Book 68: The Painted Bird by Jerry Kosinski (1965)
This is a series of reflections reading through Time Magazine’s top 100 novels as selected by Lev Grossman and Richard Lacayo published since 1923 (when Time magazine was founded). For me this is an attempt to broaden my exposure to authors I may not encounter otherwise, especially as a person who was not a liberal arts major in college. Time’s list is alphabetical, so I decided to read through in a random order, and I plan to write a short reflection on each novel.
The Painted Bird was a journey into the darkness of humanity that makes the Lord of the Flies look like a children’s tale by comparison. This is a brutal book. The book is a multi-year journey of a young boy who starts out as a six-year-old in Eastern Europe at the beginning of World War II and ends the story as a traumatized twelve-year-old reunited with parents he has not seen for the duration of the war. Throughout the war the unnamed boy moves from one horrific situation to another. Sometimes this young child is the victim of the story’s violence from bullying or horrific abuse by some of the individuals he lives with. Sometimes we witness the atrocities that humans in society practice upon one another through the boy’s eyes. Important to the story is the boy’s appearance which is why he is sent into the country in the first place: he has darker skin, black hair, and black eyes and most of the adults in the story view him as a gypsy in a time when the Germans were putting gypsies and Jews in concentration camps. I’m not a person who normally advocates for trigger warnings, but I’ll make an exception for this book: there is child abuse, rape, torture, bestiality, sexual torture and even murder in a way to destroy someone sexually, cruelty to animals, and more. The story is fictional, but it does pull on some of the author’s experience in Poland as well as the experiences of others in Eastern Europe. The story is disturbing and it is meant to be, it paints the story of survivors in an inhumane world.
I cannot think of any book that disturbed me the way this one did. I can deal with the horrors of war, and I know that women and children are often victims in a society broken by conflict. Yet violence against women and children are abhorrent to me and this book has violence against women or children in every chapter. This was more horrific than any horror novel. The unnamed boy eventually loses his speaking voice in the story (although he remains the narrator throughout) as he witnesses the unspeakable. The book, written from the perspective of the boy, somehow manages to be dispassionate despite the horror inviting the reader to enter the numbness of the boy and the shattered people around him. Something of this story made me think of Hieronymus Bosch’s paintings of hell, where every manner of human deviance is displayed and amplified.
I can see the argument for this being an important book, especially in bearing witness to the horror of World War II specifically in Eastern Europe. I can see how for many oppressed groups the experience of this unnamed boy might at points resonate with their experience. It is a journey into the heart of darkness that one should not start lightly. Unless there is something very dark within you this is not a book to enjoy. I cannot think of a book I was happier to reach the end of. I can acknowledge this being an important book but there were so many scenes where I found the world and actions of the characters in the story repulsive. War may be hell, but the experiences of the boy and those around him in this story are some deeper, darker circle of hell.
1 Praise the LORD! How good it is to sing praises to our God, for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. 2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. 3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. 4 He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. 5 Great is our Lord and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. 6 The LORD lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills. 9 He gives to the animals their food and to the young ravens when they cry. 10 His delight is not in the strength of the horse nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner, 11 but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
12 Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. 14 He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat. 15 He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. 16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. 17 He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold? 18 He sends out his word and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. 19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel. 20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!
Bolded words have notes on translation below.
In the final five ‘Hallelujah’ psalms the praise of God radiates outwards. The previous psalm began with the praise of an individual, and now the praise moves to Jerusalem and Israel. From the prayer of the faithful person in Psalm 146 to the song of the faithful people in Psalm 147 the praise of God expands. Yet, even within this psalm there is a hint to the continuing expansion of God’s praise to come.
The psalm is composed of three stanzas, each with combine to call the people of Jerusalem to praise the LORD. The first stanza (vv. 1-6) begins the call to praise and lists several reasons for the praise of God. The initial verse points back to the gracious character of God but in the second and third verse we move to the gracious actions of God on behalf of the community of Israel. Many interpreters view the language of ‘gathering the outcasts of Israel’ placing this poem within a post-exilic time when the people are returning to Jerusalem after the Babylonian exile. The language of the psalm is similar to the language of Isaiah 40-66 and other post-exilic prophets and the brokenhearted whose wound are bound may be those who have endured the exile. Yet the vision of the psalmist moves from the people to the cosmos as the creator God numbers and names the stars. The God who lifts up the downtrodden and brings justice to curb the actions of the wicked is the same God who oversees the heavens and the earth.
