September 17, 2022: Day 201 – Psalm 106-111

There tends to be a lot of imagery in the Psalms about battle and the people of the Lord crushing those who would serve other gods.  It is sometimes quite graphic, and also can be disturbing.  Why would the Lord use violence and war as a means to accomplish His goals?  That is a great question and there is an answer, albeit a somewhat tepid one.  It was a different time when war and battles were all that was known.  It was how nations grew from nothing to something.  It was how people were able to identify who ruled over them.  It was a time that was very, very different from ours today.  Although, with what is happening in the Ukraine maybe it is not so different after all.

Psalm 107 begins what is known as Book 5 of the Psalms.  Like our hymnals is divided into liturgical seasons and themes, this book of the Psalms is divided into sections, but they don’t tend to be thematic in any way.  Psalm 110 is used many different times in the New Testament.  You can find it referenced in Mark 12:36, 14:62, Luke 20:41-44, I Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 5:1-6, 6:20, 7:4-7 and 7:17-24.