The Book of Psalms

edited December 1969 in Faith Issues
Well, my mom has randomly informed me that certain Psalms in the book of Psalms are "bad" to be prayed but she was unsure.  So we asked other adults and they said yes.  I was a bit shocked at the logic of that since after all, the psalms are...good...as far as I'm concerned.  So why would certain psalms be "harmful" in prayer?  I'm not quite clear on the context of it being "harmful" either so if anyone has any knowledge of this, I'd appreciate it.  God bless.

Comments

  • My knowlege:
    never heard of it.. and i don't really see how it could be true either.. does anyone know where this came from ?
  • I've never heard of this either. I know the Agpia only uses half the Psalter, but not because the other half is 'bad'. In the EO tradition, the book of Psalms is read in its entirety every week (twice a week during Lent), which I don't think would be the case were it 'bad' to do so.
  • [quote author=ServantOfJesus link=topic=5399.msg71846#msg71846 date=1180923785]
    Well, my mom has randomly informed me that certain Psalms in the book of Psalms are "bad" to be prayed but she was unsure.  So we asked other adults and they said yes.  I was a bit shocked at the logic of that since after all, the psalms are...good...as far as I'm concerned.  So why would certain psalms be "harmful" in prayer?  I'm not quite clear on the context of it being "harmful" either so if anyone has any knowledge of this, I'd appreciate it.  God bless.



    please provide more details about this. it's part of the Holy Bible. we do also read all of the psalms on Good Friday and monks read all the psalms every single day.
  • Dear all,
    I heard this before, and as having lived in Egypt for 27 years I know this fact: this is a kind of a common "STUPID" conviction that has no origin, no basis, and no meaning, except that some people (maybe Muslims or others) tried to dissuade the naive Christians from reading the psalms by saying so. Or it maybe that some knowing that psalms are used to drive out demons are too afraid to recite them. In both cases, it is rubbish.
    BY THE WAY, WE DO NOT NEED MORE INFORMATION, DO WE?
    God bless you all and mention me in your prayers
  • lol, thanks Ophadece.  I thought so too...I will relay the message.
  • i still wanna know how can it be bad.

    i heard one time the psalm 151 is a great psalm to pray. but if u say it backwords (like insted of ' i am the small' u'd say i am the big/old), it would bring bad luck or somthing like that.
    *all words ppl, don't belive it.........
  • Dear minagir,
    Yes, I heard the same thing. I don't know the origin, nor do I imagine that anyone on earth can give us an explanation why some stupid people came up with that idea!
    God bless you and mention me in your prayers
  • [quote author=ophadece link=topic=5399.msg71930#msg71930 date=1180989879]
    Dear minagir,
    Yes, I heard the same thing. I don't know the origin, nor do I imagine that anyone on earth can give us an explanation why some stupid people came up with that idea!
    God bless you and mention me in your prayers



    well i guess since ppl would have much faith in the meaning of the psalm that God really helped them, they would think the opposite of that would be bad. am saying thisd upon a friend's experiance...not mine.
  • [quote author=minagir link=topic=5399.msg71929#msg71929 date=1180989586]
    i heard one time the psalm 151 is a great psalm to pray. but if u say it backwords (like insted of ' i am the small' u'd say i am the big/old), it would bring bad luck or somthing like that.


    Well that would be a bit like praying Psalm 50 saying "don't worry about me God, I don't need your mercy...", which obviously would be bad.

    However, why anyone would reverse the meaning of a prayer is beyond me.
  • me too =S
  • the psalms have to be read while the orban for the hamal for the liturgy is being made.. so i think it can never be bad.. think about it the hamal will evently represent the body of our lord Jesus Christ ...why would we say something bad while we are preparing for the salvation which is the body of Christ?  make scenes?
  • Dear all,
    Yes our words make sense, but it will be very interesting to know in more depth minagir's friend's experience. Having said that, I think I agree with orthodox11, because I think that is what people try to do: defy the word of God, maybe challenge it, by putting in their own "stupid" thoughts into how they can read the psalms, as though the normal way of reading them is not so good enough in itself. Very funny, isn't it? But I don't mean to judge anyone, especially minagir's friend, because I don't know the circumstances.
    God bless you all and mention me in your prayers
  • The Psalms are full of Love, worship, modesty, struggle against evil (seen and unseen enemies) and they contain many prophecies about Christ.