The creation imagery continues in the second stanza (vv. 7-11). The people can sing with thanksgiving for the way God oversees the provision for all of the earth. The proper weather allows for the plants and animals to flourish, and the cries of the young raven are heard just as Israel’s cries for help. Throughout the last two psalms the weakness of humanity has been contrasted with the strength of God. Here as the strength of the horse or the speed of the human runner is not what God seeks, but those who place their fear and hope in him instead of their own strength, military strength,[1] or the strength of any beast of the earth.
In the third stanza all of Jerusalem is called to join in the Hallelujah. Israel was never a major military power, and especially if this psalm comes from a post-exilic context the people were unable to defend themselves against the empires of the day. It is the LORD that strengthens their defenses and protects their children. Just as God provides for the grass of the field and the ravens of the air, God provides the wheat for the people of Israel. God is in the commanding position of God’s word going out to the earth and accomplishing rapidly that what it intends to do. In language that resonates with God’s answer from the whirlwind in Job 38 we see the weather as a visible sign of God’s incredible power. Wind in verse eighteen is the Hebrew ruach which can also mean breath or spirit, and while wind is likely the primary meaning intended in this verse of weather-related imagery, God’s spirit also goes forth into the earth. Yet God’s power over the width and breadth of creation becomes known specifically in God’s revelation to Israel. The entire creation may witness the actions of God, but Israel has the words of God given in their specific revelation of the law. Israel occupies a special place in God’s world because they are the bearers of the word and law of God. They praise the LORD for their unique insight into the power, character, and will of God.
J. Clinton McCann, Jr. elegantly point to the belief underlying this psalm and many other psalms when he states:
At the heart of the biblical faith is the astounding claim that the power that has strewn the stars into their courses (v. 4) is the same power that—or better who—“heals all the brokenhearted” (v.3), “lifts up the downtrodden” (v.6), and declares an intelligible, personal, life-giving word to Israel (vv. 19-20). In short, our trust—indeed, our hope—is that the power behind the universe has a personal face that is turned toward us in “steadfast love” (v.11b). (NIB IV:1269)
As a part of the people of God, we claim insight into the character of God, God’s actions in the world, and God’s will for our lives, our society, and ultimately the ordering of the entire world. Praise enters the space of wonder that the God who creates the heavens and the earth responds to the need of the faithful people. Yet our cries and the cries of the raven are both heard by God. Here the people of God are called to praise the LORD, but in the coming psalms our songs join the symphony of creation in praising the LORD.
[1] Horses are primarily thought of as a military asset owned by the king rather than something a normal person would own for transportation or farm labor in the bible.
King David, the King of Israel by Gerard van Honthorst
Psalm 146
1Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! 2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God all my life long.
3 Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help. 4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.
5Happyare those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD their God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed; who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous. 9 The LORD watches over the strangers; he upholds the orphan and the widow, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD!
Bolded words have comments on translation below.
The psalter closes with five psalms that begin and end with the familiar Hebrew word Hallelujah (NRSVue Praise the LORD!). These final five psalms form a closing note of praise on this songbook of the faithful people. Throughout the experiences of the individual authors in various times, the underlying belief in the praiseworthiness of the LORD the God of the people has remained present. The questions of faith, the laments and heartbreaks, of the psalms all await God’s answer and resolution but even in the darkest moments the LORD is the one who the psalmists cry out to. Now as we move towards the conclusion of the psalter these final psalms send us out praising the LORD with all our being[1] for the duration of one’s entire life.
Psalm 146 moves from praising the LORD with all one’s being and days to the antithesis: trusting in rulers and human beings. Human leaders are necessary throughout society. Yet there is a tendency that continues in society to make leaders a source of ultimate trust. I am writing these words on the day of a midterm election in the United States where leaders and parties have attempted to portray themselves as trustworthy and their opponents as wicked. In this psalm the contrast is between the reliable and unending governance of God and “the transient incompetence of human governors.” (Mays, 1994, p. 440) Many religious leaders throughout history have stated that whatever we place our trust in is our god. Martin Luther, for example, in his Large Catechism framed it this way:
A “god” is the term for that to which we are to look for all good and in which we are to find refuge in all need. Therefore, to have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in that one with your whole heart. As I have often said, it is the trust and faith of the heart alone that make both God and an idol. If your faith and your trust are right, then your God is the true one. Conversely, where your trust is false and wrong, there you do not have the true God. For these two belong together, faith and God. Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God. (Luther, 2000, p. 386)
The psalm quickly turns from the foolish path of trusting in princes and mortals to the wise path of those whose help and hope is the God of Jacob. The Hebrew ‘asre (NRSVue happy) is a very common word in wisdom literature contrasting the wise path that leads to happiness/contentment/blessedness with the foolish path that leads to ruin. Those who trust in mortal perish, those whose hope is in God prosper.
