When God Becomes My Enemy: The Theology of the Complaint Psalms

This study of the Complaint Psalms is specifically focused in exploring their theology. The book examines what the ancient Israelites did when their experiences led them to perceive God as an enemy and the underlying theological assumptions of these psalms. In the first section, the author discusses the issues and methods of this study and survey some of the background in contemporary scholarship. The second part presents the author's translation of each text, notes, structure, and progression in content and mood of each psalm, especially Psalms 6, 44, 74, 88, and 90. The third and final section studies further the problems and content of these psalms looks at the appeals employed to persuade Yahweh to change his course of action, in addition to the literary qualities, history, linguistics and theology of the complaint psalms.