The 23rd Psalm

David Plotz has finally reached the book of Psalms in his Slate series - Blogging the Bible . Plotz's treatment of Psalms author David is both hilarious and aggravating. Plotz charts the book chapter by chapter so you get a thorough litany of David's self obsession. "How long, O Lord; Will You ignore me forever?"..."My God, my God, why have You abandoned me?"..."O Lord, do not punish me in anger".

Of course it's hard to find fault with the 23rd Psalm as it's one of the most perfectly crafted poems of all time. But I do have a beef with it. Not with its composition but with it's use in modern media - namely rap music. Imagine my sputtering offense when I heard Enimen attributed with the pastoral poem. Wha? Who? Just because Marshall uses the sublime line - "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death" does it by any means warrant him credit. So for all of you mistakenly fostering that silly thought - banish it immediately. David, King of Israel, poet and slayer of giants penned that beauty some 2000 years back. Like much of hip hop, Eminem just sampled the good stuff and fed it back, albeit with a swaggering beat.