The psalm then focuses on who this trustworthy God is and the character of God. The LORD is the creator of the heavens, the earth, the seas, and all that inhabits all these domains. This God who is the creator of all is a God who keeps faith forever. Many of the actions of keeping faith involve God’s care for the vulnerable: providing the justice for the oppressed, food to the hungry, freedom for prisoners, sight for the blind, lifting up those who are bowed down, watching over the strangers, and upholding the orphan and widow. This LORD of justice loves the righteous but brings the wicked to ruin (a traditional wisdom literature contrast). In contrast to the transient incompetence of human rulers, the LORD of justice who cares for the vulnerable will reign forever. This creator of heaven and earth, sea and all who fill them is worthy or praise, and the psalmist ends as they began: Hallelujah (Praise the LORD).
[1] The Hebrew nephesh translated ‘soul’ by the NRSVue does not have the sense of ‘soul’ as something separate from bodily existence that is characteristic of Greek thought. The Hebrew idea is something closer to the essence of life.
1I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. 2Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. 3Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; his greatness is unsearchable.
4One generation shall extol your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts. 5They will recount the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works I will meditate. 6They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. 7They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.
8The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. 9The LORD is good to all, and his compassion is over all that he has made.
10All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your faithful shall bless you. 11They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, 12to make known to all people your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations.
The LORD is faithful in all his words and gracious in all his deeds. 14The LORD upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. 15The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. 16You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. 17The LORD is just in all his ways and kind in all his doings. 18The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 19He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. 20The LORD watches over all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy.
21My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.
This is the final psalm in the psalter attributed to David, and the only Davidic psalm which declares in its superscription that it is a psalm of praise. I’ve often said that attempting to adequately praise God takes us to the edge of our ability to utilize our language and one of the things poetry does is it can help us expand our language. Psalm 145 does this by utilizing the acrostic form. An acrostic poem, which utilizes the letters of the alphabet sequentially, is a poetic way of designating completion but structurally the poem does a couple other unique things. The psalm begins and ends with blessing the divine name of God, forming a pair of bookends that contains the acrostic words of praise within. Within the Masoretic Text, the Hebrew text that most translations work from, the nun line (‘n’ sound in Hebrew) is missing although it appears in most English translations as verse 13b and is included in the Qumran and other ancient documents. Barnabas Linders suggests that the elimination of the nun line is intentional with verses 10-13 being the center of the poem focusing on the kingship of God. In these verses 11-13 the Hebrew words for king (melek) and kingdom (malkut) occur four times in three verses, and it may be coincidental (since it corresponds with the order of the Hebrew alphabet) but reading from thirteen up to eleven the three letters are mlk which form both king and kingdom in Hebrew.[1] If this is the psalmist’s intent the negation of the nun line would help call attention to this. (NIB IV: 1258-1259).
Sometimes acrostic psalms can jump around topically to keep within the demands of the form, but Psalm 145 from beginning to end focuses relentlessly on utilizing its words to praise God’s name forever and ever. The poem moves smoothly from the opening act of blessing into the action to the declaration of God’s acts by the people paired with the solitary meditation and praise of the psalmist. The psalmist’s words composed for this psalm were likely intended to be utilized in a larger space of communal worship where the individual and the community can together wonder aloud about the greatness and righteousness of the LORD.
Verse eight echoes the familiar self-declaration of God in Exodus 34:6, but then pairs this with the description of God as good and compassionate. As mentioned above, verses 10-13 which focus on the kingship and kingdom of God may be intended to be read as the heart of the poem capturing the idea that the version of the Lord’s Prayer that many Christians utilize closes with, “the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours. Forever and ever.”[2]The psalm continues by praising God’s acts of supporting those who are falling and lifting up those who are bowed down. The LORD is the one that every living thing looks to for provision and God reliably opens God’s hands to provide for the desires of all the creatures of the earth. The LORD is just and kind and near for those who call upon their God. As the psalm moves towards its closing it moves into the language of wisdom literature where God fulfills the desire of those who fear the LORD, delivering them when they cry out and watching over those who love the LORD but destroying the wicked. The psalm began with a solitary voice blessing the name of the LORD and closes with all flesh blessing the holy name of God forever and ever. Using both form and words it attempts to complete a blessing of the God who is king.
Psalm 145 has been a much-loved psalm throughout history. In the Rabbinic tradition of the Talmud Psalm 145, like the shema, (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) was to be repeated three times a day and doing this would assure one a place in the world to come. In the Dead Sea Scrolls there is a version with the refrain, “Blessed is the LORD and blessed is his name forever” likely intended for a call and response use within worship. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 990) Many Jewish and Christian leaders have viewed praise as the ultimate purpose of humanity, and Psalm 145 is a shining example of a poet and leader stretching their language to attempt to fulfill their purpose. As St. Augustine would later write in his famous Confessions, “you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”
[1] Most Hebrew words are based around three consonants (vowels are added later in Hebrew).
