17 March 2015

EJ&T Psalms 31-60: Don't worry, be happy

In the Every Jot and Tittle project, I am listing all of the Bible's commandments from Genesis to Revelation, in accordance with Jesus's words in Matthew 5:18-19. I have no idea how many commandments I'll find, but Jewish tradition claims there are 613. See here for a list of those that I've found so far.

  1. Be brave.
  2. Be of good courage. Psalm 31:24

  3. Be glad in the Lord.
  4. Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart. Pslam 32:11

    Delight thyself also in the LORD. Pslam 37:4

  5. Magnify the Lord.
  6. O magnify the LORD with me, , and let us exalt his name together. Psalm 34:3

  7. Taste and see the goodness of the Lord.
  8. O taste and see that the LORD is good. Psalm 34:8

  9. Don't say evil things.
  10. Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Psalm 34:13

  11. Seek peace, and pursue it.
  12. Seek peace, and pursue it. Psalm 34:14

    Love ... peace. Zecharaiah 8:19

    Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace. Romans 14:19

    Seek peace, and ensue it. 1 Peter 3:11

  13. Don't worry about evildoers.
  14. Fret not thyself because of evildoers. Psalm 37:1

    Fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass. Psalm 37:7

    Fret not thyself in any wise to do evil. Psalm 37:8

    Fret not thyself because of evil men. Proverbs 24:19

    Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings. Isaiah 51:7

  15. Don't envy the bad guys.
  16. Neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Psalm 37:1

    Envy thou not the oppressor. Proverbs 3:31

    Let not thine heart envy sinners. Proverbs 23:17

    Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. Proverbs 24:1

    Neither be thou envious at the wicked. Proverbs 24:19

  17. Rest in the Lord.
  18. Rest in the Lord. Psalm 37:7

  19. Wait for God.
  20. Wait patiently for him. Psalm 37:7

    Wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee. Proverbs 20:22

  21. Don't be angry.
  22. Cease from anger, and forsake wrath. Psalm 37:8

    Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9

    Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Matthew 5:22

    Put off all these; anger....

  23. Clap your hands and shout to God.
  24. O clap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph. Psalm 47:1

    Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion: for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee. Isaiah 12:6

    Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression. Isaiah 58:1

    Shout, O Israel. Zephaniah 3:14

    Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Zechariah 9:9

  25. Walk around Zion.
  26. Walk about Zion. Psalm 48:12

  27. Listen to Psalm 49.
  28. Hear this, all ye people; give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world Psalm 49:1

  29. Gather God's saints.
  30. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice. Psalm 50:5

  31. Listen to God.
  32. Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. Psalm 50:7

    Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces. Psalm 50:22

    Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness. Isaiah 46:12

    Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. Isaiah 51:1-2

    Hearken unto me, my people; and give ear unto me, O my nation: for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. Isaiah 51:4

    Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law. Isaiah 51:7

  33. Make vows to God.
  34. Pay thy vows unto the most High. Psalm 50:14

  35. When you're in trouble, ask God for help.
  36. Call upon me [God] in the day of trouble. Psalm 50:15

  37. Cast your burden upon the Lord.
  38. Cast thy burden upon the LORD. Psalm 55:22

5 comments:

Xavier 555 said...

I read Psalms 37 all the way through. If I'm reading this correctly, god delights in the thought of the day of judgment for the wicked, when he would presumably cast them into hell forever.

The Lord shall laugh at him: for he seeth that his day is coming. (‭Psalms‬ ‭37‬:‭13‬ KJV)

Good thing god "loves us"?!

Yark Hutprancer said...

"Don't worry"

This commandment might be easier to follow if there actually were a god who gave a crap and could protect the innocent from harm as the bible says biblegod will do. How can one not worry when a child can be grabbed right off the street? When accidentally leaving a garage door open leaves the contents of the garage vulnerable to thievery? When simply traveling by car or plane can result in one's death or dismemberment? Christians try to extricate worry from their lives by obsessing about the afterlife. There is a great place everyone who deserves it ends up, so worrying is a waste of time. Yet I have never met more worrisome people than Christians. The bible says that people will know Christians by their love, but I usually recognize them by their worry. They simply cannot avoid it. If there were a god, he is quite a jerk expecting anyone to not worry. This is another fine example of the bible's absurdity.

Stephen said...

Yark, the reason they are worried is because there's a "war on religion"... haven't you heard?
;-)
Steve Weeks

Steve Wells said...

Yark and Xavier,

When I chose the title, I wasn't entirely serious. But the commandments in the Psalms tend to sound like the song. Be brave, don't be angry, etc.

But there is a dark side that runs through the Psalms, saying things like this: "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked", "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth ... let them be cut in pieces", and "Consume them in wrath, consume them ... let them make a noise like a dog." Nasty stuff.

Most of these are commands, but they are commands from the Psalmist to God, telling him what to do. So I didn't include them on the list.

Stephen said...

Psalm 3:7
Psalm58:6
It meseemeth God is practicing dentistry without a license here.

"Selah" occurs frequently in the Psalms (71 times, apparently). I was going to ask what it means but found this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selah
I could use that in some of my lectures to the dental students, but I'd have to say "pause, and think of that" or I'd probably get static for it!
Steve Weeks