Random Aphorisms, or Psalms

Psalm 23 is a Psalm of David, and it describes his life and his relationship with God perfectly. The main thing which does that is when it says: 'I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.' This might be talking about the covenants that God has, mainly about the one he has with David, because no matter what happened, God always had his back, always defended his and saved him from other petty humans who weren't as good. 'The LORD is my shepherd;' 'though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me'. These two passages show how devoted David is, was, to God. It shows the safety that all the covenant men feel, from the jealousy of other men and their anger which I have previously mentioned.

Psalm 42 is all different metaphors, like brooks and tears and swords, which ask the same question: 'Where is thy God?' I found this Psalm written in a very different manner than the rest of the Bible, it seems more metaphorical, poetic, romantic but at the same time, desperate. We don't know who is talking, who is searching for his lost soul in God, so that makes it even deeper, I think.

Psalm 51 is rather confusing. In the beginning it says: 'To the chief Musician' from David. We can assume it is David who wrote it, but we can't assume who he is speaking to. He seems to be ordering the musician to clean him-if you take it literally- but he is at the same time asking God to 'Create in [him] a clean heart, O God'. David seems to be recognizing his sins before he was overthrown by his own son, and he is asking for forgiveness from them. I think this shows David has grown a lot, after all, apologizing and asking for forgiveness is never easy- I should imagine doing that to God must be even harder.

Psalm 137 talks about someone asking for forgiveness. I assume it is the children of Edom: 'Remember, O LORD, the children of Edom'. I think they are being rather selfish, saying that they shall be remembered and that they shall always be happy. This is another very conditional form of faith, I do something for you and you give me something back. I think so many cases of this might reflect on the leader, no offense.

I don't know if these Psalms are the most important, or relevant, or if they are in fact random, but I did notice something that they all have in common. They all talk about God in a way that seems unreachable, they all proclaim God as a superior but yet someone who takes care of them. This is the God I'm actually used to, and because of this and the much simpler language that is used, I like this part of the Bible better than the rest. I can easily relate to it- metaphorically speaking.

David’s Faces

The impression I get of the people in the Bible, from Samuel and all the other Books, is that they have no sense of self. They just follow what their leader says, without doubting or giving their opinion on it, whether it means to give up your wife, to give yourself up, or to go on a task that will surely end up bringing your death. What spurred this train of thought is when Michal, David's I think ex-wife, Saul's daughter, and now Phaltiel the son of Laish's wife, is summoned for Abner. Her husband of the time goes after her, weeping, but when he gets there Abner says to him: 'Go, return.' 'And he [stupidly] returned.'

After an episode where two of David's men killed one of Saul's sons, as a kind of revenge on Saul for being David's enemy, we see how good David really is, how holy he acts. I don't know why he does this, maybe to be good in the eyes of the Lord, but when he hears about what happens he reprimands the two men and, going too far, sends them to be killed. I think his acts balance out, because he says he has no respect for death yet he is the one that causes two of them.

One thing that caught my eye was this: 'David was thirty years old when he began to reign' This surprises me because all throughout the Book of Genesis we saw that the people lived up to nine hundred years, just started their lives around the one hundreds', but here is David at a mere thirty years and at the top of his life.

I can now doubt what I said about David being good and holy, because David himself says something about 'the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of David's soul,' and I am very confused because in everything that I previously knew about God, he was supposed to have even more love and compassion for the lame and the blind, he cures them and keeps them safe. However, David represents just the opposite of that, banishing them from his city- which he took from them.

In the part where David and all the cities go out and celebrate for the ark of the Lord, I see God reinforcing his power and putting everybody in their place through fear. He kills Uzzah just because he touched the ark, and makes an example of him, as if saying, 'I am The Man, nobody deserves anything except me, and you lousy humans exist only to worship and respect me.' This kind of attitude from God, the self-centered, pompous, arrogance is something very recurrent throughout the Bible, especially in this Book. It is unlike any image I've ever seen of God, as the traditional image we are given is that he is caring and loving and only cares about our wellbeing. I am beginning to really have a different perspective on this religion, and feeling a little tricked into a false image of God. From what I have read of the Old Testament I get the feeling that God is a morally ambiguous character.

