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    The Psalms of God's Tenderness: Commentaries on Divine Intimacy
    The Psalms of God's Tenderness: Commentaries on Divine Intimacy
    The Psalms of God's Tenderness: Commentaries on Divine Intimacy
    Ebook101 pages1 hour

    The Psalms of God's Tenderness: Commentaries on Divine Intimacy

    By Edward J. Hahnenberg

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    About this ebook

    Many self-help spiritual books offer several steps toward growth in the spiritual life. The Psalms of Gods Tenderness uses seventeen selected Psalms as the starting point for a look at a very personal God, who is more in love with us that we can imagine. Selected verses from each psalm are illustrated by stories, reflections, and personal testimonies of saints to world-renown philosophers to ordinary people. It is a book of uplifting spiritual vision that this world needs. It is a work that can be opened to any page, where divine comfort and love we all seek can be found.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAuthorHouse
    Release dateJan 14, 2005
    ISBN9781463479329
    The Psalms of God's Tenderness: Commentaries on Divine Intimacy
    Author

    Edward J. Hahnenberg

    Edward J. Hahnenberg is married and the father of eight children.  He taught philosophy, theology, world history, comparative world religions, and creative writing in his forty years as a teacher. He has studied Greek, Hebrew, Latin, and Spanish extensively. He holds a BA in philosophy and an MA in biblical studies. He also holds advanced degrees, an MA and an Ed. S, in education. The Michigan Education Association honored him in 2000 for excellence in curriculum writing. He has authored: “The Religious Cantatas of J.S. Bach,”  “The Evolution of the Belief in the Afterlife in the Old Testament,” and “The Children of the Apostles,” ISBN 1594675570.  

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      Book preview

      The Psalms of God's Tenderness - Edward J. Hahnenberg

      The Psalms of God’s Tenderness

      Commentaries on Divine Intimacy

      by

      Edward J. Hahnenberg

      Title_Page_Logo.ai

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      © 2005 Edward J. Hahnenberg. All Rights Reserved.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

      First published by AuthorHouse 01/26/05

      ISBN: 1-4208-2125-3 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4634-7932-9 (eBook)

      Printed in the United States of America

      Bloomington, Indiana

      Bible quotations are taken from the following versions: The New American Bible, © 1991, The New International Version, © 1984, Mitchell Dahood’s Anchor Bible series, The Psalms, © 1966, 1968, 1970, and my own translation of Psalm 121. I also acknowledge use of the Hebrew version, the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia © 1990.

      Contents

      Acknowledgements

      Intro-duction

      Psalm 16

      Psalm 23

      Psalm 27

      Psalm 34

      Psalm 37

      Psalm 42

      Psalm 62

      Psalm 63, vs. 1-9

      Psalm 71

      Psalm 84

      Psalm 91

      Psalm 103

      Psalm 116

      Psalm 121

      Psalm 128

      Psalm 139, 1-18

      Psalm 145

      About the Author

      Acknowledgements

      V01_1420821253_TEXT.pdf

      Few persons in my life have had the influence for good to the degree that my parents have. I dedicate this book of meditations to my saintly Catholic parents, Fred and Agnes Hahnenberg.

      Edward J. Hahnenberg

      Intro-duction

      V01_1420821253_TEXT.pdf

      There are passages in scripture that give insights into the heart of God and his tender love for mankind. Some that come to mind include the covenantal stories of the Pentateuch, the book of Isaiah, The Song of Songs, and the Last Supper Discourse of John’s gospel. However, in the Book of Psalms, composed by many writers throughout a millennium of evolutionary characterizations of Yahweh, we find unique revelations of the intimate love God had for his people. I choose to use the word tenderness to characterize this love.

      In the Old Testament we find the God of Creation, all-powerful, all-knowing, and the ultimate victor of good over evil. We also find in scripture a God portrayed as changeable, willing to give mankind a second chance, agreeable to lessen punishment, and even willing to send his son to die a shameful death on a cross.

