CS Lewis in his book “Christian Reflections†(published in 1967), wrote, "The dominant impression I get from reading the Psalms is one of antiquity... In that momentary proximity they are almost shockingly alien; creatures of unrestrained emotion, wallowing in self-pity, sobbing, cursing, screaming in exultation (p114) ... we shall find in the Psalms expressions of a cruelty more vindictive and a self-righteousness more complete that anything in the [Greek] classics. If we ignore such passages and read only a few selected favourite Psalms, we miss the point. For the point is precisely this: that these same fanatic and homicidal Hebrews, and not the more enlightened peoples, again and again -- for brief moments -- reach a Christian level of spirituality. It is not that they are better or worse than the Pagans, but they are both better and worse.†(p116, "Christian Reflections")
Lewis is right about one thing. The Psalmist’s claim that he is perfectly righteous is ...
