1/23/2007

Good vs evil

Compare these two psalms.

Psalm 105 - Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.

He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:

"To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit."

When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,

they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.

He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:

"Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm."

He called down famine on the land
and destroyed all their supplies of food;

and he sent a man before them—
Joseph, sold as a slave.

They bruised his feet with shackles,
his neck was put in irons,

till what he foretold came to pass,
till the word of the LORD proved him true.

The king sent and released him,
the ruler of peoples set him free.

He made him master of his household,
ruler over all he possessed,

to instruct his princes as he pleased
and teach his elders wisdom.

Then Israel entered Egypt;
Jacob lived as an alien in the land of Ham.

The LORD made his people very fruitful;
he made them too numerous for their foes,

whose hearts he turned to hate his people,
to conspire against his servants.

He sent Moses his servant,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.

They performed his miraculous signs among them,
his wonders in the land of Ham.

He sent darkness and made the land dark—
for had they not rebelled against his words?

He turned their waters into blood,
causing their fish to die.

Their land teemed with frogs,
which went up into the bedrooms of their rulers.

He spoke, and there came swarms of flies,
and gnats throughout their country.

He turned their rain into hail,
with lightning throughout their land;

he struck down their vines and fig trees
and shattered the trees of their country.

He spoke, and the locusts came,
grasshoppers without number;

they ate up every green thing in their land,
ate up the produce of their soil.

Then he struck down all the firstborn in their land,
the firstfruits of all their manhood.

He brought out Israel, laden with silver and gold,
and from among their tribes no one faltered.

Egypt was glad when they left,
because dread of Israel had fallen on them.

He spread out a cloud as a covering,
and a fire to give light at night.

They asked, and he brought them quail
and satisfied them with the bread of heaven.

He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
like a river it flowed in the desert.

For he remembered his holy promise
given to his servant Abraham.

He brought out his people with rejoicing,
his chosen ones with shouts of joy;

he gave them the lands of the nations,
and they fell heir to what others had toiled for-

that they might keep his precepts
and observe his laws.
Praise the LORD.

Psalm 106 - Praise the LORD.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Who can proclaim the mighty acts of the LORD
or fully declare his praise?

Blessed are they who maintain justice,
who constantly do what is right.

Remember me, O LORD, when you show favor to your people,
come to my aid when you save them,

that I may enjoy the prosperity of your chosen ones,
that I may share in the joy of your nation
and join your inheritance in giving praise.

We have sinned, even as our fathers did;
we have done wrong and acted wickedly.

When our fathers were in Egypt,
they gave no thought to your miracles;
they did not remember your many kindnesses,
and they rebelled by the sea, the Red Sea.

Yet he saved them for his name's sake,
to make his mighty power known.

He rebuked the Red Sea, and it dried up;
he led them through the depths as through a desert.

He saved them from the hand of the foe;
from the hand of the enemy he redeemed them.

The waters covered their adversaries;
not one of them survived.

Then they believed his promises
and sang his praise.

But they soon forgot what he had done
and did not wait for his counsel.

In the desert they gave in to their craving;
in the wasteland they put God to the test.

So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon them.

In the camp they grew envious of Moses
and of Aaron, who was consecrated to the LORD.

The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan;
it buried the company of Abiram.

Fire blazed among their followers;
a flame consumed the wicked.

At Horeb they made a calf
and worshiped an idol cast from metal.

They exchanged their Glory
for an image of a bull, which eats grass.

They forgot the God who saved them,
who had done great things in Egypt,

miracles in the land of Ham
and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.

So he said he would destroy them—
had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
to keep his wrath from destroying them.

Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.

They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the LORD.

So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the desert,

make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.

They yoked themselves to the Baal of Peor
and ate sacrifices offered to lifeless gods;

they provoked the LORD to anger by their wicked deeds,
and a plague broke out among them.

But Phinehas stood up and intervened,
and the plague was checked.

This was credited to him as righteousness
for endless generations to come.

By the waters of Meribah they angered the LORD,
and trouble came to Moses because of them;

for they rebelled against the Spirit of God,
and rash words came from Moses' lips.

They did not destroy the peoples
as the LORD had commanded them,

but they mingled with the nations
and adopted their customs.

They worshiped their idols,
which became a snare to them.

They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.

They shed innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was desecrated by their blood.

They defiled themselves by what they did;
by their deeds they prostituted themselves.

Therefore the LORD was angry with his people
and abhorred his inheritance.

He handed them over to the nations,
and their foes ruled over them.

Their enemies oppressed them
and subjected them to their power.

Many times he delivered them,
but they were bent on rebellion
and they wasted away in their sin.

But he took note of their distress
when he heard their cry;

for their sake he remembered his covenant
and out of his great love he relented.

He caused them to be pitied
by all who held them captive.

Save us, O LORD our God,
and gather us from the nations,
that we may give thanks to your holy name
and glory in your praise.

Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Let all the people say, "Amen!"
Praise the LORD.

These psalms are both histories of Israel covering roughly the same period of time. But notice how Psalm 105 is virtually all about the good that God did for his people whereas Psalm 106 is about all the evil that his people did in return. I wonder if the same person composed both of these psalms.

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