Day 2, Psalms 2 and 3

For those folks who have sung Handel's Messiah, the first verse of Psalm 2 is familiar as part of that great oratorio: "Why do the nations conspire, and the people plot in vain?" This opening verse is part of a larger royal psalm meant for an occasion like the coronation of a king. The whole Psalm refers to political intrigue and cautions leaders to be wise and faithful, words that ring true today when the Canadian prime minister meets with the American president.
Psalm 3 switches gears, credited to David when he fled from to his son Absalom, and is the first lament in the book: "O Lord, how many are my foes?" (v.1). This Psalm also introduces one of the common themes throughout the entire book, the idea of the holy hill, Zion or the Temple Mount (v.4).
Most striking metaphor today: the need for dental work in Psalm 3:7:
Rive up, O Lord! Deliver me, O God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked."