Gratitude & Thanksgiving

Psalm 83: O God, Arise Against Our Enemies (Communitarian Lament) (No longer used in the Catholic Mass nor in the Liturgy of the Hours) 1 A song, an Asaphic psalm. 2 O God, no silence[/rest] for You!  Do not be mute and do not be quiet, God. 3 For, look, Your enemies rage [growl],  and those who hate You lift their heads. 4 Against Your people they devise cunning counsel  and conspire against Your protected ones. 5 They have said: “Come, let us obliterate them as a nation,  and the name of Israel will no longer be recalled.” 6 For they conspired with a single heart,  against You they sealed a pact [covenant]— 7 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,  Moab and the Hagrites, 8 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,  Philistia with the dwellers of Tyre. 9 Assyria, too, has joined them,  has become an arm for the sons of Lot.Selah 10 Do unto them as to Midian, as to Sisera, as to Jabin at the Wadi Kishon.   11 They were destroyed at En-Dor, they turned into...

This is one of a set of notes I have compiled, i nspired  from a series of lessons given by Rev Fr Ferdinand Purnomo, OCD,  including the notes he very generously made available. Also contained in this set of notes are my compilation from other resources. This page will be updated as an when I come across other resources related to this psalm.  Psalm 72 is a coronation hymn for a king. Verse 1 “king” = David; “king’s son” = Solomon (because of Solomonic attribution) “righteousness” (tzedaqah 159x; tzedeq 160x) (righteous person = tzaddiq 206x) means behaviour that conforms to some standard (e.g. interpersonal agreement, rules/regulations/laws, covenant) Verses 2-4 “he” = the king or the king’s son, i.e. every leader of the people Vv. 2 and 4: the king maintains and restores justice V. 3: the mountains and hills, representing creation, bring peace and righteousness “peace” [Hebrew: shalom = wholeness, completeness, integrity] “lowly” [Hebrew: ani = socially dependent]...

This is one of a set of notes I have compiled, i nspired from a series of lessons given by Rev Fr Ferdinand Purnomo, OCD, including the notes he very generously made available. Also contained in this set of notes are my compilation from other resources. This page will be updated as an when I come across other resources related to this psalm.   General observations v.1-4: God is described as shepherd; the psalmist as sheep v.5-6: God as a bedouin who prepares a banquet for the psalmist as a visitor Intimate communication between God (he v.1-3,6 and you v.4-5) and the psalmist The Lord is depicted in two different images in this psalm, two different images SHEPHERD As shepherd, the Lord is not owner of a big herd of sheep  Rather, the psalm depicts a very intimate setting of the shepherd knowing his sheep. God is infinite, he can deal with us as if we are the unique individual on earth, at the sa me time giving this unique attention to billions and billions. When David says, "T...

This is one of a set of notes I have compiled, i nspired from a series of lessons given by Rev Fr Ferdinand Purnomo, OCD, including the notes he very generously made available. Also contained in this set of notes are my compilation from other resources. This page will be updated as an when I come across other resources related to this psalm. Psalm 8 is a psalm of praise. Starts with praise to God. Praise his creation The heart of the psalm - what is human worth that HE cares for man Then the inclusio - closing with praise This psalm contains vocabulary of majestic glory The triple us of the pronoun is lost in the English translation at v1, 4, 9 Verse 1 Hymns in the psalter usually praise God in the 3rd peron (eg Psalm 19, 24) Hymns in the Psalter usually begin with an imperative call to praise God, e.g. Ps 33; 47. Psalm 8 begins differently — with an exclamation of praise spoken directly to God : “O LORD, our Lord” → Psalm 8 is a poem about God and us and about our relationship with G...

This is one of a set of notes I have compiled, i nspired from a series of lessons given by Rev Fr Ferdinand Purnomo, OCD, including the notes he very generously made available. Also contained in this set of notes are my compilation from other resources. This page will be updated as an when I come across other resources related to this psalm. ORIGIN OF THE WORD PSALM PSALMS AS SALVATION HISTORY FIVE BOOKS Blessed is the one who meditates on the Torah Torah, the five books of Moses, means Teachings. The book of psalms is offered as a new Torah about the life long practice of prayer, as they strive to obey God's commands given in the Torah HEBREW AND GREEK NUMBERING AUTHOR/ATTRIBUTION THE ORGANISATION The ending of each of the five books has a thoughtful pattern, each book ends with: The entire collection concludes with five psalms, each ending with Alleluia TYPES OF PSALMS Psalms 1 and 2 Most psalms in book 1 are linked to David except Psalms 1 and 2. So Psalms 1 and 2 are taken as ...