Signs and Fear in Psalms

According to St. Augustine a sign is something that signifies something and "makes some other thing come to mind." (30) He also writes that fear of God is learning His will; becoming aware of our sins and deciding to live in a way that is more like Christ (God). St. Augustine illustrates this by writing, "...nailing our flesh to the wood of the cross as it were crucify all presumptions." (33) The Holy Scriptures are signs of ideas or ways to live life, they point to the will of God, which ultimately lead to God. Christians should live in a way that they know the scriptures and what they signify for them. This is the fear of God Augustine is talking about. Because you fear God, that will lead you to reflect on yourself and your deeds (evaluting life according to the scriptures).
The question is where exactly does the book of Psalms fit into all of this? Well the Psalms are a sign in and of themselves and there is certainly a lot of fear of God present in the writing. Many times when we think of Psalms, we think only of the pleasant ones (i.e. Psalms 1, 23, etc.) and that's all. St. Augustine would find a problem with this because he believes that it is our duty as Christians to become familar with and analyze all the scriptures, using them to interpret one another. (37) The Psalms represent both reward and punishment for either following or not following God. They also signify communication with God (prayer), seeking God (Ps 13), seeking help and comfort (Ps 61), and seeking forgiveness/repenting (Ps 51). The Psalms also represent signs of praising and worshipping God (Ps 136). Fear is present throughout the book. The writers constatntly show the fear the people (Israelites) had of God leaving them, hiding from them. They write things like "Why has thou forsaken me," and "Why do you hide yourself from me?" This types fo things are usally followed by the people commiting to God's will and vowig to follow it, if He shows up and helps them. This is shown in the Psalms with statements like, "And I will sing praises to your name forever." There are also things that promises God that HIs word/way will be spread if He blesses His people (Ps 67). The Psalms show how knowing God is fearing God. In the book God's people called upon Him all the time, they gave themsleves to Him because they knew that they couldn'y make it on their own.
To go back to St. Augustine, he breaks signs into two categories, literal and meaphorical. (37) These are the two ways in which the Psalms can be interpreted. When they were first written, the things in them (war, specific problems) were pevalent to the believers of the time, namely the Israelites (i.e. war, physical enemies, etc.). In their historical context, the Psalms were and could be literally interpreted. Today the Psalms are more commonly used as metaphors for spitiual warfare and how God will help you fight these battles. War Psalms and those stating specific problems are the ones that are most generalized and interpreted in a metaphoric way.

The Center of the Bible

Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
Add these numbers up and you get 1188.
Q: What is the center verse in the Bible? A: Psalms 118:8
Psalms 118:8 "It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man."

I got this in an e-mail a while ago and I remember when I read I was kind of shocked. When you think of the Psalms in their entirety as well as the Bible as a whole, this is what God is saying to man. This is the message God had for Israel and the same message He has for His people today. Constantly we see God proving Himself to His people. God shows us that we can't do things alone, that at the end of the day it is Him and only Him that can rescue us and fix any problems that we may have. We see this over and over again in Psalms. There are so many Psalms that question God, like Psalm 22, but then the writer has no chose but to exalt God and recognize all the things He is and all the things he has and will do if you just trust in Him. This reminds me of a song, "He's An On Time God." The message is "He may not come when you want him but He will be there right on time." In the Bible and today in believers lives we always want God to do things right away. When He doesn't show up right (i.e. like the Israelites at Mt. Sinani), we try to do things ourselves or turn to others. What we fail to realize like the Israelites, is that God is the one who has been here all the time and just when we think He has desserted us He shows up. He shows up when man has desserted, when man couldn't help, when we realize that we need Him.
I think it is also ironic that the center of the Bible is found in Psalms because this book is almost like a summary of all the things a believer should do to please God. One should reverence Him, praise, worship, love your neighbor, have faith and show it through the way you live. This verse is a key component of faith, trust and believe God word that He is always there and will come to your rescue in your time of trouble. This also brings another Psalm to mind, Ps 100:3. As continually stated throughout the Psalms God is the maker of the world. This verse sets up 118:8, because it says that God is our creator "not we ourselves" which gives all the more reason to trust Him. He knows us better than we know ourselves.

Ethics in Psalms

I looked up the definition of ethics before I began to look at the book of Psalms. The definition I chose from many is as follows, the rules of conduct recognized in respect to a particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc. To explain it even more, ethics are principles that layout the way one should go about living.
The book of Psalms is filled with reverence to God as the creator, protector and rescuer of His people. God's role as protector and rescuer is describe in this warrior-like way. For instance, in Ps 35:1-3, the writer is saying to God come and rescue from my enemies and destroy them that try to destroy me. Another example of this can be found in Ps 55. In this Psalm the writer is praying to God to come down and rescue him. He wants God to defeat his enemies. These Psalms not only protray God as a warrior and hero but also as the one His people can g to in their times of need.
The ethic in the Psalms is basically if you live of life of fear of God and believe that He is the most high, He will not cast you away to the "pit" he will destory you. In the context of the original text this was a very livable ethic. This from a time of war, captivity, etc. So the followers of God (Israel), had faith and knew that God was on their side in battle and life in general. They had faith because God had proven to them many times before, for instance at the Red Sea. If we put this is the context of believers today, unlike the Israelites, we are fighting spiritual battles not physical ones. This battles are tests of your faith and may be physical things you go through (i.e. illness) and spiritual (i.e. someone questioning your faith). In this context, you may not pray to God that he destroy (unless it's an illness or something) your enemies but rather Him just show them/it through you that He is God and you are His. What I mean by God showing Himself through you, is that you are able to be strong, steadfast in your faith and unmovable, no matter what may come your way.

