An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 106: O For the Wings Of A Dove. AKA Snitches Get Stitches (Psalms 51-55)

Psalms 51-55
O For the Wings Of A Dove. AKA Snitches Get Stitches.

Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.

For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP

And now:

Psalms 51
“(To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.) Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.”

It seems we are back to psalms attributed to David, so probably they are not presented in strict chronological order. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite, whom David sent off to certain death in war so he could nick his wife. And now he feels remorse for his actions and addresses a prayer to God to forgive him. It includes the unusual compound word “bloodguiltiness” which I guess is his guilt for indirectly killing Uriah. I have mixed feelings about this psalm. I suppose it serves as a general plea for forgiveness from sins, which can provide some psychological benefit. On the other hand, you knew what you were doing was wrong, David, and you did it anyway. No point showing histrionic remorse now.

Psalms 52
“(To the chief Musician, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.) Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.”

Since this psalm jumps back to a time when David is on the run from Saul, whereas Psalm 51 is from his time as king, this probably rules out chronological order. Not entirely, they could well have been written after the fact, but there’s something about the emotional immediacy of the psalms that makes them feel like they ought to have been composed extemporaneously in the heat of the moment.

Anyway, here David basically uses the psalm to have a go at Doeg the Edomite who grassed him up, and by extension all liars and sneaks, saying that people will mock him and God will destroy him, and those with “deceitful tongues”. Although I can understand the anger, it comes across as a bit spiteful compared to other psalms of mercy.

Psalms 53
“(To the chief Musician upon Mahalath, Maschil, A Psalm of David.) The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.”

I think some of Saul’s black moods must have rubbed off on David here; he bemoans that not a single person does good and seeks God. He looks forward to the day when salvation shall come from Zion, and the captivity is brought back. I’m not sure what is meant by the last – is it meant as a prophecy to the time after the Abyssian captivity – those in captivity are bought back? Or is it meant as captivity = adhering to the covenant, a return to the ways of Moses’ time? It’s an ambiguous turn of phrase. Otherwise the theme has been done before.

Psalms 54
“(To the chief Musician on Neginoth, Maschil, A Psalm of David, when the Ziphims came and said to Saul, Doth not David hide himself with us?) Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me by thy strength.”

Another psalm from the time when David was on the run from Saul. This one differs subtly from Psalm 52 in that rather than curse those who have betrayed him, he instead says that he will be safe because God is with him. As such it reads as more hopeful and less vengeful compared to psalm 52.

Psalms 55
“And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.”

I’m guessing this is the origin of the hymn (which I find is a Mendelssohn piece). There’s another nice turn of phrase later in this psalm, verse 21 “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords”. To be honest, following on from the previous four psalms this is otherwise a bit tiresome; it’s like Job constantly bemoaning his fate. Taken in isolation it’s fine, but in this batch it’s yet again the psalmist complaining how everyone is wicked and how he is put upon and pained, and calls upon God to help him and destroy his enemies. Here, I think, I am forced to agree the Voice of God in Monty Python and the Holy Grail – this batch of psalms has been depressing. That said, this last one does have some lovely poetry to it, which is probably why it’s been mined for lyrics (and book titles).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dr Simon Reads... Appendix N. Part One: Poul Anderson

Image
Dr. Simon Reads Appendix N: Introduction This is a new series that will feature sporadically, in which I explore classic fantasy and science fiction works. You will either know what I mean by “Appendix N”, or you will have no clue. In the original Advanced Dungeons and Dragons Dungeon Masters Guide, Gary Gygax provided a large number of appendices, from random smells to reputed magical properties of herbs and gemstones. Appendix N was a bibliography of works that inspired him. Back in 1982 when I first got hold of this book, there were only a couple of items on there that I’d read, and only a few other authors that I’d even heard of. Many years later, after, much reading, I returned to Appendix N expecting to have added greatly to the works on there that I’d read; but actually, there were still very few. Many of the authors were obscure or out of print authors of, for want of a better expression, golden age pulp; the kind that feature in Amazing Stories and the like. Now, ...
Read more

An Atheist Explores the Qur'an Part 121: Closing Thoughts

It took half as many posts to tackle the Qur'an as it did the Bible, 120 compared to 248, but it felt like longer sometimes. Perhaps because the Qur'an is written by a single man and deals with pretty much the same topic over and over, whereas the Bible is a compilation of multiple works, some of which are historical, some apocalyptic, some laws or building instruction, some philosophical, some poetic, some a bit of each. From that point of view, I'd have to say that the Bible was the more interesting work to read. Have I learned any great wisdom from the Qur'an? I'd have to say … no, not really. Granted, I probably didn't approach it with a particularly deep understanding of the material in the first place, but that (as with the Bible readthrough) was always my intent. Picking through line by line is still something of a deep dive, and in both books I tried to be alert for symbol and metaphor. Doing it that way, however, it's easy to miss thematic callb...
Read more

An Atheist Explores the Bible Part 140: The Fall and Rise of (Slightly Tarty) Cities (Isaiah 21-25)

Isaiah 21-25 The Fall and Rise of (Slightly Tarty) Cities Welcome to another instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Bible version). In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the King James Bible, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology. For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/2F8f9JT For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP And now: Isaiah 21 “And he cried, A lion: My lord, I stand continually upon the watchtower in the daytime, and I am set in my ward whole nights:” Isaiah has a vision that causes him pain like the pain of childbirth, apparently. From out of the desert comes a chariot bearing news that Babylon has fallen, but I don’t know to whom. This chapter says to “ watch in the watchtower ”, from which I guess the Jehovah’s Witnesses get the name of their little newsletter. Also Isaiah, or the people to whom he speaks, are told to “ go set a watchman ”; another line ...
Read more