As an Old Testament theologian and scholar, Walter Brueggemann categorized psalms into experiences of orientation, disorientation and reorientation (Brueggemann, 2012). According to Brueggemann, orientation concerns issues such as wisdom, creation, as well as a favor from God. A good example of orientation can be found in Psalms 8, where the reader sees David being oriented towards God. In this section of Psalms, David is full of wonder and praise to God due to His creation. The relationship between God and David is depicted since both know each other.
Under disorientation, Brueggemann has tried to show that as Christians, there is another shift to personal experiences besides being oriented towards God (Brueggemann, 2012). He notes that unlike the case with Saints in the Old Testament, Christians have to undergo extended times of feeling disoriented in their relationship with God, the world and themselves. The objective of being disoriented is to test Christian’s faith. During this time, one may find that life is not making sense due to many the “disorienting” events in life.
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On the other hand, reorientation entails the time of rediscovering oneself. Besides, this is the time that God intervenes to save his people (Brueggemann, 2012). However, Brueggemann is keen to remind the reader that for one to experience reorientation, there is need to persevere in the previous experience and call for help from God.
The above categories are helpful in that they help the reader of Psalms in understanding how life is as well as knowing God better. The objective is to give hope to humankind, especially Christians. Psalms show the life in Israel in different ways. According to Psalms, in ancient Israel, there were times of joy, tribulations and recollection (Brueggemann, 2012). However, they believed in God in all stages of life. The vision of worship has been used to show hope at all times. As can be seen in the videos, the characters still worship and praise God even when in problems, thus depicting hope in life.
Reference
Brueggemann, W. (2012). Spirituality of the Psalms . Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
