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TI McWethy

Tatiana McWethy

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The Psalms of David


The Psalms have inspired people with their poetic beauty and deep religiosity since ancient times. They helped in overcoming grief, loss, and encouraged people to turn to God, to cleanse their souls through repentance. The Psalter contains many thoughtful reflections, and words of guidance and of comfort. Not a single Orthodox service is conducted without the reciting or chanting of psalms. Psalm verses are woven into the services. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the Psalter is the most valuable book of the Old Testament for the Christian.

The “Psalms of David” painting is an attempt at thoughtful reflection, to find historical meaning in the psalms on the surface of the painting, inviting the viewer to a conversation, a discussion. The two worlds of the Old and New Testament meet in the space of the painting and form a single entity in the uninterrupted flow of time. The Old Testament is associated with something as yet earthly and chaotic. We see the ancient scroll on which a psalm is written, a scroll found in the Judean Desert at the Dead Sea. The New Testament is associated with the glimmering of gold crosses against the dark background of the creation of the world.
In the center of the painting is an ancient icon of the king and prophet David. How great was his faith and love for God! Here he is depicted holding a scroll of his psalms. Before us is one of his psalms written in Church Slavonic: “The Lord is my shepherd…”
The icon, the words of the psalms…The eye slips along the painting and we see the starry sky. That it is depicted here is no accident. The heavenly and the earthly, heaven and earth, time and eternity—all this finds expression in the psalms.

When David was still a young shepherd he conquered the mighty Goliath with a well-aimed blow from a stone. Later, he conquered evil with the power of the word.
The wheel of time turns from past to future. Generations come and go, each discovering for itself the great spiritual power of the psalms.

Oil on Linen 34 X 40

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