Malachi151

My favorite is Psalm 88:

HaRaAYaH

That's easy: The 34th Psalm.
Psalms Chapter 34
א לְדָוִד-- בְּשַׁ�*ּוֹתוֹ אֶת-טַעְמוֹ, לִפְ�*ֵי אֲבִימֶלֶךְ; וַיְגָרְשֵׁהוּ, וַיֵּלַךְ. 1 [A Psalm] of David; when he changed his demeanour before Abimelech, who drove him away, and he departed.
ב אֲבָרְכָה אֶת-יְהוָה בְּכָל-עֵת; תָּמִיד, תְּהִלָּתוֹ בְּפִי. 2 I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
ג בַּיהוָה, תִּתְהַלֵּל �*ַפְשִׁי; יִשְׁמְעוּ עֲ�*ָוִים וְיִשְׂמָחוּ. 3 My soul shall glory in the LORD; the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.
ד גַּדְּלוּ לַיהוָה אִתִּי; וּ�*ְרוֹמְמָה שְׁמוֹ יַחְדָּו. 4 O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together.
ה דָּרַשְׁתִּי אֶת-יְהוָה וְעָ�*ָ�*ִי; וּמִכָּל-מְגוּרוֹתַי הִצִּילָ�*ִי. 5 I sought the LORD, and He answered me, and delivered me from all my fears.
ו הִבִּיטוּ אֵלָיו וְ�*ָהָרוּ; וּפְ�*ֵיהֶם, אַל-יֶחְפָּרוּ. 6 They looked unto Him, and were radiant; and their faces shall never be abashed.
ז זֶה עָ�*ִי קָרָא, וַיהוָה שָׁמֵעַ; וּמִכָּל-צָרוֹתָיו, הוֹשִׁיעוֹ. 7 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard, and saved him out of all his troubles.
ח חֹ�*ֶה מַלְאַךְ-יְהוָה סָבִיב לִירֵאָיו; וַיְחַלְּצֵם. 8 The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.
ט טַעֲמוּ וּרְאוּ, כִּי-טוֹב יְהוָה; אַשְׁרֵי הַגֶּבֶר, יֶחֱסֶה-בּוֹ. 9 O consider and see that the LORD is good; happy is the man that taketh refuge in Him.
י יְראוּ אֶת-יְהוָה קְדֹשָׁיו: כִּי-אֵין מַחְסוֹר, לִירֵאָיו. 10 O fear the LORD, ye His holy ones; for there is no want to them that fear Him.
יא כְּפִירִים, רָשׁוּ וְרָעֵבוּ; וְדֹרְשֵׁי יְהוָה, לֹא-יַחְסְרוּ כָל-טוֹב. 11 The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they that seek the LORD want not any good thing.
יב לְכוּ-בָ�*ִים, שִׁמְעוּ-לִי; יִרְאַת יְהוָה, אֲלַמֶּדְכֶם. 12 Come, ye children, hearken unto me; I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
יג מִי-הָאִישׁ, הֶחָפֵץ חַיִּים; אֹהֵב יָמִים, לִרְאוֹת טוֹב. 13 Who is the man that desireth life, and loveth days, that he may see good therein?
יד �*ְצֹר לְשׁוֹ�*ְךָ מֵרָע; וּשְׂפָתֶיךָ, מִדַּבֵּר מִרְמָה. 14 Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.
טו סוּר מֵרָע, וַעֲשֵׂה-טוֹב; בַּקֵּשׁ שָׁלוֹם וְרָדְפֵהוּ. 15 Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.
טז עֵי�*ֵי יְהוָה, אֶל-צַדִּיקִים; וְאָזְ�*ָיו, אֶל-שַׁוְעָתָם. 16 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry.
יז פְּ�*ֵי יְהוָה, בְּעֹשֵׂי רָע; לְהַכְרִית מֵאֶרֶץ זִכְרָם. 17 The face of the LORD is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
יח צָעֲקוּ, וַיהוָה שָׁמֵעַ; וּמִכָּל-צָרוֹתָם, הִצִּילָם. 18 They cried, and the LORD heard, and delivered them out of all their troubles.
יט קָרוֹב יְהוָה, לְ�*ִשְׁבְּרֵי-לֵב; וְאֶת-דַּכְּאֵי-רוּחַ יוֹשִׁיעַ. 19 The LORD is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as are of a contrite spirit.
כ רַבּוֹת, רָעוֹת צַדִּיק; וּמִכֻּלָּם, יַצִּילֶ�*ּוּ יְהוָה. 20 Many are the ills of the righteous, but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.
כא שֹׁמֵר כָּל-עַצְמוֹתָיו; אַחַת מֵהֵ�*ָּה, לֹא �*ִשְׁבָּרָה. 21 He keepeth all his bones; not one of them is broken.
כב תְּמוֹתֵת רָשָׁע רָעָה; וְשֹׂ�*ְאֵי צַדִּיק יֶאְשָׁמוּ. 22 Evil shall kill the wicked; and they that hate the righteous shall be held guilty.
כג פֹּדֶה יְהוָה, �*ֶפֶשׁ עֲבָדָיו; וְלֹא יֶאְשְׁמוּ, כָּל-הַחֹסִים בּוֹ. 23 The LORD redeemeth the soul of His servants; and none of them that take refuge in Him shall be desolate. {P}
Please read here for some information on the man who took the moniker Chofetz Chaim and dedicated his life to speaking out against evil speech.