[2] In most modern translations of Matthew 6:9-13 and Luke 11: 2-4, where the Lord’s Prayer occurs, this closing is omitted. These words are in several ancient manuscripts, but not the oldest versions of Matthew and Luke and are normally present as a footnote in translations. Yet, this version is still utilized in many traditions.
Matteo Rosselli, 1620, The Triumphant David, Galleria Palatina, Florence.
Psalm 144
Of David.
1Blessedbe the LORD, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle, 2my rock and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues the peoples under me.
3O LORD, what are humans that you regard them, or mortals that you think of them? 4They are like a breath; their days are like a passing shadow.
5Bow your heavens, O LORD, and come down; touch the mountains so that they smoke. 6Make the lightning flash and scatter them; send out your arrows and rout them. 7Stretch out your hand from on high; set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hand of foreigners, 8whose mouths speak lies and whose right hands are false.
9I will sing a new song to you, O God; upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you, 10the one who gives victory to kings, who rescues his servant David. 11Rescue me from the cruel sword, and deliver me from the hand of aliens, whose mouths speak lies, and whose right hands are false.
12May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. 13May our barns be filled with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, 14and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets.
15Happyare the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the LORD.
Bolded words have comments on translation below.
My first memory of Psalm 144 was reading it be used as a prayer by Robert E. Lee in Michael Shaara’s The Killer Angels and later in the movie adaptation of the book Gettysburg. After reading these words I suspected they were a psalm and so I pulled out my bible and searched for the words and went on to read the entire psalm. This was many years before I was called to ministry and I found the opening words of the psalm a comforting phrase during my time as an officer in the U. S. Army. Many years later I would utilize this psalm during the funeral of my grandfather, Walter Clarkson, who had retired from the Army. Yet this psalm is never utilized in the Sunday readings in the Revised Common Lectionary which is why it took its quotation in a work of historical fiction for me to initially discover it.
My educated guess as to the reason this psalm is omitted from the lectionary is its opening line where the LORD prepares the speaker, David in the attribution, for combat. A reader in the United States in the twenty first century may be able to view conflict as a distant thing, but in the world of King David and throughout the story of Israel, military conflict was a frequent reality. As N.T. Wright comments in The New Testament and the People of God:
The land of Israel is a small country…But it has an importance out of all proportion to its size. Empires have fought over it. Every forty-four years out of the last four thousand, on average, an army has marched through it, whether to conquer it, to rescue it from someone else, to use it as a neutral battleground on which to fight a different enemy, or to take advantage of its natural route for getting somewhere else to fight there instead. (Wright, 1992, p. 3)
Israel was never an empire with a massive army. The Deuteronomy 17:16 prohibits the king from going down to Egypt to acquire the horses and chariots that which many armies in the region utilized. The leaders and soldiers of Israel were expected to depend on the LORD rather than either the newest technology or the size of their army. David was a warrior king, and these initial verses make sense within the story of his life shaped by frequent moments of combat.
Psalm 144 echoes the language of several other psalms. Nancy deClaissé-Walford has a helpful summary of the echoes:
It contains echoes of a number of other psalms in the Psalter, including Pss. 8:4 in 144:3; 39: 5-6 in v. 4; 33:2 and 3 in v. 9; and 33:12 in v. 15. But most prevalent in Psalm 144 are connections to Psalm 18, another royal psalm: 18:1, 2, 34, 46, 47 to 144: 1, 2; 18:9 to v.5; 18:14 to v. 6; 18:16, 44, 45 to vv. 7, 11; and Psalm 18’s superscription to v. 10. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 984)
Many commentaries treat Psalm 144 as a collection of sayings taken from other psalms and stitched together to create a psalm for a new situation. Although it is possible that Psalm 144 was composed in this way I find it likely that the commonalities in language are reflective of the language used in worship, giving vocabulary and structure to their prayers. Both Psalm 18 and 144 are attributed to David and the commonalities may also be due to a common authorship.
Because of the similarities between Psalm 144 and Psalm 18 the NRSVue harmonizes verse two, unnecessarily in my opinion, with 18:2. This obscures the Hebrew of 144:2 which states “my hesed (steadfast love) and my fortress.” The hesed of God is a critical idea in Hebrew and although the LORD is called the rock in the previous verse, the introduction of steadfast love here makes sense within the context. God’s steadfast love and deliverance are placed alongside God’s functioning as a safe space (tower/fortress, shield, refuge) for the psalmist.