'And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.' This is when David brings the Lord's ark into his house from Obed-edom the Gittite's house just because the ark's keeper is blessed by the Lord. We see how David only worships God because he fears Him, how he only prays and sacrifices in His honor when it will bring something good for him. I think David is a total suck-up, only doing good things when God tells him to and seeking His approval and advice in anything he does.

I noticed that even after the whole struggle with Saul David is willing to forgive, He asks: 'Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may shew him kindness for Jonathan's sake?' He does good for Jonathan's son just for being Jonathan' son. He does that again with another kingdom, he says: 'I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me.' And he sends servants to give his blessings. However, that is what I don't like, that he sends servants to do everything for him, as if he couldn't be deigned to go himself. This is also probably why his actions are taken the wrong way by 'the children of Ammon' and reciprocated that way.

Later on, after battling with half of the continent and conquering and killing it all (much like a tyrant, I must point out) we see David commit one of the basic sins: adultery. He sees a beautiful and even after being told she is married he goes and lays with her. Then he goes further on to arranging this man's death, by telling Joab, 'Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die.' I am opposed to this in two ways. First of all, and most importantly, David is supposed to be God's favorite, that person who always does what is right and who lives by God's rules forever. Then not only does he commit adultery, but he even participates in an evil-fated murder. I'm not sure if the Ten Commandments had been written yet, but he must have had some kind of idea that it is wrong, although all his war's fought and men killed proves otherwise. Secondly, we see again another case of how women aren't respected. They have no say- or don't enforce it- in what happens with them.

David was punished for these sins, which is surprising, by having his child die. He then stops praying to and worshiping God, a great example of his conditional faith. Still after all this God still has his back and helps him.

We presence a kind of change in David after this: he becomes a victim, he becomes better and more forgiving, as we can see when he forgives his son and lets him back into the city: 'And the king said unto Joab, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Absalom again.' (Samuel 14:21) I t was done in good spirit, even if it all turns out wrong for him.

We see hismtrue love of his sons in the end when Absalom is killed and David weeps and says, 'O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!'

‘Inherit the Wind’- My Verdict

In the movie Inherit the Wind the main dilemma is the People vs. Bertram T. Cates. Cates is a school teacher who has the horrible idea to bring forth the theory of, can you imagine?!, evolution. He is found guilty, but because 'there is no precedent to this case' he is not sentenced to any time in prison. I personally am totally sided with Cates. Ignoring what the obvious answer to this question today would be, given that evolution has been scientifically proven, I base myself whole on freedom. Freedom to think what you like to think and freedom to say what you like to say.

In this case, Cates was in no way harming anyone when he introduced his ideas and his beliefs, yet he was charged for speaking against the Lord. Yes, maybe the idea of evolution in its base goes against the story of God creating the earth with His own two hands in seven days but the Bible itself says: 'the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil' (Genesis 3:22) This is talking about after Adam and Eve have eaten of the Tree of Knowledge and God himself says that after eating its fruit they have been able to know bad from good, they have gained new knowledge, and they have become gods like Him. And yes, Adam and Eve were punished for their act, but only because the Lord was jealous, it was unthinkable for him to have equals, because that is what knowledge does, it makes us gods. How can it be bad?

Still, if what Cates said about evolution offended God in any way, then let Him take His revenge. In the same situation of Adam and Eve we see God himself take care of those who disrespected Him. This is a passage taken from the Book of Genesis:

    'And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.'

                    (Genesis 3:15)

Who are we to intervene between God and his actions? Who are we to punish and do unto, in this case, Cates, without God having told us to?

New knowledge and discoveries have always been encouraged, even in these early times, so this shouldn't be any different even if it contradicts God. Who are we to fight the Lord's battle?

Taking a Break

While reading the Bible I have realized that they use almost the same language, or slang, as in A Clockwork Orange. Take into consideration that this book is almost unreadable (but it is still a very good book!), therefore my difficulty to understand the KJB. Just saying.