Why I Like The Book of Psalms

I know many of Psalms are about war and enemies but I read between the lines. I don't mostof them literally because the context is different for me. The Psalms encourage and inspire me. They reassure me of who God is and that is always their. Many times when I am feeling down I think about some of the Psalms (like Psalms 23 and 27). These Psalms help me to keep going when I feel like quiting. They remind that I am not in this alone, the Lord is with me and on my side. The Psalms also remind me that I should be thankful and praise God for who He is in my life. Just like many other books of the Bible, Psalms reminds me that I am not worthy of God's grace and mercy but because of His love and kindness He gives freely. This Psalms also remind me that life is not easy and never will. In order to appreciate God and all of His glory you must go through a little pain and suffering sometimes. I know many times when I go through things I feel like God has forsaking me, but then I come to realize that He is there all the time and trials are just a test of my faith and to make me stronger. I know Psalms has a literally context but to me in more general context, their purpose is to uplift, inspire, reassure, and streangthen the believer.

Psalm 2

In the 1600 the colonists took Psalm 2 out of original context and used it for their advantages. They used it to support what they called their "manifest destiny." This destiny was for them to take over North America, spread Christianity, and destroy those eho would not except their religion. In this translation I think they are talking directly about the Native Americans. Also as I was reading this translation from verses 8 and 9 gave me the impression that they colonist were saying that the Lord has given them the "heathen" or Native American and the land as their inheritance to conquer and possess.
Alter's translation is closer to the original text/meaning I think. Although the cntext of these translations are different they are saying similar things. They are both warning those that mock and reject God and his people (them). The warning is God will punish them with his wrath and his people will be the rulers. Also they are saying that is the enemy does not acknowledge and worship him he will be lost forever, he will die (verse 12).

Theology v. Religion

Theology is the study of a religion and its doctrine. It is trying to get to the root of the religion, trying to understand the purpose. What theology does is looks at a religion more literally, to understand the history, beliefs and practices.
Religion is theology in practice. It's making the beliefs and practices more tangible, more real and more personal to individuals of a religion. Also, religion is more about having faith in its doctrine through the way an individual lives his/her everyday life.

Effigy Mounds and the Lascaux Cave

The effigy mound builders used various animal shapes in the mounds to represent the order and separation of the world (pg 115). Their belief was that the world was divided into Upper and Lowerworlds. The upperworld consisted of the sky and the lower of the earth and water. These mounds also seemed to served the purpose of maintaining "balance and harmony" (pg 113).
Animal representation in the effigy mounds is a little different from that of the Lascaux Cave. Due to the fact that we are not completely sure of why the cave contained pictures of animals, we can't conclude that it was part of a belief system. We can suggest though, that it may have been the beginnings of some form of religion. As for the mounds it is known that this is part of Native American beliefs, honoring the animals of the world kept things in order. Both of these things constitute a religion to our definition. There are symbols that promote some sort of answer of being and order in the world.
The use of animals for sports teams' names is a bit different from both the mounds and cave. Choosing these names doesn't have to do with the belief that these animals have to do with exsistance and the general order of things in the world. Which according to our definintion of religion is not a religion, all it has is a symbol.

Something different

It's really true that you learn something new everyday. Friday was the first time I had ever seen or heard of The Grizzly Man. Today I began reading about Indian mounds, which I know nothing about. Although two very different stories, they are similar in the sense that they both somewhat go beyond understanding and recognition.
The only people who seemed to have an idea of why Timothy Treadwell wanted to live with wild bears were his love ones. Everyone else either seen it as foolish or brave and respectable. Treadwell made claims of trying to protect the bears. In all honesty I don't think him living with them each summer kept them any safer than when he was not there. I haven't seen the whole movie but from the part I did see it doesn't look like he was doing any protecting. And what exactly was he protecting them from, hunters? Well no matter how one may view Treadwell's story, he did cross boundries no one thought possible and in a way semi-bridged a gap between man and animal.
As mentioned before, there are the 'mysterious' Indian mounds. These were structures, when first seen, unlike any thing else at that time. It was new and different, which raised curiosity. The biggest problem with these mounds were figuring out their designers. As I was reading, I got the impression that early researchers didn't want to give the Native Americans credit for these great creations. They come up with everything from a "lost race" to saying that the Native Americans didn't live alone before the "discovery."
The similar them in both of these stories is crossing boundries and doing something new and getting the credit one deserves for it. Eventually The Native Americans got the credit they were due for the mounds but Treadwell on the other hand doesn't receive his credit fully. Everyone doesn't agree that he did something new by crossing the boundry he crossed. Many can't get pass feeling that it was foolish and harmful. But Treadwell still did it.

Defining Religion

To me religion is when you practice something faithfully. It involves some sort of worship/praise of some higher being or of something (e.g. someone can watch a tv show religiously). With that said, religion doesn't necessarily have to involve spirituality, anyone can be religious.
According to Geertz religion is a foundation of beliefs which establish faith within an individual by providing explainations for how they became to be and the purpose of why they are. These beliefs are presented in such a way that they became factual to the believer, making their established faith more real and personal.
I agree that religion "acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and longlasting moods and motivations..." The beliefs within a religion motivates its believers to live in certain ways. The believers live in what ever way suggested by their religion because they believe that it would lead to a more pleasant life, it would please their god(s) (if they worship gods), and it would lead to a better afterlife (if one of their beliefs).