Write a 13 pages paper on the old testament analysis. “The psalms express the deepest emotions of the heart … The psalms are one means by which the spirit of God helps us to articulate the thoughts an

Write a 13 pages paper on the old testament analysis. “The psalms express the deepest emotions of the heart … The psalms are one means by which the spirit of God helps us to articulate the thoughts and groanings of our hearts” (Deffinbaugh, 2006). Supporting his claim regarding the personal nature of the psalms, Ronald Allen, in his book Praise!, states “It was Athanasius, an outstanding church leader in the fourth century, who reportedly declared ‘that the Psalms have a unique place in the Bible because most of the Scripture speaks to us, while the Psalms speak for us” (1980, p. 97). An examination into Psalm 137 and Psalm 22 reveal terrible lament and despair as first the Jewish people express their feelings upon being driven from their lands and then as David expresses doubt and despair regarding a personal situation that mimics very closely the experiences that would befall Jesus hundreds of years later.

Psalm 137 is written in anger and bitterness as well as extreme anguish at the loss of Jerusalem. Historically, this psalm commemorates the exile of the Jews into Babylon. “The Babylonian empire conquered Judah and Jerusalem in 586 BCE, a conquest that brought massive death and destruction to the people and to the land. In the wake of the Babylonian conquest, most of the Jewish survivors were exiled to Babylon and lived in destitution and hopelessness” (Reimer, 2001). As the psalm is written, the Jewish people are shown to have little hope, little joy, and little cause for singing or praising anyone as they feel both bitter defeat as well as abandonment by their God who was supposed to have delivered them from all evil. These very human emotions can perhaps be understood better when placed into a closer historical context, such as in the massacre of Jews that occurred during the Holocaust of the Second World War. In both instances, the people were left without a home, without property, and were vilified in every direction they could flee.&nbsp.&nbsp.