David Grows Up

In the story of David and Goliath one of the first things that stand out to me is the unquestionable faith everyone seems to have in God. David believes that he has God's will by his side so he doesn't even doubt in going of to battle with a giant, bulky, armed, warrior who can literally snap him in two. He tells Goliath, the Philistine giant, 'I come to thee in the name of the LORD' and we can see that he is willing to give up his life just to prove his faith in God. On the other hand, Saul the king of Israel doesn't give a second thought to sending 'but a youth' to fight with a full well grown warrior in a battle that could very easily end up in the conquering and capturing of his whole kingdom and all of the Israeli people. No, he just sends David off with the words 'Go, and the LORD be with thee.' Some faithful servants these are, if I was God I wouldn't be so keen in scaring them away with all those test in their faith, although they would probably pass them all.

Another thing is that even though both Saul and David share their undying passion for the Lord, and even though David saved Israel and is completely loyal to Saul, Saul hates that little man. He is so jealous that everybody says that David has killed more men than he has, that they say he is more courageous or whatever it is they say, that he actually tries to kill David in many occasions. Saul is scared of David because he sees 'that the LORD was with David', here we see another example of the covenants God has with certain men, and how others are afraid and intimidated by these men. In this case, Saul is so afraid and jealous that when he isn't successful in killing David, he sends all his servants and his son to kill David at any cost. Still, no one is able to kill him.

This leads to another thing that surprises me: how everyone seems so calm and going-with-the-flow. First of all, David is completely respectful and understanding with Saul- because he is his father in law or because he is king or because he is older than him, I don't know- even though he knows that it is Saul who has many times attempted to end his life when David hasn't done anything to him. He even asks Jonathan if he deserves what Saul is trying to do, 'What have I done? what is mine iniquity?' In real life this wouldn't happen, Saul would already have been… taken care of. Then we have Saul's own family, his son Jonathan, who is David's BFF, and his daughter Michal, who is David's wife. They know what he is trying to do to David and even though they save and help David many times, they can still sit down at the table with him and talk normally, even while plotting against him with David *cough* Jonathan *cough*. They both have such close relationships with David, but as they say (or maybe they don't) in the end, family is all that matters.

One thing that stood out to me was the part where Michal tells David: 'If thou save not thy life to night, to morrow thou shalt be slain.' This is exactly like what happened to Simon Bolivar. One night he was at home with his lover, Manuelita Beltran, she heard footsteps and warned him that they were coming to kill him. He fled and was saved. It is very strange that two situations so alike would happen after so many years, and when the two had nothing to do with each other. It also goes to prove that 'after every great man, there is a greater still woman'. I like this part.

Later on happens something that was bound to happen, it is the time to test the people's faith: the king vs. God. Of course, since this is the Bible, the Book of God, God wins. This takes place when Saul tells his men to kill every prophet and every priest in the city and none of his men obey him, except Doeg the Edomite. All the godsend men are killed in act which I think would seriously make Saul loose points with God, leaving him with very little points after this and his pursuit of David. I say pursuit but I should really say high speed chase, that's how they make it sound. Plus, I think it is so unrealistic that when Saul has his sworn enemy cornered in front of him, he is just going to put it off for later and go fight a battle taking place miles away (or so I imagine).

After that battle passes, Saul returns to find David, but David finds him first and just cuts off his skirt- I have no idea why- , he is not able to kill him. Then Saul says 'For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away?' He says this to point out how good David is for not killing him, and he also says that he is bad. However, that is exactly what Saul did. Maybe he didn't do it in as good spirit as David, but he should at least give himself a little credit.

I totally didn't expect it. I didn't think that David would be one to take what he wanted no matter what, like he did with Nabal and his wife. But then again, here in the Bible it seems everybody knows everybody else, that men have no respect for women and that women don't make themselves be respected. They just follow the few chosen ones around like everybody else does. I can't seem to get the analogy of a high school off my mind, in this way they are so alike. And to my recollection, everybody always says: High School sucks.

