Psalms

Psalm 8:
This psalm aims to depict the glory of God's creations. It praises the heavens, and notes man's importance, as well as the animals over which he has dominion.

3. This psalm picks up on one main theme from the first chapter of Genesis, that man was given dominion over the earth by God. "Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands...) In another slightly less blatant reference to Genesis 1, Psalm 8 makes a reference to everything God created. The psalm lists off the heavens, the birds, the fish, etc, all the things God created in the first week, and then praises him for all the goodness he put upon earth.

4. Poetry is an effective manner to express praise due to three main factors. The first factor is that, during the ancient times, poetry was a popular form of entertainment and media, making it the perfect forum to spread the goodness of God. Second, poems are passionate. It is quite easy to express emotions through poetry, including the love of God. The third is

Psalm 19:
This psalm is another reflection of the glory of God and the extent of him. It speaks that God is everywhere, everything, and perfect in all his actions and words. It also expresses the human desire to be approved by God and reach a level of purity deemed acceptable in God's eyes.

1. The first poem declares the excellence of God's creation, and the entirety with which God exists. This first section maces statements such as "There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard" or "Their line is gone out through all the earth..." expressing the belief that God is everywhere, as well as his greatness. The second poem talks more about the moral behaviors of man and the perfect actions of God. This is expressed through lines like "the commandment of the lord is pure..." and "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sin," praying more for guidance and the ability to behave in a lordly manner.

4. The first prayer is in verse 13, asking God to keep man from sinning and to help him live in the right manner. The second prayer is in verse 14, asking God to view the last prayer as an acceptable prayer, almost as if to say "Please accept that I have said enough in my last prayer."

Psalm 23:
This psalm praises the Lord for his goodness, and expresses a trust in God that he will lead his followers down the right path and protect them in times of trouble. God is addressed in this psalm as the provider: the provider of guidance, comfort, strength, protection, blessings, and spiritual well being.

4. The over arching theme in this psalm is the providing of the Lord. Verse 5 best represents this theme, for it lists off a short list of things that the Lord does for man, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over." The cup running over is especially significant in the relevance to the theme because it is symbolic of the amount of good God does for humans. He does so much that my cup runneth over.

6. This psalm, in a time of ultimate despair, could be interpreted in a couple of ways in order to help a person through a life threatening situation. First, with the image of the protector or "shepherd" portrayed upon God, one could see this as a last ditch effort to contact god and have him lead one through the shadow of the valley of death, hoping to make it out alive with the guidance of God. The second interpretation could be that one recognizes that the time of dying is upon them and looks to God to lead them through the shadow of the valley of death without fear, helping them to accept it, and ultimately take solace in the fact that they shall "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

Psalm 137:
This psalm is representative of one of the exiles from Jerusalem. God is not actually addressed in this psalm at all, however it is implied that God has punished the Hebrew people and they mourn the loss of their city.

1. The other psalmists were in a situation of praising God because life was good. This psalmist is in an entirely different situation because he is currently (upon writing this psalm) on the receiving end of God's wrath. This presents a new kind of problem reflected in the psalm. The author asks how he can sing the songs of Jerusalem in a strange land, highlighting the situation as extremely odd for the people of Jerusalem.

3. This psalm appeals to God's anger and wrath. The poem is a decree of sadness, for God has taken them from their homeland at the hand of foreign captors.