Category Archives: Psalms

Psalm 115 Trusting God Above All Things

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The Parable of the Talents, depicted by artist Andrei Mironov. Oil on canvas, 2013 Shared under CC-SA 4.0 http://artmiro.ru/blog/creative_commons/2015-07-04-244

Psalm 115

1 Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness.

2 Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

3 Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.

4 Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands.

5 They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see.

6 They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell.

7 They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; they make no sound in their throats.

8 Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them.

9 O Israel, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

10 O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

11 You who fear the LORD, trust in the LORD! He is their help and their shield.

12 The LORD has been mindful of us; he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron;

13 he will bless those who fear the LORD, both small and great.

14 May the LORD give you increase, both you and your children.

15 May you be blessed by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.

16 The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but the earth he has given to human beings.

17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any that go down into silence.

18 But we will bless the LORD from this time on and forevermore. Praise the LORD!

Martin Luther when talking about the first commandment explained the commandment on having no other gods by stating, “We are to fear, love, and trust God above all things.” Psalm 111 ended with “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” Now Psalm 115 centers on trusting the LORD. Chris Tomlin’s contemporary Christian song “Not to us” takes the first verse of this song and constructs a song around the first half of the verse, but if we were to construct a modern song based on the central idea of this psalm it would use verses nine through eleven as the chorus. Structurally this psalm centers on the call for Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the LORD to trust the LORD who will help and protect them.

The psalm begins with a call for the name of the LORD to be given its proper glory, honor, and respect. On the one hand, this does reflect the proper posture of humility for the worshipper of the LORD and calling on the actions of God and the actions of the worshipping community to be solely for God’s glory. On the other hand, throughout the Hebrew Scriptures when the people call upon God to act for the sake of God’s name they have frequently been unfaithful and unworthy of God’s redemption and rescue. The argument is frequently made by the people that the disaster that has come upon them has brought dishonor to the reputation of God. The psalmist knows that the LORD is a God of steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness. Yet the nations look at Israel and wonder where is their God? They may be looking upon the disaster that has occurred among the people and wonder if the LORD is absent or impotent. The psalmist protests that God is able to do whatever God pleases and that God rules from the heavens and unlike their neighbors in Canaan or Babylon they do not need, nor are they allowed to create, images of silver or gold.

The faith of Israel was centered on the God who forbade the constructions of images that would attempt to capture the image of God. The mocking of idols here resonates with Isaiah’s taunts in Isaiah 44: 9-20 which come from the time of the Babylonian exile. The faith of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim creates a worship space that looks very different from many other religions. My congregation sits next to a large Hindu temple and their worship space is configured around the images that are central to their practice. The world of both Canaan and Babylon (and oftentimes the practice inside Israel and Judah) were filled with alternative ‘gods’ and alternative ways of worship and practice. These practices of worshipping other gods also led to a different way of relating to the world and the neighbor. For the Jewish people their faith was a faith tied to the law (Torah) which envisioned a very different society than most societies we are aware of in the ancient world.

The polemic against idols is, as James Mays reminds us, “to chastise and correct the congregation itself in support of the first and second commandment.” (Mays, 1994, p. 367) The congregation of Israel was to focus on its own practices and be an example for the nations. Yet, Israel just like people of faith of all times struggled to trust in the LORD above all things. The psalm takes the people back to the heart of their faith, trusting the LORD who helps and protects them. There will always been temptations to trust in one’s acquired wealth, work, alliances, connections, or physical or military strength. Israel was never a world power with a large enough military to stand against the Egyptian, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, or Roman empires in their times. Throughout their history they were looked upon as an oddity. Both Jews and early Christians were sometimes viewed as atheists because they had no images for their God and they refrained from the practices of their neighbors to attempt to remain faithful to their God.

The heavens are the LORD’s but the earth has been given as a gift to human beings. One of the aspects of biblical faith is the understanding of the earth and our place within it as a gift. The God who created the earth continues to provide for not only the faithful ones but all the people and creatures of the earth. Those who fear the LORD know trust that they will experience God’s blessing of provision in both their fields and their families.

