The Psalms, for me, represent a much more personal element of the Israelite scriptures. Written often in the first person, they relive great frustration, deep anguish, fervent hope and the ecstasy of military victory. But what do these songs and poems, penned thousands of years ago, do for us?

Firstly, they tell us a great deal about the culture of ancient Israel, which in turn will help us when we come to interpret many of these other less emotive texts. The vast majority of Psalms 1-41 speak in some way of military engagement, either in victory, or defeat. Always there are enemies closing in, trials of disaster round the corner and appeals to God for deliverance. Of course, in the wake of victory the credit goes to God for routing the enemies and preserving the life of the psalmist.

In the majority of these Psalms, God is the judge and the deliverer; redeemer of the oppressed and liberator of his people. Perhaps inevitably, David and his Israelite kingship always come out as righteous, his enemies inevitably ridden with disgrace and so his God is also somewhat tribal. David, it appears, is convinced that God is perpetually on his side and bent, with him, against his enemies. But who is there to give check to David and his military advance. Not the God of these Psalms, that’s for sure!

It’s all too easy to use our God-talk to justify all manner of decisions. From the slaughter of Muslims, to the slaughter of Protestants, to the slaughter of Catholics, to the British oppression of African slaves, to the US oppression of African-American citizens, to South Africa’s oppression of its black population, the Christian God has been used to justify evils of which he would surely be reviled. None of these twisted ideas take shape overnight. They arise subtly through the bending of our God-language, by the tightening of our God-vision and the unchecked liberation of our own ego.

The story of the kings of Israel is a story of national arrogance where God is too easily seen as dynasty defender and too infrequently as leader and challenger. The voices of the prophets ignored, the nation ends up in exile and the narrow devotion of these Psalms is exposed.

No-one can fail to feel the genuine faith of the psalmists; the real and powerful belief in God that they display. Not only that, but many of their words are inspiring, some comforting, some enthralling. It is not always bad people that end up excluding in the name of God. Our commitment to Jesus doesn’t protect us from bigotry or prejudice. But our commitment to Jesus does lead us to question our motives and beliefs asking ‘what would the God of Jesus ask of us?’ Is your God ‘your god’, or have you the bigger vision of a world transformed in Jesus’ name; that is, in humility, compassion and love?

There is another side to this, however. Some of these psalms are made as covenant court cases against the divine. Wounded and crushed from the blows life has dealt, unnamed psalmists cry out to Yahweh to honour his commitment to them. For all the dangers of such personal theology, it is a remarkable fact of Israelite religion that these voices are heard as valid. Israel’s covenant bound her to Yahweh as a weak king to a mighty overlord. Yet democracy flourishes here in the darkened pits of lamenting verse; individual’s cries are found legitimate as complaints against Israel’s God.

The psalms provoke big questions about how, when and why God intervenes in this world. But it is the passionate nature of each psalmist’s relationship with Yahweh that slaps us out of the stupor of abstract wonderings. For God is not an idea, but a person. And people, especially those who let you get to know and influence them, are deep, complex beings, eternally surprising and unimaginably frustrating.

Questions for reflection:

1. Can you think of a time when you felt that God was influencing a situation? How did you recognise that? What other factors were at play?

2. Israel complained to Yahweh on the basis of their covenant. On the basis of the 'new' covenant, symbolically made by Jesus and his disciples in the upper room, what complaint would you bring to God?