Why King David Wrote The Psalms Loved By All Peoples

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                

King David (reigned from 1010 BCE-970 BCE ( wrote nearly half of the Psalms during periods of intense trauma, betrayal, and deep personal failure. His writings span his entire life, covering his years fleeing from King Saul, a civil war started by his son Absalom, and the devastating fallout from his affair with Bathsheba.

Many of the Psalms serve as poetic journals of his emotional and spiritual journey through these crises:

                                  David and Goliath 

• Hunted as a Fugitive: Before becoming king, David spent years hiding in caves and deserts (such as the wilderness of En Gedi) while a jealous King Saul sought to kill him. Psalms written during this era (like Psalm 23 or Psalm 34) reflect deep fear, isolation, and a heavy reliance on God for protection. "Hashem is my shepherd, I shall not lack, In lush meadows He lays me down, beside tranquil waters He leads me.  He restores my soul.  He leads me on paths of righteousness for his Name's sake.  Though I walk in the valley overshadowed by death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me ....... (The morbid "valley" is a characterization of all exiles.  Also it is a place so dangerous that it is as dark and forbidding as the grave.)   Hashem is the earth and its fullness, the inhabited land and those who dwell in it.  For He founded it upon seas, and established it upon rivers.  Who may ascend the mountain of Hashem, and who may stand in the place of His sanctity?  and has not sworn deceitfully.......                        
  
                          David playing harp for King Saul
• Deep Personal Guilt: Following his moral failures involving Bathsheba and Uriah, David experienced profound remorse and spiritual agony . Psalm 51 is his famous plea for forgiveness and inner cleansing, written after the prophet Nathan confronted him about his sins. David's psalm of remorse includes the principles of repentance.  thus, it is a fitting prayer for any penitent. Show me favor, O God, according to him, when he came to Bath-sheba.  Show me favor, O God, according to  Your kindness, according to Your vast compassion erase my transgressions, Abundantly cleanse me from my iniquity, and from my sin purify me, For I  recognize my transgressions, and my sin is before me always.....  
  
                        Destruction of first Temple
• Betrayal and Grief: During his reign as king, David was forced to flee Jerusalem when his own son, Absalom, led a massive rebellion to steal the throne . Psalm 3, Psalm 55, and Psalm 63 were penned during this exile, echoing his heartbreak over betrayal by friends and his own family. Then He showed me Joshua, the Kohen Gadol, standing before the angel of Hashem, and the Satan was standing on his right to accuse him. "May Hashem denounce you, O Satan!  May Hashem, who chooses Jerusalem, denounce you!  Indeed, this man is like a firebrand saved from a fire!" ..... (The confrontation between Joshua and Satan represents the contention between the Jews who were trying to rebuild the Temple and the local chieftains, who tried to halt the constructions, as described  in the 4th chapter of Ezra. (Radak). Listen, O God, to my prayer, do not disregard my pleas.  Pay heed to me and answer me;  I lament as I speak, and I moan:  because of the shout of the foe, on account of the oppression of the wicked, for they accuse me of evil and hate me with passion, My heart shudders within me, and the terrors of death have befallen me, Fear and trembling penetrate me, and I am overcome with horror. (Despite the revolt of his son, Absalom and he defection of his intimate friend and adviser, Ahithophel,  David was unwavering in his faith that God would enable him to prevail.)  Oh God:  You are my God, I seek You, My soul thirsts for You, my flesh longs for you; in a parched and thirsty land with no water.  Thus to have beheld You  in the Sanctuary, to see Your might and Your glory.  For Your kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise you.  thus shall I bless you all my life; ....(Though a victim of malicious slander, exiled from nation, family, and home, alone in a desolate wilderness, David neve wavers in his love for God.) how many today can trust that there is a G-d?  Perhaps G-d himself knew when the end of times would be happening after all these 5,000-4,000 years and why !!!  
• Spiritual Despair: Beyond external threats, David occasionally battled intense periods of spiritual darkness, feeling as though God had abandoned him Psalm 13  captures his cries of despair and loneliness, ending ultimately with a declaration of trust in God's salvation. How long, Hashem, will You endlessly forget me?  How long will You hide Your countenance from me?  How long must I set schemes within myself?  My heart is melancholy even by day.  How long will my enemy triumph over me?  Look!  Answer me, Hashem, my God!  Enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.  Lest my enemy boast...(Exile is like a long, dark, seemingly endless night.  David speaks prophetically on behalf of Israel in exile.) 
• Resource:
• The Stone Edition of the Tanach (Old Testament), the Torah, Prophets, writings...using Hashem instead of God since Jews don't like to use the word in vain.  "HaShem (הַשֵּׁם) is a Hebrew term that literally translates to "the Name". It is the most common substitute used by Jewish people in everyday conversation to refer to God, allowing them to speak about the Creator with reverence while avoiding uttering His actual, holy names in vain.  Respect: In Judaism, the primary four-letter name of God (the Tetragrammaton) is considered too sacred to be spoken aloud outside of specific Temple rituals.  
• The Third Commandment: The prohibition against taking God's name in vain extends to almost all casual or conversational speech. 
• Context: When formally praying or reading directly from the Torah, Jews traditionally use the name Adonai (meaning "My Lord"), but HaShem is used everywhere else."