    The Pslams are read in all prayers and the Holy Word of God must be read during worship and with great deep veneration.

    The following text for brave hearts only:
    The devil and his angels cannot bear to listen to the Holy Psalms. If an evil spirit is near while reading the Psalms it flees or screams in great fear and torment. This is the Lord's power. He is Holy and His Words are Holy for ever. He is Good and He is Love. He is the Power and He is Life.

    This may help explain why these stories emerged:
    In its attempts to "dishonor" the Psalms, hurt and mislead the faithful, I read and heard before on how the devil (who hates the Psalms and really anything holy) ordered some magicians who sold their souls bad rituals to call evil, apparently and among other things by using scrambled or "inverted" verses of those the devil hates most, and by inscribing them inverted on some type of ring as a deal with the devil. God forbid. Amen

    Luke 10:16-22 (The Lord gives authority to His servants)

    3 Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
    ......
    16 He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me.”

    The Seventy Return with Joy
    17 Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.”
    18 And He said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
    20 Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”

    Jesus Rejoices in the Spirit
    21 In that hour Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. 22 All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”

    GBU
  • Dear servantofJesus,
    I completely agree with you. Correct me if I am wrong. I think this is exactly what the black metal music groups do, as I got from different sources that they themselves are blasphemers and satan worshippers, isn't that right?
    God bless you and mention me in your prayers
  • [coptic]+ Iryny nem `hmot>[/coptic]

    It's interesting that the book of Psalms has been thought to contain some 'bad' material.  This is the first time I have heard this.  However, in the case of the Song of Solomon (or the Song of Songs), I have heard that it is 'questionable'.  I am very familiar with the symbolism that in it between Christ and the Church, but it does make you wonder, what was Solomon really thinking when he wrote this song.
  • Dear Κηφᾶς,

    As you say, there have been a few adverse comments from the prurient-minded on the Song of Solomon; but it is, like so many of the Psalms, beautiful, moving and poetic.

    There will, of course, always be those who purport to find bad things in the Scriptures; that is because they bring those things with themselves, I fear.

    Guided, as we are, by our mother the Church, we have everything to gain from reading the Scriptures; but unlike some, we do not believe that that is the sole source of spiritual advice, comfort and instruction.

    In Christ,

    John
  • Dear John,

    Guided, as we are, by our mother the Church, we have everything to gain from reading the Scriptures; but unlike some, we do not believe that that is the sole source of spiritual advice, comfort and instruction.

    I couldn't agree more.  Nevertheless, there are instances where one (well, I, in particular) wonder what the original intent of a particular piece of writing was.  Was Solomon in fact writing to a certain maiden (the Shulamite).  Was she a real person, or was she a person in his dreams.  One cannot deny the element of eroticism that can be found in the Song of Songs.  Granted, this is taking it at a very literal and basal level.  But can we dismiss this type of reading outright?  I mean, how often have we done poem commentaries in English class and made correlations to things outside of the poem itself.  The fact that Christian theologians were the ones reading this text would explain why they took a distinctly 'Christ and the Church' approach to this poem.  I, for one, have done this sort of thing when I wrote a commentary on Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, for instance.  Anyway, I'm rambling...
  • Dear Κηφᾶς,

    You are, of course, quite correct, and one must not go for a simple reading, denying the other possible readings that could be made.

    That most original and difficult of all the Fathers, Origen, once wrote that

    John called God love, and I do not think that anybody can be censured for calling him Eros

    Even for Origen that was a bold step, but he was meditating on the Song of Songs at the time, and tried to make an allegory of the mutual devotion between Christ and His Church - as a picture of the heavenly bridegroom and His spotless bride; he used the word 'eros' to express a passionate intensity and a freedom from restraint in order to convey the limitless devotion of Christ to His people and of the Church for Her Lord.

    Needless to say, it didn't really 'catch on', and some of the more austere Christians of his time quite misunderstood him. But he had a point, I think.

    In Christ,

    John
  • [coptic]+ Iryny nem `hmot>[/coptic]

    Dear John,

    I can see why people would have such a hard time replacing 'God is agape' with 'God is eros'.  Eros does have a more physical/carnal aspect to it and I guess some people seem to think that sex is something beneath God, when it is God Himself who created it.  Odd.
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