Verse three transitions to a place of wondering about God’s regard for the psalmist. The language echoes the wonder of Psalm 8:4, but the words for humans (Hebrew ‘adam) and mortals (Hebrew ben ‘enos) are both singular. “What is a man (person) that you care for them, a son of man (human) that you think of them?” They are hebel[1] (NRSVue ‘breath). Hebel is one of the favorite words of Ecclesiastes meaning breath, wind, vapor, mist. It is an evanescent word translated ‘vanity’ in Ecclesiastes. The individual human may be as temporary as the wind or mist or may pass like a shadow. Yet, God still takes notice of them and prepares them for the conflicts they must face.
Many of the themes in verses five to eight are similar to the language in Psalm 18, but here the psalmist is asking for the LORD to act where in Psalm 18 they are recounting how God acted. As the individual prepares for an upcoming conflict, they ask for God to act in powerful ways: making the mountains smoke and lightning flash (like God’s appearance at Sinai). They ask their God who is their rock, stronghold, and fortress to deliver them from a perilous situation described metaphorically as a rising flood. Yet, the threat in the moment of this psalm’s composition appears to be an external enemy, foreigners/aliens (Hebrew bene-nakar in verses 7 and 11), who are unreliable. Perhaps a treaty has been violated, or some other deceptions have placed the psalmist in a situation where they must fight this foe. If the psalm comes from King David, his reign was full of conflicts.
In response to the LORD’s anticipated action on behalf of the leader and the people the psalmist promises a new song to God. God’s deliverance of the king will be the inspiration of this new song of praise. The “evil sword” (NRSVue ‘cruel sword’) is an expression only found in this psalm. The sword has been used as a figure of speech for the words of the wicked in other psalms.[2] (Mays, 1994, p. 436) Yet, the language of this psalm seems to fit with the preparation for real and not metaphorical conflict. The impact of armed conflict on an individual, an army, and a people can be devastating and I read this psalm as asking for deliverance from the harm that the enemy’s weapons can inflict.
The psalm turns from the concerns of war to the longing for the prosperity of peace. The psalmist’s immediate concern may be God preparing them for the upcoming fight but they long to think about sons and daughters, the harvest of the field and the produce of the flocks. Verse fourteen likely speaks of the delivery of livestock without complications rather than a breech in the walls of the city (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 988) but the overall sense of the verse is clear. A time when children can grow in peace, harvests are plentiful, animals are productive, and no one cries in distress. They prepare for war as they long for times of peace.
The psalm began with one word for blessing (Hebrew baruk) and the final verse now ends with another word for blessed (NRSVue ‘happy, Hebrew ‘asre). (Bellinger, 2014, p. 599) The Hebrew ‘asre[3] is frequently used in the psalms and wisdom literature and here the psalm ends with two statements beginning with ‘asre. Happy/blessed/content are the people on whom such blessings fall is linked with happy/blessed/content are the people whose God is the LORD. The psalmist proclaims that those who trust the LORD in the times of conflict will experience the blessing of the LORD in times of peace. Ultimately the psalm is one of trust that the LORD will both deliver and provide: be the rock, fortress, stronghold, and deliverer for the psalmist in their time of need and the one who gives the blessing of children, harvests, and flocks. They bless the LORD and they anticipate they will also experience blessing/happiness/contentment because they have trusted the LORD as their God.
[1] Sometimes written as hevel. In Hebrew the ‘b’ and ‘v’ sound are the same consonant. For more on this term see my comments on Ecclesiastes 1.
[3] The Hebrew ‘asre is translated as markarios in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament. This is the same Greek term used at the beginning of the Sermon of the Mount for ‘blessed’ in Matthew 5: 1-12.
St. Paul Writing His Epistles probably by Valentin de Boulogne (1618-1620)
Psalm 143
A Psalm of David
1Hear my prayer, O LORD; give ear to my supplications in your faithfulness; answer me in your righteousness. 2Do not enter into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you.
3For the enemy has pursued me, crushing my life to the ground, making me sit in darkness like those long dead. 4Therefore my spirit faints within me; my heart within me is appalled.
5I remember the days of old; I think about all your deeds; I meditate on the works of your hands. 6I stretch out my hands to you; my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Selah
7Answer me quickly, O LORD; my spirit fails. Do not hide your face from me, or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit. 8Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
9Save me, O LORD, from my enemies; I have fled to you for refuge. 10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.
11For your name’s sake, O LORD, preserve my life. In your righteousness bring me out of trouble. 12In your steadfast love cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries, for I am your servant.