The psalm closes with the note that the dead do not praise the LORD. Throughout most of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) there is no view of the dead going to heaven or hell. When a place of the dead is mentioned, it is often utilized to bargain with God because the dead cannot praise God.[1] The focus of the Hebrew Scriptures is on life being lived in covenant with God and trusting that God will provide for that life.

This psalm is about trust and praise being directed toward the God of Israel. From the perspective of the scriptures this is the way of a wise life. Those who follow idols and their ways are foolish. It is a call for those who have directed their trust and praise elsewhere to repent and return to the path of wisdom. Idols do not need to be the creations of gold and silver that the psalmist references. In the United States we are taught in multiple ways to ensure our security through wealth, power, fame, education, and work. None of these things are evil, but when our trust relies on these things instead of the LORD our faith is misplaced. The psalm shares a similar concern with Joshua at the end of his time leading the people where he challenges the people to choose which path and which gods they will follow. “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” (Joshua 24:15) was Joshua’s challenge which the people answered that they also would serve the LORD. The people of Israel as well as the church continually has to remind itself that serving the LORD is very different from the alternative visions of faith present in the world. The psalm reminds me that we are to fear, love, and trust God above all things.

[1] See also Psalm 6:5.

Psalm 114 The Awesome God of the Exodus

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Dr. Lidia Kozenitzky, Painting of the Splitting of the Red Sea (2009) available from http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Effib

Psalm 114

1 When Israel went out from Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange language,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary, Israel his dominion.
3 The sea looked and fled; Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams, the hills like lambs.
5 Why is it, O sea, that you flee? O Jordan, that you turn back?
6 O mountains, that you skip like rams? O hills, like lambs?
7 Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water, the flint into a spring of water.

This second “Egyptian Hallel” psalm[1] praises the power of the LORD the God of Israel’s being. Throughout this short poem the nations, the waters, and the land all respond and tremble at the LORD’s presence. Nowhere in the poem does God act, except indirectly in the final verse. The background of the poem is the exodus narrative and the creation narrative. The LORD is the God of creation with power over the waters and the mountains, but also the God of the exodus who brought the people out of Egypt and into the promised land.

The poem is built on parallel expressions: Israel/house of Jacob; Judah/Israel; sea/Jordan; mountains/hills; and rock/flint. Each line doubles the reaction using these parallel expressions and intensifies the effect of the poem’s praise. The people’s experience of the power of the LORD goes back to the experience of God taking the people out of Egypt and making them into a sanctuary (Hebrew qados– devoted, set apart) (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 851) and dominion. The exodus narrative is the obvious reference alluded to throughout the poem and yet in poetic function the event becomes transformed to the creation’s reaction to the presence of the LORD among God’s people.

The opening verse informed the reader of the poem that the reference was the exodus and now in verse three the poet uses a set of parallels to bracket the biblical narrative of the exodus event. The sea which looks and flees from God references the crossing of the Red Sea in Exodus 14 while the crossing of the Jordan once it has turned back references the end of the journey in Joshua 3. The sea and river become things that flee[2] from the LORD’s presence among the people of Israel. The God who exercised control over the deep in creation is now feared by these waters which bracket the story of the exodus.

The mountains and hills, unmoving and permanent, now become like rams and lambs in their rapid motion. Psalm 29 used a similar image of Lebanon and Sirion fleeing before the LORD, even using the same term ‘skip’ although in that psalm the metaphor is a calf and a wild ox. Habakuk also utilizes a similar image of the hills and mountains being shattered and sinking at the appearance of the LORD.[3] This reaction of both the waters and the immovable rock of mountains and hills is caused by the presence of the LORD. The earth models the proper response by trembling.[4] Creation itself models that “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).

