The Psalms as a symbol

I liked the comment made in class on wednesday about how the psalms separated people of the time into two categories...the us, being the people of Israel and the them, being everyone else and those who had no faith in God. One of the reasons that I liked this was because it tied right in with Geertz's definition of religion, in my opinion. Separating people into us and them, or right and wrong is exactly what Geertz meant when he was talking about religion creating a reality that seemed uniquely true. Furthermore, to complete Geertz's definition and its relationship to the psalms it is important to note how they are themselves a type of symbol that works to establish powerful and pervasive moods and motivations. 

In the psalms there are many lines which seem to try and establish:

• a fear of God: "Your hand will find out your enemies...make them like a fiery kiln."(21)
• a love of God: "You put joy in my heart...for you, Lord, alone, do set me down safely."(4)
• show how merciful God is: "Have mercy on me Lord, for I am wretched...rescue me for the sake of your kindness."(6)
• how powerful he is: "Acclaim strength to God, over Israel is His pride and his strength in the skies."(68)
• and how he can be a source of comfort and security: "The rescue of the just is from the Lord, their stronghold in time of distress."(37)

These lines contain some of the symbols that fulfill Geertz's definition of religion; creating the moods and motivations, establishing how the universe was created, how it is watched over, and what will happen to those who believe in the "truth" and those who don't. The psalm that I used for showing how powerful God is stuck out because of the direct reference to Israel as being God's preference, therefore establishing that the us was the people of Israel and the them, those who weren't. It's almost a kind of nationalism, but I know Mr. Smith  doesn't like to use that word in this context and so instead it was a way of expressing the pride they had for their nation.