The paradox of this psalm is that the speaker comes from a stance of submissiveness in need of God’s gracious deliverance while having enough trust in the relationship with their God to address God in a demanding way. The psalmist asks for God to: Hear, give ear, answer (1) do not enter into judgment (2), do not hide your face, let me hear, teach (7-8), save (9), teach, let your spirit lead (10), preserve, bring me out (11) cut off, and destroy (12). Yet the tone of the psalm for all these petitions comes from the position of one not asking for God’s action based on their worthiness or merit, but instead as one seeking a gracious God who will act decisively on behalf of God’s servant.
The psalm begins with an appeal to two of God’s characteristics: faithfulness (‘emet) and righteousness (tzedakah) and ends with an appeal to God’s righteousness and steadfast love (hesed). Righteousness is key to the movement of the psalm as the psalmist appeals twice to God’s righteousness but declares their own inability to be righteous before God. The idea that no person is righteous before God echo some of the declarations of Job and Ecclesiastes.[1] Job and his dialogue partners who seek a reason for Job’s suffering circle around this idea of the inability of a person to stand before God and the book ends with Job in humility answering God that he cannot stand before God. Ecclesiastes seeks meaning in the emptiness the teacher feels at his accomplishments and realizes that his actions eventually bring them into judgment before God. Now this servant of God in their unworthiness asks for God to forgo judgment based on worthiness and respond to their desperate need in grace.
The servant’s position is one of weakness. As in the previous psalm they are hunted, but in this psalm they have been captured and oppressed. The language is that of being near death: life crushed into the ground, sitting in darkness like the dead, a fainting spirit and an appalled heart at their inability to resist their persecutors actions. In this vulnerable state they remember[2] times past when God acted and they thirst for God like a parched land for rain. If in this moment of metaphors of being near death or being parched like the desert if God hides God’s face the speaker will be like the dead who descend to the Pit. Their spirit/breath[3] is failing and the long to hear of God’s steadfast love (hesed) in the morning that can bring their deliverance. They lift up their whole being (NRSV soul, Hebrew nephesh) to God requiring God’s instruction that they may walk in God’s way.
The servant asks for God’s deliverance for the sake of God’s name and reputation and not for their own worthiness. It is God’s righteousness that can bring them out of trouble, God’s steadfast love that will cut off their enemies and destroy their adversaries. The title of servant/slave (Hebrew abad) ties the speaker to the household of God and although this is a title of servitude it also implies responsibility of the master of the house defending and protecting the entire household. Yet, this servant of God is completely dependent upon God for delivering them from the threshold of death and saving them from their oppressors. In their own weakness they can only hope and remember the gracious nature of their God.
The servant of God’s dependence upon receiving a gracious deliverance without being able to stand before God in righteousness provided a scriptural building block for the Apostle Paul’s concept of justification by faith. As Paul can state in Romans 3:20,” For no human will be justified before him by deeds prescribed by the law, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.” Paul, like the psalmist, would lean into the relationship of the individual to their God relying on grace instead of justice. Like the psalmist, Paul spoke from a position of unworthiness desperate for God’s gracious deliverance of God’s servant.
[2] Remember (zakar) is a powerful concept in Hebrew utilized over two hundred times in the Old Testament. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 982) The thing remembered becomes the central thing to the person remembering, often the one thing they are holding onto.
A Maskil of David. When he was in the cave. A Prayer.
1With my voice I cry to the Lord; with my voice I make supplication to the Lord. 2I pour out my complaint before him; I tell my trouble before him. 3When my spirit is faint, you know my way.
In the path where I walk, they have hidden a trap for me. 4Look on my right hand and see: there is no one who takes notice of me; no refuge remains to me; no one cares for me.
5I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” 6Listen to my cry, for I am brought very low.
Save me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. 7Bring me out of prison, so that I may give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal bountifully with me.
The superscription of this psalm has two possible moments in the life of David. The first is in 1 Samuel 22 when David is in the cave at Adullam. David in this portion of his story has just departed from King Achish of Gath after pretending to be mad.[1] David arrives at Adullam alone, but later is met by family and other followers there. The alternative is when he is in the wilderness of En-gedi, fleeing from Saul’s army. This is the cave where David has the opportunity to kill Saul but only cuts off a portion of his cloak because he will not strike the LORD’s anointed one (1 Samuel 23-24). This psalm in which the speaker feels oppressed and abandoned by the community of faith could fit either situation or many other situations that people of faith have encountered.