Although it should be clear throughout the poem that the people, the waters and the mountains are all responding to the God of Jacob, God is mentioned explicitly for the first time in verse seven.[5] The poem concludes by bringing the imagery of rock and water together with an allusion to God’s provision of water via Moses striking the rock at Rephidim in Exodus 17:1-7. The God who moved over the depths in creation and formed the seas, the rivers, the rocks, hills and mountains becomes known to God’s people who come to know God’s impact on the world as God brings them out of Egypt, providing water in the wilderness, and passing them through the waters of the Jordan into the promised land. The people and the earth tremble before the fearful presence of the LORD in their midst.

[1] Psalm 113-118 are often called the Egyptian Hallel psalms because they are recited on the Passover meal on the eighth day of Passover. They are the psalms used to celebrate God’s actions to take their ancestors out of Egypt.

[2] Psalm 77:16 uses a similar imagery.

[3] Habakkuk 3:6.

[4] Psalm 97:4 also has the earth trembling in reaction to the LORD’s lightning.

[5] In the NRSV in verse 2 God is mentioned in verse 2 when Judah became God’s sanctuary, but the Hebrew is simply Judah became his sanctuary (the third person singular pronoun is attached to qados the word for sanctuary.

Psalm 113 The God On High Who Lifts The Lowly

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Window on the south wall of St Andrews just outside the Feilden chapel, by Henry Holiday and depicting Holy Women of the Old and New Testaments: Sarah, Hannah, Ruth and Esther in the top four panels and the Virgin Mary, Elizabeth, Mary of Bethany and Dorcas in the lower. By Rodhullandemu – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=73469366

Psalm 113

1 Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD; praise the name of the LORD.
2 Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time on and forevermore.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised.
4 The LORD is high above all nations and his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high,
6 who looks far down on the heavens and the earth?
7 He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap,
8 to make them sit with princes, with the princes of his people.
9 He gives the barren woman a home, making her the joyous mother of children. Praise the LORD!

The God of the songs and stories of Israel is a God who turns the world upside down. The LORD of Israel is the one who is high above all nations and lords yet this God raises up the “triad of the wretched” (Bellinger, 2014, p. 490) the poor, the needy, and the barren. This is the LORD on high who lifts up the lowly. Psalm 113 echoes this paradoxical reality in Hebrew thought: the LORD is high above all things, and the LORD looks down and sees the lowliest of all things.

Psalm 113 begins and ends with Hallelujah (NRSV Praise the LORD!). Unlike the previous two psalms it is not an acrostic, instead it is a short poem with two easily discerned parts. In the first four verses the praising and honoring of the LORD is the focus. Verse five forms pivot where the psalmist asks, “Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high.” The final four verses consider how this LORD who is seated on high cares for the lowly.

The praise of the LORD in the first four verses continually mentions the LORD and the name of the LORD as the focus of the praise of the servants of the LORD. The name of the LORD, enshrined in the commandment to “not make wrongful use the name of the LORD your God,” (Exodus 20:7, Deuteronomy 5:11) is critical to the proper reverence of the God of Israel. Names in the ancient world were powerful things and this God whose name is to be praised at all times (from this time on forevermore and from the rising of the sun to its setting) was due the reverence afforded to the name of the LORD.[1] This God who is above all things and whose name is worthy of reverence is seated on high.

The LORD on high lifting up the lowly is easily seen in the English translations, but when the Hebrew is rendered in a more literal translation[2] the parallel is even clearer as J. Clinton McCann Jr. shows:

A more literal translation captures the effect; God “makes God’s self high in order to sit,” (v.5b) “makes God’s self low in order to see,” (v. 6a) “causes the poor to arise” (v.7a), “makes exalted the needy…to cause them to sit with princes.” (NIB IV: 1139)

God intervenes in the life of the poor, the needy and the barren woman. God uses God’s position and power to lift up the lowly. This is the God of Sarah. Rebekah, and Rachel in the book of Genesis, these formerly barren women who became the joyous mothers of children. This is the God of the exodus who took a poor and needy people out of their captivity through the wilderness into the promised land. This is the God who hears the song of Hannah (1 Samuel 2) and Mary (Luke 1:46-55) which both share common themes with the second half of Psalm 113.