Who Founded Jerusalem ?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Jerusalem wasn't built by a single person; it was continuously constructed and reshaped by various civilizations over 5,000 years. Its earliest foundations were built by Canaanites and Jebusites. The city is first mentioned in Egyptian execration texts around 2000 BCE as "Rusalimum." By the 17th century BCE, Jerusalem had developed into a fortified city under Canaanite rule, with massive walls protecting its water system. . During the 14th century BCE, the city was an independent Canaanite stronghold ruled by Egyptian vassals, as documented in the Amarna Letters.During the Late Bronze Age  Jerusalem became a vassal of Ancient Egypt, as documented in the Amarna letters.                      

  The Amarna Letters are a cache of nearly 400 clay tablets discovered in 1887 at Tell el-Amarna, Egypt. Dating to the mid-14th century BC, this royal archive records diplomatic correspondence between the Egyptian pharaohs (mainly Amenhotep III and Akhenaten) and the rulers of neighboring kingdoms and vassal states.The Amarna letters are unusual in Egyptological research, because they are written not in the language of ancient Egypt, but in cuneiform, the writing system of ancient Mesopotamia. Most are in a variety of Akkadian sometimes characterised as a mixed language, Canaanite-Akkadian; one especially long letter—abbreviated EA 24—was written in a late dialect of Hurrian, and is the longest contiguous text known to survive in that language.

The city's importance grew during the Israelite period, which began around 1000 BCE when King David captured Jerusalem and made it the capital of the united Kingdom of Israel

Major builders include King David (ruled from 1010-970 BCE) and King Solomon (961-920 BCE) , and then King Herod I(37-4 BCE) son of an Idumean father and a Nabatean mother,  and the

Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled from 1520-1566) who was a Muslim  with Muslim Ottoman  rulers holding it for the last 400 years to WWI where they lost it.  

The Canaanites and Jebusites (ca. 3000–1000 BCE): The first settlements trace back to the Early Bronze Age. It was later fortified and inhabited by the Jebusites before its conquest.  They lived in he hill region around Jerusalem and called it Jebus.  Joshua, the leader that Moses had to take over the Exodus, defeated the Jebus coalition but Israelites only lived there during the reign of King David.  (II Sam. 24:15.).  Jebus people had a king, the last being Araunah.  His people remained in the city under David and became tributary under King Solomon, David's son.  They were assimilated into the Israelites.                                 

                      First Temple by Solomon

King David ruled for 40 years and King Solomon ruled for 41 years=81 years (ca. 1000–950 BCE): King David captured the city, making it the capital of the ancient kingdom of Israel. His son, King Solomon, significantly expanded the city and built the First Temple. 

