pens. For all the animals of the forest are mine, and I own the cattle on a thousand hills. I know every bird on the mountains,\\
and all the animals of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for all the world is mine and everything in it. Do I eat the meat of bulls? Do I drink the blood of goats?"''

* HumiliationConga: Some scriptures like Psalm 52:5-7 have the righteous (and even God) laughing at the wicked for their failures.

* KillItWithFire: Psalm 21:3:
-->''"Thou shalt make them as a fiery oven in the time of thine anger: the LORD shall swallow them up in his wrath, and the fire shall devour them."''

** David in Psalm 101:5 sings "Him who slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy."

-->''"It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes."''

* PatrickStewartSpeech: Inverted by Psalm 8, which truly marvels at the glory of God and “the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place,” and wonders, “What is ''man'' that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” The psalmist then makes clear that everything [[HumansAreSpecial special about humanity]] is [[InvokedTrope due to God’s grace]]. The psalmist then [[BookEnds ends as he began]] by declaring, “O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is '''Your Name''' in all the earth!”

* PowerEchos: Psalm 29 describes the powerful voice of the LORD, declaring that it “breaks the cedars of Lebanon” and “shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.”

-->''"Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies."''

-->''But unto the wicked God saith, "What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth? Seeing [[CantTakeCriticism thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.]] When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother; thou slanderest thine own mother's son. These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget God, [[GoodIsNotSoft lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."]]''

* AGodIsYou: God says this to the judges of Israel in Psalm 82:6, while adding a caveat to it in verse 7:
-->''I have said, “You are gods,''
-->''sons of the Most High, all of you,''
-->''but you all shall die like men,''
-->''and fall like a man, O princes.”''

Note that some old-fashioned Catholic and Orthodox bibles (being based on the Vulgate and Septuagint) number the Psalms differently than Hebrew-based modern bibles - see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Numbering this here]] on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} for more info.

* VoiceOfDramatic: Psalm 29 describes the powerful voice of the LORD, declaring that it “breaks the cedars of Lebanon” and “shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.”

* AGodIsYou: God says this to the judges of Israel in Psalm 82:6, while adding a caveat to it in verse 7:
-->''I have said, “You are gods,''
-->''sons of the Most High, all of you,''
-->''but you all shall die like men,''
-->''and fall like a man, O princes.”''
* ArcWords: "For His mercy endures forever" or some variation thereof in the later Psalms. Psalm 136 has this line repeated no more than ''26 times'' throughout the entire psalm.

* GoodIsNotSoft: While there are many verses centered on praising God for his goodness, there are also many verses where He will punish the wicked.
* GoodShepherd: The quote at the top of the page, the opening of Psalm 23: "The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want." The rest of the Psalm goes into how He guides the psalmist like a shepherd.

** Shows up in several other passages as well, such as Psalm 37:14-15 (KJV).
-->''The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent their bow, to cast down the poor and needy, and to slay such as be of upright conversation. Their sword shall enter into their own heart, and their bows shall be broken.

* LooseCanon: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalm_151 Psalm 151]], which retells the story of DavidVersusGoliath. It appears in the Septuagint (the Greek translation of Hebrew Scriptures) and in a fragment in the Dead Sea Scrolls, but not in the accepted Hebrew Masoretic text. So was it part of the original canon that was lost, or a later spurious addition? Naturally enough, its canonicity has a BrokenBase: It's accepted as canonical by Orthodox Christians, apocryphal by Roman Catholics and Jews, and not at all by Protestants.

* MoodWhiplash: Most of Psalm 137 is a beautiful, haunting lament of the loss of Jerusalem and the tragedy of the Hebrews made captive in Babylon. Then the second-to-last verse promises that God will exact terrible revenge upon the Babylonians, before the last verse then promises that Babylon's armies will ''[[WouldHurtAChild brutally kill all of their children by smashing them against rocks]]''. Unsurprisingly, most of the many musical adaptations of this psalm omit the last line.

* ToTheTuneOf: Many of the psalms have introductory lines indicating that they were possibly set to preexisting music; the titles "Do Not Destroy", "The Doe in the Morning", "Upon Lilies" and others each appear several times. Unfortunately, what exactly those tunes would have sounded like is lost to history. (The wording of the instructions is also a bit ambiguous, leading some scholars to believe they were more performance instructions or modes than specific melodies.)

Note that some old-fashioned Catholic and Orthodox bibles (being based on the Vulgate and Septuagint) number the Psalms differently than Hebrew-based modern bibles - see [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms#Numbering this heaer]] on Wiki/{{Wikipedia}} for more info.

* InTheBack: "They mark the luckless, then wait like a hunter in a blind; When the poor wretch wanders too close, they stab him in the back." (Psalm 10:9, The Message)