The Bachelor's thesis places Ps 31 in historical context as well as explores how the image of God is presented within the psalm. Chapter 1 places Ps 31 in a wider context of the Bible, Psalter and the collections of psalms within the Psalter. It explores the time and circumstances of its origins, especially its connection to King David and the prophets Jeremiah and Jonah. Furthermore, it investigates the genre of Ps 31. In this chapter, a diversity of opinions of the experts is revealed. Chapter 2 shows Ps 31 from the viewpoints of form and content. In the first part of the chapter the structure of Ps 31 is defined and divided into five parts: verses 1-9,10-14,15-19,20-23,24-25. In the second part the literary analysis is presented. The questions of textual criticism and literary terms are discussed. Despite surprising turnabouts in the contents of Ps 31 which lead many exegetes to believe that Ps 31 is a compound of several other psalms, it becomes evident in this chapter of the thesis, that it is unified. In the third part of Chapter 2 a complete exegesis is made. It reveals the content and the course of the prayer in Ps 31: the verses 1-9 present God as a rock which the psalmist sought refuge upon and remind a praying person of God's marvellous deeds that he made in the history of Israel and in the psalmist's own history. Verses 10-14 explain the distress of the psalmist, consisting of illness, mockery and fear of being killed. In verses 15-19, the psalmist renews his trust in God, his cry for deliverance and requests for God's victory over the power of his enemies. Verses 20-23 show how God in reality delivered the psalmist which was mostly by the grace of God's presence. Verses 24-25 conclude the part of the psalm in which the psalmist addresses and encourages his fellow sufferers. Chapter 3 deals with the image of God in Ps 31. The image of God presented is God as a rock. This image is related with God's faithfulness. Following is the image of the face of God which is related to God's goodness. At the end of Chapter 3 we introduce the concept of God's and man's righteousness that both lead people to salvation and likeness with God.
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