'And David smote them from the twilight even unto the evening of the next day: and there escaped not a man of them, save four hundred young men' I'll say, only four hundred?!

In the end Saul finally got what was coming to him, he died in battle with the Philistines, just how it all began. The interesting part is that even though he did various evil things in his life, everybody loved him so much that they were willing to give up their lives just because their leader had died too, I guess God can't win 'em all!

Karma

Finally God steps up to His actions and comes down to talk to Job about what is happening, although He does not explain it. I find it a little weird and too casual how just anybody, like Satan, can go and talk to God, and how normally people react to being contacted by God. If this had happened today, there would have probably been millions of old ladies in small towns proclaiming it as a miracle.

The first thing God says to Job is: 'Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?' He starts listing all His great achievements to Job, as if to make him regret comparing himself to God or just claiming not to be inferior to Him. However, I just think he's bragging: Who did this, who did that? Did you make this like that? Where were you when this? etc. I get a very strong feeling that here God needs to be constantly reassuring and proving His place above others, this shows a lot of insecurity.

Finally Job dies, 'being old and full of days.' But this doesn't happen until after job's three not-so-great friend are punished for 'not sp[eaking] of [God] the thing that is right', if you find some way of understanding it. It maybe means that none of the three of them really understood God, God's relationship with Job, or God's reasons for Job's punishments. They were all filling Job's head with wrong ideas about God and about how he acted, at one point they even said he was inferior to them, and now they must worship Job. In the end it all really paid off for Job, he proved his faith in God and is then rewarded with all he had before and more. He then dies, 'being old and full of days.'

Intervention!

We come back to the middle of a conversation between Job and his friends, mainly with Zophar the Naamathite. He says: 'prepare thine heart, and stretch out thine hands toward him; If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away' Job counters back with: 'I am not inferior to you… they that provoke God are secure'. Basically we see that Job no longer trusts God, no longer believes that He is good. As it says before, Job 'feareth God' and so he follows Him- now he only fears Him and thinks that by being God's children life will only be hard because He is constantly testing you, he thinks that the ones who disobey Him are the ones who prosper and are safe from His curses. I think that is very reasonable of him to say, because God not only let Satan destroy all of Job's possessions, He also let Satan kill his family and cover his body in boils. Not even after all that does Job curse him, only when he sits to think about it and realizes the injustice of it all, Why him?

Job also says that any man born from a woman is filthy, for 'who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?' Here we see references to the story of Adam and Eve, partly with the sexist theme again- it says that women are unclean, and also we see the punishment that God gave Eve for eating the forbidden fruit-giving birth. Well, now his friend Eliphaz the Temanite says that yes, he is the same as all the others so he doesn't know more than them. He says that the man who is good to God and reaches out to Him will be blessed, those who don't and who sin and curse Him, like Job, are condemned by their own mouths.

Wow, something very weird happened, I was thinking of how all of Job's friends talk to him and all they tell him to comfort him and share his grief. They just reprimand him and tell him he isn't good enough, they even say that he deserves worse punishments than those God gave him. Then the next line I read says: 'Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.' Which is exactly what I was thinking? They are not very good friends to have around when your life is nearly over and you are suffering and in pain, you can see.

Job now just feels kind of deflated, he is let down by his friends scolding him and he is just waiting for death to come. He doesn't really understand what it is happening to him, he was so good and so pure to God, but he doesn't blame Him anymore. However, he does say: 'the innocent shall stir up himself against the hypocrite.' This is probably referring to God as the hypocrite, which He basically is, He is making one of his most loyal servants who has never done anything against Him suffer horribly, just to test his faith. I think that is totally turning His back on Job, especially since this deal all has to do with Satan.

In the end, his friends stop arguing with Job because 'he was righteous in his own eyes', and 'he justified himself rather than God.'

I don't think Job believes in God anymore, or worships or respects Him, it's very possible after everything God has done to him, but I don't think it is a very good idea to be comparing himself to God, as we can see how jealous and angry God can turn.