Pslam 27

Allow me to preface this blog by saying Psalm 27:1-3 is one of my favorite verses. I find it rings the most melodic in the King James:

27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? 2 When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. 6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. 7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me. 8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. 9 Hide not thy face far from me; put not thy servant away in anger: thou hast been my help; leave me not, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up. 11 Teach me thy way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies. 12 Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies: for false witnesses are risen up against me, and such as breathe out cruelty. 13 I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

As we are well aware from reading the Samuels, David had many enemies. Rather than relying on his own strength, we see that David continually leans on God for strength and courage. One could say that finding Strength and Courage in the Lord might be the resounding theme for this Psalm. We could interpret by verses 4 and 5 that this Psalm was written after the Davidic or Royal Covenant is made (referring to 2 Samuel 7:11-16); however, it also could have been written while he was dwelling with the Philistines while Saul still sought his life. The "false witnesses" line leads one to believe that this may have been the case, because the Philistines did not trust David. He had slain so many of their own in the past that although the king of the Philistines trusted him, the people did not.

In verse 5 he so says that he is set upon a rock by the hand of God. There are many verses in the Bible that talk about rocks verses sand. One must build one's house on the solid rock, so that the foundation of the house does not sink into the earth. Sand is constantly shifting and moving; whereas a rock is stationary and strong. Both the sand and the rock are symbolic. It has also inspired hymns such "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand" (all other ground is sinking sand).

David was described as a man after God's own heart, and we can see this displayed in his literature. David fervently seeks God in these verses and captures the essence of his worshipful spirit. Even when he is confident in battle, he attributes the victory to the Lord rather than unto himself. In everything he does, he gives credit to the Lord. He recognizes that without Him, he would have nothing, be nothing. He puts aside his emotions and focuses on Yahweh, because he knows that no matter how he feels, God is always on his side. In verse 10, David writes that when we feel even our own family has abandoned us, we can rely on the Lord to take care of us.

At this point in time the idea of God being a light to one's life is somewhat of a new concept, that as a spiritual lantern, God would light a dark path or a dark place that man might see the way forward. The word Salvation here is also prophetic. Not only is He the Savior of David's life from those who would wish to harm him, but also that the lineage of Jesus would come from David, Christ being the Savior of all humanity. 'Whom shall I fear?' and 'Of whom shall I be afraid?' These very strongly resemble New Testament scripture in verses such as Romans 8:31, "If God is for us, whoever can be against us?" and Phillipians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" as well as 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind."

I & II Samuel: David and Attack on Titan (or Eren and Goliath)

There are many parallels between Attack on Titan and the Samuels. David came from humble beginnings as a shepherd. Eren Jaeger, the main character of Attack on Titan, was orphaned as a young man. Eren, like David, shows incredible courage and passion when fighting his enemies. The Germanic town of Wall Maria in which he lives, originally was very peaceful but gets destroyed one day by an unforseen Titan attack, and from then on is constantly under the attack by the Titans, much like the people of Israel are in constant battle with the Philistines. Israel can be paralled with and the Titans represent the Philistines. Titans are just what the name implies, giants, with an appetite for human flesh. The bigger the Titan, the more ugly and hideously disfigured they are, unless they are an "abnormal" in which case, anything goes. 

Eren Jaeger (or Yeager), Attack on Titan
Jaeger means hunter in German

Eren, like David, was able to stand up to his giants, slaying at least 20 of them. Whereas Saul was merely jealous of David, Eren was legitimately feared because he was able to turn into a Titan himself. This caused the humans of Wall Rose to greatly distrust him. This can also be paralleled to when Saul had pushed David so far out of Israel that David ended up fighting for the Philistines. The Philistines mistrusted David because he had slain so many of their own people. Although Eren is able to turn into a Titan, he obviously is not a traitor to his people although they are so terrified of Titans that even though he fought for them, the fact remains that he may not be able to control his Titan form. Eren ends up joining a special division of the Survey Corps who slay Titans. Eren joining the ranks of Titan slayers (to me) kind of alludes to David slaying 10,000s. 

Another allusion to David is killing at a young age. David was able to slay lions and wolves to protect his flock. When Eren was young, kidnappers came and killed his friend Mikasa's parents. In order to protect themselves, Eren and Mikasa brutally murdered the kidnappers. 

This is all within the first and second season of the anime. There may be more parallels and allusions, but I also dont want to spoil too much of the plot (for you or myself because I havent finished watching all the episodes to date).