coexistapart's Diaryland
Diary
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Questions for Further Thought: Psalm 69
1. Within this Psalm David compares his situation to that of being caught in an arroyo during a flash flood. What do you think it would be like to be caught in such a situation? What emotions and feelings do you think you would exerience? What does this image convey about his experience of hostility from others?
-I think it would be frightening to be caught in any possibly fatal situation. I'm not sure how I, personally, would react because drowning doest not fit into my head as something that could happen to me. Then again, an arroyo with it's high walls and smooth sides could probably be just as dangerous and volatile as the oceans, which I am very, very careful swimming in.
-I would like to think that I would react relatively well, that I would expect the "right" thing to happen, either to die or to be spared. But then again I also know I'm not really at a point where I put much (if any) (complete) trust in God for the right thing to happen. For example, right now I'm just waiting for him to throw me a bone with regards to whether I should continue my post-secondary education. David feels like he is being flooded by the waters in the same way he is overwhelmed ("more numerous than the hairs on my head") of people who dislike, nay hate him (pathetic fallacy). I'm not really sure why because I can't remember where this fits into the context, supposedly, of David's life--either before or after his great fall. 2. What specific requests does David make to God in this psalm?
-David asks to be saved, admitting his errors and the realization that he has come a long way from being a compatriot with God's people. He wants to be saved from the threatening waters and from his sin. 3. What commitment does David make in verse thirty, and why does he make it?
-David to write a song about God which the oppressed will here; God does not need an ox or other significant offering, he is so great that there is NOTHING we can give him that he has not already given us, that was his to give. But he would rather revive those who do not have faith, or find those who have never had it, and bring them into the fold as a gift to God. 4. From the evidence you see in this psalm, how would you describe David's relationship with God? What does God mean to him in his everyday life? What does he depend upon God for?
-This question seems a little bit harder to answer because, as I said, I can't see if this is supposed to relate to the story of Bathsheba or not; and David's life is not only marked by that mistake. This lament, taken in a vacuum, I think represents David's submission that God.
-David expects God to help him be his servant. To help with everyday problems: to set him free from sin, shame, depression, sadness, from being treated poorly by others. He expects God to help him cope in such a way that his life is manageable again, and that he knows he is not alone. He is afflicted, and he looks to God for salvation--specifically in the form of bringing down suffering on his enemies, which is unusual. 5. What do you think were the chief motives behind David's words against his enemies in versess 22-28?
-David feels that they deserve punishment for having further punished the one God has chosen? I'm not too sure if 'smitten' is a verb tense of 'smote' (which obviously would be bad)--I should check another translation. But David basically talks about punishing those who cause punishment, and there is the vinegar-for-water allusion that is used with Jesus at the Crucifixion. I'm not too sure...and I don't think there is a "correct" answer here actually. 6. When in your life have you been most able to identify with Davids words is verse three:I am weary with my crying/my throat is parched./My eyes grow dim/with waiting for my God.
-Obviously I've been doing a lot of crying the past two months, but interestingly enough I have been sinking as badly as in other times. There is very little actually worth complaining about (nothing, if I'm honest...) but that doesn't mean I don't ask for direct, and--like everyone else--feel like I'm being ignored because the answers is not obvious and immediate. It's a generation of myselfisma and it's hard to be patient, to know the path, and appreciate what we've been given instead of demanding MORE. I'm as guilty as the next person; don't anyone tell you otherwise.
11:51 p.m. - 2009-01-25
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