The psalmist cries to the LORD from a moment where they feel alone, overwhelmed, and trapped. The verb for “cry to” is different from “call upon” at the beginning of Psalm 141. Here the word is the Hebrew za’aq, “which conveys the idea of crying out in acute distress and seeking deliverance.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 978) The word occurs twice in this psalm (vs. 1,5) and only three other times in the psalms (22:5; 107: 13,19). Yet, as J. Clinton McCann, Jr. notes
Hebrew za’aq…it recalls the exodus (see Exodus 2:23); it is a crucial part of the pattern in the book of Judges (see Judges 3:9, 15; 6: 6-7); indeed, it became understood as a typical element in God’s dealing with God’s people. (NIB IV: 1247)
Within the story of Israel, when they groaned and cried out (za’aq) to God, God heard and remembered them. Now the psalmist taps into this belief and cries out to God that they may be heard and remembered. They speak their complaint and trouble from this hiding place in the wilderness where their spirit is faint, they trust that God knows the way to their refuge.
Much of the imagery of the poem is related to hunting with the psalmist as the prey being pursued. The pursuit of their enemies has left them vulnerable and alone. Enemies can lay traps but there is no one at the right hand to come to the aid of the psalmist. In the language of the poem there is no where left for them to flee, no refuge to seek, they are imprisoned by the pursuing enemy. They are brought low and do not have the power to deliver themselves. Their only hope is that God will be their refuge, bring them out of their imprisonment, and deliver them from their pursuers. They desire to be in a place where they can be in the company of the righteous again, rather than being isolated and surrounded by their oppressors. Yet, even in their distress they trust that their God will deliver, deal bountifully with them, release them from prison, and return them to their place among God’s faithful people.
[1] Achish was aware of David as an opponent when he served under Saul and was suspicious of David’s loyalties, so David pretended to be mad but ultimately departs for Adullam when he is not welcome in Achish’s house.
and the lifting up of my hands as an evening sacrifice.
3Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD;
keep watch over the door of my lips.
4Do not turn my heart to any evil,
to busy myself with wicked deeds
in company with those who work iniquity;
do not let me eat of their delicacies.
5Let the righteous strike me;
let the faithful correct me.
Never let the oil of the wicked anoint my head,
for my prayer is continually against their wicked deeds.
6When they are given over to those who shall condemn them,
then they shall learn that my words were pleasant.
7Like a rock that one breaks apart and shatters on the land,
so shall their bones be strewn at the mouth of Sheol.
8But my eyes are turned toward you, O GOD, my Lord;
in you I seek refuge; do not leave me defenseless.
9Keep me from the trap that they have laid for me
and from the snares of evildoers.
10Let the wicked fall into their own nets,
while I alone escape.
The rich poetic imagery of the prayers of the worshipper ascending to God like the fragrant smoke of burning incense has always been a memorable aspect of this psalm. In my own practice this psalm is frequently used in evening prayer within the setting of Marty Haugen’s Holden Evening Prayer where verse two of the psalm becomes the refrain for the psalmody. Yet within the psalm there is a contrast between this slow imagery of prayers ascending like incense at the evening sacrifice and the urgent call of the psalmist for God to hear and come quickly. There are numerous verbal links with Psalm 140[1] but they are used to a different end. Psalm 140 cries out for God to deliver the psalmist from the poisonous words of violent men, but Psalm 141 calls on God to prevent the petitioner from their own heart and mouth being used for wickedness.
The psalm is linked poetically to the actions of worship: burning incense and offering a sacrifice. These words may originate during worship, or the author may view these words as a sacrifice and pleasant odor they can present before God. I appreciate the multisensory image which involves both scent and a visual image combined with the audible speaking of these words before God. If the prayer is offered at the evening sacrifice the petitioner may be hoping to partake in the holy portion of the evening sacrifice rather than the delicacies of those who work iniquity.
The psalmist called for God’s immediate action and that action is turned towards delivering them from the words and practices of the wicked. The language of the psalm is echoed in the warnings about appropriate companions scattered throughout Proverbs and many readers of this psalm believe the author has become associated with companions whose words and actions are evil. They ask God to guard their mouth and watch the door of their lips to prevent their tongue from becoming like the tongues sharp and snakes and lips with the venom of vipers in the previous psalm. Similarly, they ask God to keep their heart from evil and wicked deeds in the company of those who work iniquity. It is plausible that those the author speaks of are royalty and he may be echoing Proverbs 23:2, “Do not desire an official’s delicacies, for they are deceptive food.”
Any translation of verses five to seven of the psalm have had to smooth out the Hebrew text.[2] The NRSVue does a good job of creating a stanza that makes sense and I will follow their translation in continuing to discuss the psalm. The psalmist asks for the righteous to correct them, even striking them to discipline them. The language of anointing may indicate that the ones the psalmist speaks about are royalty and their anointing of the psalmist would be recognizing him as included in their group. Perhaps the psalmist is a prophet who has been speaking words that the princes and nobles did not want to hear, but they have attempted to entice him to join with them. Ultimately the psalmist agrees with the belief that God will not allow the wicked to prosper forever and eventually their bones will be scattered like a rock that shatters when it is cast against the ground.
