Parallelism, Essay Example

A careful reading Psalms 23 and 137 of the King James Bible reveals a measure of parallelism. This parallelism is perhaps most salient between Psalms 23:4 and 137:1 as well as 23:5 and 137:3. What makes these examples parallel is what they communicate about historic predicaments. In 23:4, King David reassures himself of his faith and covenant with the Lord. Even though he is in a dangerous situation, he reiterates his commitment to belief that the Lord’s presence will protect him from harm and that the Lord’s guidance will see him through this time of difficulty. Much like in 137:1, when the exiled Israelites lament the captivity even though recalling past glory is hurtful, they still choose to remember the Lord’s favor though they are in reproof. This is the parallel: No matter how bad things get, at least we have our faith and vision.

The effect of this parallelism on the meaning of Psalms is a sense of transcendent temporality. It says,” No matter what happens, no matter how angry God may be with us, we have faith in His divine wisdom and countenance. For example, as King David endures the seemingly unendurable, in 23:5 he speaks as if what will come already is. He visualizes a time when the Lord will bring his opponents under control and reward him with comfort and riches. Similarly, in 137:3 as the captive Israelites are forced to humiliatingly perform their traditional music before the Babylonian court, the implication is that the message of the music itself existed before such times and will exist long after all of the actors are dead. The overall meaning is that even though this life is one of struggle, to be part of some good greater than ourselves is reason enough to continue living.