After perusing the Psalms for two weeks I have begun to wonder what makes some religions or at least pieces of religions such as the psalms persist and other religions or aspects of other religions disappear or fall out of use entirely. As far as I know no one still follows the religion connected with the Indian mounds and hardly anyone still worships the Egyptian sun god (as far as I know). In contrast, the psalms are still recited in churches across the world and the serve as the basis for songs and hymns in many contexts. So what is it about these psalms that gives them such staying power that they are still in use 2000-3000 years after they were written and still play a part of multiple religions?
I would argue that the relatability is where at least some of the sticking power comes from. All people go through struggles in their lives and have to defend themselves from enemies. Of course not everyone is fighting wars against other nations necessarily but warfare against internal demons exists as well as smaller scale enemies. When dealing with our own enemies, the pleas in the psalms might be just what we need to help get us through a tough time, to help us believe that "The LORD gaurds you from all harm,/He gaurds your life" against your enemies (Psalm 121:7). Among other things, the psalms give its readers reassurance that the Lord will help them out in times of trouble as long as they are not a wicked person. (For a list of some of the purposes of specific psalms see http://anigeena.com/cms/?p=348 ) Perhaps some of the psalms that talk about specific places may be a little harder to relate to unless we talk about the places as being more abstract than they are presented in the original psalms, places like Jerusalem become more of a concept than a real place to those who read the psalms for themselves in our day and age. Christians in particular encourage use of the psalms for prayer and praise as noted at this and many other websites: http://www.psalmspower.com/.
Although we have concentrated on the origins and original meanings of the psalms and specific historical context in which these psalms might have taken place, it is also important to realize why these psalms have persisted through all these years. There must be something about them that speaks to the basic human condition that anyone, not just ancient Israelites can relate to.
Lily - I like that you are giving us a refreshing look at the psalms. Spending two weeks looking at the historical context of the psalms, we might need to take a step back and realize that these are relevant always. And for all the reasons you have stated. To help us fight off internal and external deamonds. I would also add (I am biased as a musician) that because they are songs they are more likely to stick around, becasue with music there is a greater and pwerful moods and motivations created (such as in geertz's definition.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that is strange though, is that there are definitely parts of the psalms that I feel are not welcome into people perceptions of the modern God. the immense amount of violence and anger that we see expressed by God in the psalms I think turns people off to them. And I feel like some of the one's where specific places are mentioned, it is very hard to relate to and make them mean something to you.
I guess I'm skeptical.. Because to me there's a strong component of luck in why things last. Yes, these are relatable words, but the other nearby cultures I think would also have had that. But by various accidents it's the psalms that come down to us. I like curran's answer about music being a reason, but the musical annotations to these psalms passed away far back in time.. So it's not like people had a tune for these things.
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