They know that they are in danger of being ensnared by these wicked ones. Whether they have willingly been seduced into this position or these evil ones are attempting to trap them in words or actions, they understand that their deliverance will come from God. God can guard their mouth from words that can be used against them, turn their heart away from the acts which are contrary to God’s wisdom, or to be tempted by the delicacies that these workers of iniquity have set before them. Instead, the psalmist asks that these evil ones would fall into their own traps, ensnared in their own plots and actions. Just as Christians regularly pray “lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil” this psalmist knows the dangers of the temptations and the lure of the evil snares set for them.
The appeal of the psalm for God to guard our lips, our hearts, and ultimately our actions in an environment of temptation is a prayer that resonates for followers of every time. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent annually on advertising that asks us to taste the delicacies set before us. The digital world and the real world are full of traps to ensnare us in actions that we know are foolish but find enticing. The life of faith involves sending up prayers to God for words and actions that are faithful instead of wicked. We all need to be delivered from temptation. I certainly have had times where I needed divine help to restrain my tongue or to give me the strength to live according to my convictions. I have needed the correction of faithful brothers and sisters in the body of Christ. For me the psalm is a reminder that we rely on God and God’s people as we attempt to live a faithful life amid a world of temptations.
[1] Nancy deClaissé-Walford lists nine verbal connections: ““Wicked” (rasa) occurs in Pss. 140:8 and 141:4, 10; “righteousness” (sadiq) in 140:3 and 141:5; “guard, keep” (samar) in 140:4 and 141: 3, 9; “lip” (sapa) in 140:3,9 and 141:3; “malicious” (ra’) in 140: 1,2, 11 and 141:4; “LORD my Lord (YHWH’adonay) in 140:7 and 141:8; “trap” (pah) in 140:5 and 141:9; “snare” (moqes) in 140:5 and 141:9; and “lend an ear” (‘azan) in 140:6 and 141:1.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 972)
[2] Nancy deClaissé-Walford attempts to give a closer translation to the Hebrew:
5 Let the righteous strike me with hesed and reprove me;
let my head not refuse such oil
Indeed continually my prayer is against their maliciousness.
6 Let their judges be hurled down into the hands of the rock,
And then they will hear my sayings, for they are pleasant.
7 Like the furrowing and breaking up of the earth,
our bones are scattered to the mouth of Sheol. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 973)
The process of reading, reflecting and writing on scripture has been formative to my faith and growth over the past fourteen years. I’m always amazed at the discoveries in each book I’ve studied and the way previously underutilized texts have shared their world and wisdom with me. Attempting to translate scripture is more than the translation of the Greek or Hebrew into English, but it also involves translating the texts from a very different world and time to our modern ears. 1 Timothy is an excellent example of this. Sexuality, the role of women in the church and society, the expectations of the household, and the existence of slavery are just a couple of the realities that require translation between the first century and the twenty-first century. Yet I find this letter’s attempts to help Timothy address the conflicts over doctrine and practice in communities of faith in Ephesus providing a window into the life of the early church and some practical guidance for those attempting to manage the continuing reality of church conflict two millennia later.
1 Timothy gives us a window on Paul attempting to help the congregation in Ephesus receive the gospel of God’s salvation while navigating the expectations of the Roman empire and the Hellenistic world. He has to balance the church (ekklesia) with the household (oikos) especially since most churches likely met in the households of members. These early Christ followers come from very different economic backgrounds and likely have varying familiarity with the stories of Jesus and the Scriptures of the church (the Old Testament at this time). Timothy is given the challenging task of being Paul’s young emissary to these Ephesian churches where he has to provide a clear witness and exemplary example to the elders, young men, widows, young women, slaves, and masters among these households and churches. Church leadership both then and now can seem a daunting and impossible task at the same time it is viewed as a noble one.
This short letter provides numerous opportunities for reflection on the difference between the world of the early Christians and our own. For those willing to approach this text with curiosity it should provide an opportunity to refine what one believes and why one believes it. I am like many pastors who have rarely utilized the Pastoral Letters in my preaching and teaching, and I found this close examination of this letter very helpful. One of the things it challenged me to rethink was praying for those in leadership in government even when I may disagree with their beliefs or policies. The conviction that God desires to save all and the Christ was given as a ransom for all allows Paul to understand that kings, leaders, and even Caesar were in need of prayers, supplications, and thanksgivings.
