Ethics in Psalms

Within the Psalms there are many occurrences of the narrator begging forgiveness, but not as many that outline exactly what they are begging forgiveness for. In psalm 69, verses 12-13 it is stated "I made sackcloth my garment and became for them a byword. I was the talk of those who sit in the gate, the drukards' taunting song." I interpreted a couple of things from this passage. The entire psalm is the narrator's pleadings with God to forgive his sins. This section is him trying to look good for God; so first he fasts, and then he wears a sackcloth, which is a very low quality garment. If it is good to dress plainly then it can be inferred that it would be unethical in God's eyes to dress in a great deal of finery. Next the narrator speaks with disdain for the drunkards at the gate, which shows that excessive drink wouldn't be ethical.

Another passage from the psalms that shows the ethics at the time of the writing of these psalms comes from Psalm 51. In lines 1-2 of this psalm it outlines an event in history that we discussed in class as well: "For the lead player, a David psalm, upon Nathan the prophet's coming to him when he had come to be with Bathsheba." This passage tells of David committing the sin of adultery with Bathsheba, which would be considered unethical.

One thing that really surprised me about the psalms is the sort of disregard for a certain ethic that I would usually associate with Christianity: killing. Throughout these psalms there are multiple references to was and killing. The narrators often ask God to help them kill the "wicked people" that stand before them. A great example of this is in psalm 18, in which it says "I pursued my enemies, caught them, turned not back till I wiped them out. I smashed them, they could not rise, they fell beneath my feet." (verses 38-39) as well as "I crushed them like dust in the wind, like mud in the streets I ground them." The narrator seems to be perfectly okay with violently killing people without even thoughts of mercy, whilst he begs for mercy for his sins (besides killing). Later in the psalm the narrator says "[God] frees me from my enemies, yes, from those against me You raise me, from a man of violence You save me." (verse 49). It is obvious from this section that it is bad to be a violent person, but for some reason our narrator can get away with it.