      Every human being who believes in God must, at some time, fear the judgment God will pass on our lives. There is some merit in that type of fear. It can deter us from sin. However, when approaching God in prayer, fear should never be present. Only the relationship of a child to its parent… filled with confidence that everything will be okay.

      The Church has moved over time to a more compassionate treatment of some subjects found in the Psalms. The psalmist often calls for revenge and God’s destruction of his enemies. It is interesting that the Church today excludes verses or psalms from the Liturgy of the Word if they speak of vengeance. However, in the Church’s history, even canonized saints have legitimized pre-emptive war. St. Ferdinand III of Spain, a married saint and father of thirteen children, spent much of his thirteenth century reign driving the Muslim Moors out of Spain, and dreamed of expelling the Moors out of North Africa as well. St. Thomas Aquinas defended capital punishment for heresy, because, like terrorism today, heresy was then considered the most serious disruptive forces of the Christian world. St. John of the Cross was imprisoned by fellow Carmelites in the Toledo priory in Spain, because of his desire for reform of the order. He and St. Teresa of Avila were under investigation by the Inquisition. St. Robert Bellarmine, a cardinal of the church following the Reformation, became head of the Office of the Inquisition, and was involved in the trial and execution of Giordano Bruno in 1600. The Inquisition, in its many sad episodes, was, in many ways, a blemish on Catholic history. It wasn’t until after Vatican II that the Office of the Inquisition had a name change.

      I even remember in my eight years of seminary training that virtually every reflection on growth in the spiritual life began with: You are a beginner. After a few years, I began to wonder if I would ever graduate to a level a bit higher. Then St. Therese of Lisieux came into my life, with her little way of trust and love in God’s boundless love… and Vatican II, which even allowed that God will find a way for all mankind, even sincere atheists, to enter the kingdom of heaven. What a change!

      These comments about the part fear and punishment had to play in periods of the Church’s history are not meant to demean the true love of God Christianity has promoted, is promoting, and will promote before the end of time. They are meant to show the contrast between what Christ came to teach us… namely, how much God loves each of us… and the extremes to which his ambassadors have gone, albeit ignorantly, to guide us to Him.

      This meditative work focuses on seventeen psalms which speak dynamically and powerfully of the tenderness of God toward his faithful ones. These are prayers that Jesus no doubt prayed … which, perhaps, were his favorites, because he truly was one of us in his human nature. He, like us, needed constant intimacy with his Father. These psalms clearly provided that … and for us, in the twenty-first century, can do the same. In my research on the Psalms, I have found that, despite several scripture scholars’ contention that the idea of a heaven was not in the Jewish mind until two hundred years or so before the time of Christ, there are several psalms that speak of an eternal ( 18871.jpg ) existence with God. Mitchell Dahood, S.J. makes the same point, using the Ugaritic origins of some of the psalms.

      No one psalm can be attributed to David for certain, although many of them begin with the introduction: A Psalm of David. Authorship in ancient writings is not always to be thought of as authorship today. If a person was a great figure in ancient civilizations, often his name was borrowed to give credibility to the work by an unknown author. Some of the psalms of David found their origin in pagan sources, particularly in the religion of the Canaanites of Ugarit. The Ugaritic god El was the supreme Creator-god, and we find that name for God borrowed in Genesis… Elohim. Dahood in his three-volume series on the Psalms, offers excellent research that the Psalms of David, were, in many cases, ancient hymns of praise to the Ugaritic supreme god El. El was often represented in Canaanite art as a bull. Interestingly, the golden calf which so inflamed Moses, was possibly the Israelites’ good-will effort to construct an image of Yahweh, in keeping with their desire to have a physical representation of Elohim. The lesson of the Torah about physical representations of Yahweh, was that his image was not to be fashioned, in order that the spiritual reality of God be not confused with the physically visible idols and statutes of other religions.

      I have provided translations from several editions for those portions of the Psalms I have highlighted in my meditations. Those highlighted verses follow, with meditations for each verse. Some of the sections of the lengthier psalms have been omitted. In several psalms I have

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