He instead believes that the psalmist enjoys being knownīy God and is grateful that not even the darkness itself can separate him from For Booij, the point isĮxactly the opposite. Known by God, and these verses are the author’s final effort to escape God’s Gerstenberger, the psalmist is terrified at the thought of being completely These verses are the most important, but for a different reason. 11 and 12) contain the most important lines of the psalmĪccording to Gerstenberger. Separation between section 2 and section 3 is important. God to use His perfect attributes to testify to his innocence. This will become important in theĭiscussion of the form, because many have argued that this is the psalm of anĪccused victim making a case for his innocence, in which case he appealing to This suggests a deeper purpose to the meditation then simplyĮxplaining God’s attributes in a poetic way. Knowledge of God’s attributes comes from personal encounter, not distantĭeduction. God’s attributes for God’s own sake but was reflecting on them through personal Miller sees that the psalmist was not so much thinking of Sections may strongly imply that God possesses these attributes, it is notĬlear that the purpose of the psalm is to expound that. Omnipresence, and section three is about God’s omnipotence. That section one is about God’s omniscience, section two is about God’s There is agreement as to how the psalm should be divided, there is disagreementĬoncerning what the main point of each section is. Each of these clusters marks a distinct shift in content. The psalmĬonsists of twenty-four verses which can be divided easily into four sections Structureīasic structure of this psalm is virtually agreed upon universally. Finally, the study will conclude by identifyingĬontemporary applications of the psalm and a homiletic sketch. Once the form is established, a synthesis of the psalm’s theology andĪnthropology will be presented. This essay will argue that the psalm isĪ mixture of forms, but it is most especially an individual lament and wisdom With hopes of settling these issues this study will present anĪnalysis of the psalm’s structure, a detailed exegesis of the psalm, and aĭiscussion of its placement in the context of the psalter. Of the psalm’s content fitting into single genre, and yet both parts seem
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This issue is compounded by the fact that the first part of Part of the psalm does not seem to line up with any common form that is found How can the beauty and appeal of theįirst part of the psalm be reconciled with the vicious hatred portrayed at theĮnd? This issue is part of the larger problem of the psalm’s form. Section of the psalm will be turned off by the last six verses which speak This leads to difficulty in translation.įurthermore, just about any Christian who is allured by the beauty of the first The psalmist was apparently a very skilled writer, using complex sentence Nevertheless, there areĬountless challenges that the psalm raises which also warrant a detailed study. It is one of the most beloved psalms in the psalter. Theīeauty of its content alone is enough to inspire fascination. Is no need to make a case for why Psalm 139 should be studied in detail.
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By the Maronite Subdeacon Peter Zogbi Presented as a partial fulfillment of Theology and Religious Studies 602: The Psalms at the Catholic University of America – December 12, 2018