Psalm 113 in modern Jewish life is the first of the “Egyptian Hallel” psalms which are utilized in the Passover celebration. It is possible that this was the psalm that Jesus and his followers sang before they went out to the Mount of Olives after the Last Supper (Mark 14:26). The Psalm resonates strongly with many of the themes of the ministry of Jesus, just as it resonates with the story, songs, and the law. As Deuteronomy reminds the people:

For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribes, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. (Deuteronomy 10: 17-18)

This short psalm captures a central theme of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures: the paradox that the God who is high over all things sees and lifts up the lowly.

[1] The four letters of the divine name given to Moses in Exodus 3:14 are behind the English translation of LORD in all capitol letters. The practice of translating this LORD comes from the practice of using the vowel pointings for ‘Adonai” (Hebrew lord) on the consonants in Hebrew so that the reader knows not to utter the name of the LORD the God of Israel.

[2] Translators have to make a difficult choice when rendering a language into another of how to balance the literal meaning of the words with the different syntax and expectations of the language they are translating into. A “wooden” or “literal” translation is often difficult to read or understand because Hebrew sentences often do not include elements that most English readers are used to.

Psalm 112 An Authentic Life Shaped by Wisdom

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The Presentation of the Torah By Édouard Moyse – Own work Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=41893002

Psalm 112 

1Praise the LORD! Happy are those who fear the LORD, who greatly delight in his commandments.
2Their descendants will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright will be blessed.
3Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever.
4They rise in the darkness as a light for the upright; they are gracious, merciful, and righteous.
5It is well with those who deal generously and lend, who conduct their affairs with justice.
6For the righteous will never be moved; they will be remembered forever.
7They are not afraid of evil tidings; their hearts are firm, secure in the LORD.
8Their hearts are steady, they will not be afraid; in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.
9They have distributed freely, they have given to the poor; their righteousness endures forever; their horn is exalted in honor.
10The wicked see it and are angry; they gnash their teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked comes to nothing.

Psalm 112 and Psalm 111 share a lot of commonalities. Both are acrostic poems with each cola beginning with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. They share commonalities in vocabulary[1] with each other and with wisdom literature in general. If Psalm 111 is the beginning of wisdom then Psalm 112 would be a life lived in wisdom. The fear of the LORD[2] here leads to a delighting in the commandments of the LORD and a life that is authentic and in harmony with God, society, and the creation.

Like Psalm 111 and 113, the first word of the psalm is Hallelujah (NRSV Praise the LORD). The acrostic poem begins with the second word asre (NRSV happy) which is a common indicator of wisdom literature. Like Psalm 1, which also begins with asre we are examining the contrast between a righteous life in harmony with God’s will for the world and a wicked life in conflict with God’s will. The Hebrew asre often translated ‘happy’ or ‘blessed’ or even ‘contented’ but the concept in Hebrew thought is closer to ‘wholeness’ or ‘completeness.’ This integrated life is a life of shalom, itself a word that has a much larger function than the standard English translation of peace. The way of wholeness and completeness is the way of wisdom. Those who ‘fear’ the LORD greatly delight in the LORD’s commandments. This is not a burdensome set of commands but the boundaries which provide the safe space where an individual can live a whole and integrated life.

The blessings of this whole person reflect the ideals of Hebrew thought. Abraham when he begins his journey with God is promised descendants, a blessing, house, land and prosperity and through his household all the nations will be blessed. For the ‘happy’ ones who follow the way of wisdom their descendants are mighty, their generation is blessed, their households are prosperous, and their righteousness endures. The Hebrew scriptures trust that God will provide for the righteous ones who follow God’s ways. Those who fear, love, and trust the LORD above all things will find that they have enough and even an abundance beyond what they need.

