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For the most part, when people read the psalms they read them for the positive messages and most miss the dark and ominous messages contained in them.

Let's look at verse 5:

The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity Psalms 5:5 (KJV)

Hate. There's a strong word that you don't hear many modern preachers emphasize.

Here's another treasure from Spurgeon's Treasury of David:

Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. It is not a little dislike, but a thorough hatred which God bears to workers of iniquity. To be hated of God is an awful thing. O let us be very faithful in warning the wicked around us, for it will be a terrible thing for them to fall into the hands of an angry God! Charles Spurgeon — Treasury of David, The

For the most part, when people read the psalms they read them for the positive messages and most miss the dark and ominous messages contained in them.

Yes, that is what struck me about the Psalms as I read through them.

I also noticed how David really looked at God as, not only God but as his King. Look at this verse.

Psa 5:2 Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, For to You I pray.

David really had a vision of the Kingship of God. God was a sovereign Ruler. Those who were wicked God would actively work/fight against. Those who were righteous were made righteous by the King but they also must conform to the Ruler's desires. It's like Psalms 2:

Psa 2:12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

The King would take care of His subject, protecting and helping them, but they were still subject to the desires of the King.

For the most part, when people read the psalms they read them for the positive messages and most miss the dark and ominous messages contained in them.

A minor amusing bit, re that. Last Sunday, in the "traditional service" (just like the "contemporary" one, except they tend Gaither songs instead of CCM Top 40. But that's a rant for another time.) we sand a song "Based on Psalm 139:23", which is

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!

Just because that's what I do, I looked up context. The previous 4 verses are:

19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!
O men of blood, depart from me!
20 They speak against you with malicious intent;
your enemies take your name in vain!
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?
22 I hate them with complete hatred;
I count them my enemies.

Out of context FAIL!

For the most part, when people read the psalms they read them for the positive messages and most miss the dark and ominous messages contained in them.

I read for both. My favorite is Psalm 73. That psalmist's struggle is my own. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever "

Life in this age is full of painful and bad things, and the Psalms speak of them.

And then there's times when they go all eschatological on us:

10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will bathe his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Mankind will say, “Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
surely there is a God who judges on earth.” --ps 58