Blog# 6: Violence in the Psalms

Reading the psalms seems very tedious sometimes. Although they are interesting and provide an interesting look at religion, they are also repetetive, and because there are so many, it's hard to read all of them. When I'm reading them, I find that most of them revolve around a fear of God. Many seem to see God as a violent, wrathful being. I find this slightly disturbing.

Some psalms call on God to spite their enemies, the nonbelievers. Others beg for mercy or forgiveness. However, it doesn't seem like many of them speak to God or about Him as a peaceful being. They focus mainly on the angry and dark side of religion. Perhaps this is because people find that subject to be more interesting than peace. Or maybe they find the idea of God to be more useful in those situations.

Many of the psalms praise God's glory, and flatter Him, then ask for his forgiveness or aid in defeating their enemies. It seems to me that this would mean that singing or writing about God's greatness is the best way to get in his favor, not doing good or 'christian' acts. As if God is a selfish being that prefers compliments to people helping others.

However, there are many psalms that do say many different things, and quite a few take a different perspective than the ones I have described. These just are more attention grabbing and memorable, for their violent nature.