Herod the Great ruled  as King of Judaea from 37 BCE to 4 BCE;  for 33 years . He was appointed "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate in 40 BCE , but his actual reign began in 37 BCE after he successfully captured Jerusalem and ousted his rivals.  Under Roman rule, King Herod the Great heavily developed Jerusalem, expanding the Temple Mount and rebuilding the Second Temple. King Herod I ("Herod the Great") was a practicing adherent to Judaism. However, he was not ethnically Jewish by birth; his ancestral background was Idumean (Edomite) and Nabatean Arab. His relationship with Judaism was complex and widely debated by his contemporaries: Herod the Great   was the ruler who ordered the "Massacre of the Innocents" (the killing of young boys in Bethlehem ) in an attempt to eliminate the prophesied infant king. This is when Moses was placed in the bullrushes, a hidden area.  

• Ancestral Conversion: The Idumeans were an ancient neighboring people who had been forcibly converted to Judaism a generation prior under the Hasmonean dynasty. Because he followed Jewish law, he was legally considered a Jew and observed Jewish customs, which allowed him to rule over Judea.

Jewish Revolt Against occupation of Romans-66-70 CE, Romans took Jerusalem, starved the Jews, took them as slaves, killed them, some got away- were threatened to never come back to Jerusalem-now a Roman fortress or face death.  

The Romans (135 CE): Following the Jewish revolt, the Roman Emperor Hadrian entirely rebuilt the city as a Roman colony named Aelia Capitolina. 

Suleiman the Magnificent (ca. 1537 CE): The iconic walls surrounding Jerusalem's Old City today were commissioned by the Ottoman Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.

 Ottoman forces defeated the Mamluks and gained control of Jerusalem in 1516 -1917= 401 years. 

Brief Interruption: The empire lost the city for nine years between 1831 and 1840, when Muhammad Ali of Egypt occupied it before Ottoman authority was restored .

End of Rule: British forces, led by General Edmund Allenby, captured the city in December 1917 during World War I, permanently ending Ottoman control.

Resource:

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Herod-king-of-Judaea

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Trump Confronting the Pope

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

Trump is now confronting the Pope, the leader over Catholics, over his comment of "Blessed are the Peacemakers. " This comes from Jesus who said "Blessed are the peacemakers" during his Sermon on the Mount, recorded in the Bible at Matthew 5:9. Part of the Beatitudes, the verse continues, "for they will be called children of God" (NIV) or "...sons of God" (KJV), promising spiritual recognition to those who actively seek reconciliation.

Of course, Pope Leo shows that Trump is no peacemaker and certainly not a son of G-d by not being a peacemaker.  

We have to give Trump credit, though.  He did give his adversaries chances to change their minds;  too many chances if you ask most generals.  He couldn't follow through with his big threats of destruction.  He hasn't followed through on any of his endeavors involving his threats.  He always gives in.  I wonder if Pope Leo notices that.  

     The psalms were written by King David, a Jewish King of the empire of Israel.  He ruled from 1010 BCE to 970 BCE for 40 years.  He was educated by the Torah;  the writings of Moses. 

• Theological Perspective: Jewish tradition views David as a prophet who composed psalms through divine inspiration, some describing events that happened long after his life. 

Trump doesn't know, but the idea of peace was also mentioned over 1,000 years before in the "Old Testament"  "The Old Testament (Jewish Tanakh) also highlights that false prophets would cry "peace" when there was no actual peace, warns against trusting in hollow security, and emphasizes that true peace is found only in obedience to God's law (Jeremiah 6:14, Psalm 119:165).  Israelis use the word "Shalom" every day, and this word means "Peace." 

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם)  is used for Hello, Goodbye and Peace.  A person is greeting with the word peace showing there is to be peace between them, and not meeting as opponents.  

 In the Old Testament, peace—primarily the Hebrew word shalom—signifies comprehensive completeness, wholeness, and safety rather than just the absence of conflict. It is portrayed as a gift from God (Leviticus 26:6), a result of righteousness and obedience (Isaiah 26:3, Psalm 119:165), and a future state of harmony for creation (Isaiah 11:6-9).

