KING DAVID, SONG WRITER, SINGER,
AUTHOR OF PSALMS
INTRODUCTION
The book of the Psalms is not a single book, in and of itself, but a collection of many poems and other similar works composed mostly by King David but include many other authors such as Moses and Solomon. In the Psalms, joy, suffering, the desire and fear of death are all interwoven and expressed.
You can easily find them on the internet, in your Bible, or at a Catholic bookstore. Psalms were the most common prayer of Jesus in the New Testament and loved singing them with his disciples. As they left the Last Supper they sang psalms on their way to Gethsemane. (Matthew 26:30)
The Psalms are given to us as the inspired word of God. Though God used human instruments, God is the true author of the Bible. Since they are the Word of God, the pray-er who prays the Psalms speaks to God with the very words that God has given to us. They are a school of prayer.
The Psalms teach us that, even in the midst of desolation, God’s presence remains and is the source of wonder and of consolation; we can cry, beg, intercede, lament, but we do so in the knowledge that we are walking toward the light.
I WILL BLESS THE LORD AT ALL TIMES!
PSALM 8
O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth! You have set your majesty above the heavens! Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have drawn a defense against your foes, to silence enemy and avenger. When I see your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars that you set in place–
What are humans that you are mindful of them, mere mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them little less than a god, crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them rule over the works of your hands, put all things at their feet: All sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and whatever swims the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how awesome is your name through all the earth!
REFLECTION
God is good all the time! All the time God is good! When I sit out in my meditation garden I give thanks to God for the sky, the birds that fly, the flowers that grow, the sun that lights my way and the moon and stars that accompany my night. Nothing as eloquent as St. Francis Assisi Canticle of Creation. Enjoy!
O Most High, all-powerful, good Lord God, to you belong praise, glory, honour and all blessing. Be praised, my Lord, for all your creation and especially for our Brother Sun, who brings us the day and the light; he is strong and shines magnificently. O Lord, we think of you when we look at him.
Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Moon, and for the stars which you have set shining and lovely in the heavens. Be praised, my Lord, for our Brothers Wind and Air and every kind of weather by which you, Lord, uphold life in all your creatures. Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Water, who is very useful to us, and humble and precious and pure.
Be praised, my Lord, for Brother Fire, through whom you give us light in the darkness: he is bright and lively and strong. Be praised, my Lord, for Sister Earth, our Mother, who nourishes us and sustains us, bringing forth fruits and vegetables of many kinds and flowers of many colours……I praise and bless you, Lord, and I give thanks to you, and I will serve you in all humility.
PSALM 13
How long, LORD? Will you utterly forget me? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I carry sorrow in my soul, grief in my heart day after day? How long will my enemy triumph over me? Look upon me, answer me, LORD, my God! Give light to my eyes lest I sleep in death, lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed,” lest my foes rejoice at my downfall. I trust in your faithfulness. Grant my heart joy in your help, that I may sing of the LORD, “How good our God has been to me!”
REFLECTION
Troubles will come. After-all this is not Paradise yet. But we do better by trusting in God, staying connected to God. All we have to do is read Scriptures in the Old Testament to see how the Hebrews did when they went on their own and worshiped pagan gods who couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, couldn’t speak. Our God is a living God!
Besides all that God is present in our sufferings, frustrations, disappointments. Why because God became the Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ! Totally Human and Totally Divine! Jesus lived the human experience. Jesus has taken in on himself to turn human suffering into something salvific. Praise God! We are never alone with God!
PSALM 17
Hear, LORD, my plea for justice; pay heed to my cry; Listen to my prayer spoken without guile. From you let my vindication come; your eyes see what is right. You have tested my heart, searched it in the night. You have tried me by fire, but find no malice in me.
My mouth has not transgressed as humans often do. As your lips have instructed me, I have kept the way of the law. My steps have kept to your paths; my feet have not faltered. I call upon you; answer me, O God.
Turn your ear to me; hear my prayer. Show your wonderful love, you who deliver with your right arm those who seek refuge from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings… My ravenous enemies press upon me…Rise, O LORD, confront and cast them down; rescue me so from the wicked. I am just–let me see your face; when I awake, let me be filled with your presence.
REFLECTION
“Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wings.” We all want to be the apple of God’s eye. We want that special attention. Well we have it. God loved us into existence. God is love. God wills that everyone be saved. Sometimes we feel afraid of the wickedness of this world and that’s when we really want God’s wings to cover us. But sometimes we want to call down God’s wrath on the wicked (excuse our sinning for the moment).
I am reminded of the parable of the weeds. Matthew 13:24 The master tells his servants not to pull up the weeds till harvest time less you pull up the wheat by mistake. God is the best judge. Judge not lest you be judged accordingly. After-all Jesus came to save sinners. There are no saints but Mary without sin. Be patient and trust in Jesus and be sure you are keeping the faith, witnessing that faith to others that they might be saved!
PSALM 22
My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why so far from my call for help, from my cries of anguish? My God, I call by day, but you do not answer; by night, but I have no relief… In you our ancestors trusted; they trusted and you rescued them. To you they cried out and they escaped; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, hardly human, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they curl their lips and jeer; they shake their heads at me: “You relied on the LORD–let him deliver you; if he loves you, let him rescue you.”
Do not stay far from me, for trouble is near, and there is no one to help…So wasted are my hands and feet that I can count all my bones. They stare at me and gloat; they divide my garments among them; for my clothing they cast lots. But you, LORD, do not stay far off; you my strength, come quickly to help me….
All the ends of the earth will worship and turn to the LORD; For kingship belongs to the LORD, the ruler over the nations. I will live for the LORD; my descendants will serve you. The generation to come will be told of the Lord, that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn the deliverance you have brought. 
‘MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?’
REFLECTION
When Jesus hangs on the cross, despised, suffering, and dying, he has taken upon himself the entirety of all sin. God cannot look upon sin, so he turns his back. The burden is now fully upon his Son. In this moment there is the human despair of death, but in the words of the Psalm 22 there is also hope for deliverance.
Jesus still has trust in the God of the Universe. He has submitted to God’s will to that very last moment. God so loved the world as to giving His only begotten Son in atonement for our sins. God loves us by taking our place on the cross and dying in our stead. Thanks be to God! His mercy endures forever!