cogitans

I find the 15th verse of the 104th Psalm relatively unobjectionable. "Wine that pleases man's heart" and so forth.

Loomis

The word shades is rapha'.

What is the relationship between rapha' Strong's H7496 and rapha' Strong's H7497?

Does anyone know?

They appear to be the same word. They appear to mean ‘giants’ or ‘kings’.

Here is H7496 in Psalm 88:10
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineI...Tpdf/psa88.pdf

And here is H7497 in Deuteronomy 3:11 and 13.
http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineI...OTpdf/deu3.pdf

Maybe Psalm 88:10 should be translated as follows:

Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do the giants (or kings) rise up to praise you?

Any comments?

apatura_iris

My favorite Psalms are the ones that talk about crushing and wreaking vengeance on your enemies.

HaRaAYaH

The word has two meanings it is a place in Deuteronomy and adjective in Psalms, weak, helpless, powerless, dead....

Hamlet

O LORD, thou hast searched me and known me.
Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;
thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
and art acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou dost beset me behind and before,
and layest thy hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain it.
Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
If I ascend to heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there thy hand shall lead me,
and thy right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Let only darkness cover me,
and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to thee,
the night is bright as the day;
for darkness is as light with thee.
For thou didst form my inward parts,
thou didst knit me together in my mother's womb.
I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.
Wonderful are thy works.
Thou knowest me right well;
my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.
How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God.
How vast is the sum of them.
If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
When I awake, I am still with thee.

Toto

This is a discussion board.

Please do not post long sections of the Bible without some discussion.

Malachi151

Psalm 88 is my favorite psalm because its actually quite nihilistic and mocking of god. Its actually quite shocking that it in the Bible at all. It also clearly demonstrates a total lack of any concept of afterlife, since it is mocking the concept of working wonders for the dead.

Basically, the writer is saying that he sees nothing but misery in this world, yet he hears so much about the wonders God is supposed to work. He then wonders, mockingly, if God's wonders are worked for those that don't matter in places that are unseen.

Loomis

Right.

Apparently there was an early Jewish sect called the Sadducees. Apparently the Sadducees did not believe in an afterlife. Apparently they believed that when you die you just die. The guy(s) who wrote Ecclesiastes belonged to that sect.

Ecclesiates 3:21-22

Who really knows if the human spirit ascends upward, and the animal’s spirit descends into the earth?

So I perceived there is nothing better than for people to enjoy their work, because that is their reward;

for who can show them what will be after him?

Ecclesiates 9:4-5

Whoever is among the living has hope;

a live dog is better than a dead lion.

For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;

they have no further reward – and even the memory of them disappears.

The Sadducees are also mentioned in the New Testament.

In Matthew 22:23-33 there is a scene between Jesus and the Sadducees. The Sadducees were mocking the idea of an afterlife by posing absurd questions to Jesus about seven brothers and one wife.

Matthew 22:23

On that day some Sadducees (who say there is no resurrection) came to Jesus and questioned Him …