The Catholic church started off under the Romans with Emperor Constantine. The Roman Emperor Constantine I convened the First Council of Nicaea in 325 CE to address the nature of Jesus (Arianism) and unify Christian doctrine, including the timing of Easter. As the first ecumenical council, it aimed to resolve divisions within the church regarding Christ's divinity.  This is when they first started attacking Jews they saw as competitors to their new religion they were marketing. The fact is that it was not uncommon to see Romans converting to Judaism in Rome.  It was a religion of family, not fighting, and they liked it.  

Accordingly, though the traditional Jewish ideal was not pacifist,  it was always conceded that war can in some cases by justified.  In modern times, Jews, by virtue of their religious tradition as well as of their unique international position, have played an important part in international peace-movement.  

Saint Peter (born Shimon bar Yonah; c. 1 BC – AD 64/68), also known as Peter the Apostle and Simon Peter, was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the first leaders of the early Christian Church, another Jewish seeker, a fisherman.   

According to Catholic tradition, St. Peter is recognized as the first Pope, establishing the papacy in Rome around 30–64 AD. While Peter is the first in the unbroken line of Bishops of Rome, the formal, exclusive title "Pope" was not used until later centuries, with Marcellinus (d. 304) being one of the first associated with the title. 

Pope Marcellinus of 3rd century b: abt 254 CE, d: 304  CE.  He is today venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and in the Serbian Orthodox Church.   Marcellinus was a Roman, the son of Proiectus or Projectus. He succeeded Caius as bishop of Rome on 30 June 296. One reference said that during Diocletian’s persecution, Marcellinus offered incense to idols, but that, repenting shortly afterwards, he re-confessed the faith of Christ and suffered martyrdom with several companions.  I see that the change for all, including Constantine, was hard to handle from their idol worship and polytheistic belief of many gods and many slipped for years.  

The most harmful Popes towards the Jewish people were:  

• Pope Paul IV (1555–1559): Widely regarded as one of the most virulently antisemitic popes, Paul IV issued the papal bull Cum nimis absurdum in 1555, which created the Roman Ghetto, forced Jews to wear distinctive yellow hats, restricted their economic activity, and prohibited them from owning property.                    
  
  
  
• Pope Pius XII (1939–1958): Known for his controversial "silence" during the Holocaust, critics often describe him as a poor defender of Jews, with some calling him "Hitler's pope" for not publicly condemning the Nazi regime. But only one pope ever bore actual witness to a genocide and did absolutely nothing about it, and that was Eugenio Pacelli, Pope Pius XII, who reigned throughout all six years of the Second World War and the Holocaust.
• However, this view is heavily debated, as defenders point to his role in facilitating the rescue of thousands of Jews behind the scenes.  Notice that this was the period of the worst for Jews starting in Germany.  1939 was the tell-tale of the change in Germans towards Jews.  So I understand that he kept his mouth shut and didn't criticize the Nazis, and why? he would have been killed for it by the Nazis.  Trump, you should realize that you are President of a country who allows people to criticize their leader without fear.
  
                 Robert Francis Prevost b: 9/14/1955, age 71
• Today's Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost on September 14, 1955) is the 267th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, elected on May 8, 2025. As the first U.S.-born and first Augustinian pope, he is a former missionary to Peru who previously served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, focusing on bridging divides and continuing the reforms of his predecessor.
• Resource: 
• https://www.lifeway.com/en/articles/sermon-blessed-peacemakers-sons-god-matthew-5:9. 
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Council_of_Nicaea#:~:text=The%20First%20Council%20of%20Nicaea,have%20presided%20over%20its%20deliberations.
• https://rsc.byu.edu/vol-12-no-1-2011/jerusalem-conference-first-council-christian-church#:~:text=The%20most%20famous%20council%20of,local%20leader%20from%20Alexandria%2C%20Egypt.
• https://www.historyworld.net/history/Papacy/543?section=1st8thCentury
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Marcellinus
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caius
• https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-717557
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV
• https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/shalom/
• Tanakh (Old Testament)
• The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia ,1992, 7th edition
• ABC news
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Peter