These wise and righteous ones reflect the God who they worship and serve. In Psalm 111 the LORD’s righteousness endures forever, and in verse three now the righteousness of these ‘happy’ ones endures forever. In Psalm 111 God was characterized as gracious and merciful and now these ones who fear the LORD are also gracious, merciful, and righteous. They become the image of the LORD they fear, obey, and worship. They become a light that reflects the light of the LORD for the upright in the darkness of the world.

This life of faithfulness is a life of generosity. They do not hoard what they have but deal generously and lend. They distribute freely and give to the poor trusting that God will provide what they need. They conduct their affairs in justice/righteousness[3] and that justice/righteousness has a gracious and merciful character. Their practices remain constant throughout their lives and they are examples who are remembered of a life well lived. They trust in the LORD and even in evil/wicked times they remain secure in their trust. Their horn, which is reflective of power and status, is exalted in honor.

In classical wisdom literature duality these ‘happy’ ones are contrasted with the wicked. The wise and the wicked are opposing ways of life. The wise life is generous and merciful while the wicked one does not care for the poor, does not live generously, and may aggressively attempt to take advantage of both the vulnerable and the generous righteous ones. Yet, the anger and aggression of the wicked melts away before the sustaining power of the LORD that the wise ones fear. The desire of the wicked comes to nothing.[4]

The way of wisdom in the Hebrew scriptures is a way of life that lives in harmony with God’s commandments. The law and wisdom are connected in Hebrew thought. The law provides the vision of a society where the weak are protected and harmony and peace are possible. A way that is wise fears and reverences the LORD, the God of Israel and reflects the generous and merciful nature of that God. It trusts that even when the wicked seem to prosper that their foolish path will lead to their demise.

[1] Nancy deClaissé-Walford notes eleven key terms and phrases that occur in both relatively short psalms including: fear, delight in, upright, good, gracious, merciful, righteousness, remember, steady, give, and for all time. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 843)

[2] See the discussion of the Hebrew word yare translated fear in English in my notes on Psalm 111.

[3] The Hebrew tsaddik is a key idea in the Hebrew Scriptures. Both justice and righteousness emerge from the family of terms in Hebrew, like the Greek dikaios/dikaisune.

[4] This is the same word that ends Psalm 1, ‘abad which means to perish.

Psalm 111 The Beginning of Wisdom

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An Old Woman Reading, Probably the Prophetess Hannah by Rembrandt (1631)

Psalm 111

1Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
2Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.
3Full of honor and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.
4He has gained renown by his wonderful deeds; the LORD is gracious and merciful.
5He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant.
6He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the heritage of the nations.
7The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.
8They are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.
9He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever. Holy and awesome is his name.
10The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever.

The next three psalms all begin with the word Hallelujah.[1] Psalms 111 and 112 are also acrostic poems with each cola[2] beginning alphabetically with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet (after the initial Hallelujah). Most previous acrostic poems have been by verse, but here there are twenty-two cola after the initial word. The acrostic form was used in the book of Lamentations to provide a sense of order to the disordered world of the poet, but in the Psalms acrostic poems are often used to focus on wisdom, describing how life should be lived. For most Hebrew people the organizing center of wisdom is the law (torah) which will be the focus of the acrostic of acrostic poems, Psalm 119. For Psalm 111 the beginning of wisdom is the fear (see below) of the LORD and that is organized around the ‘works of the LORD’ and the ‘works of the people’ in response to the LORD.

A key word for the poem is ‘works’ (Hebrew ma’asim) which occurs in verses 2, 6, and 7 with the same root being used in 4 (NRSV wonderful deeds) and a synonym being used in verse 3. Then the same word is used in verse 8 and 10 (NRSV practice, perform) for the faithful ones responding to the work of the LORD. Wisdom here is recognizing the ‘works of the LORD’s hands’ which are established ‘forever and ever’ and ‘working’ in faithfulness and uprightness. The psalmist when referring to the ‘wonderful deeds’ of God likely has in mind the defining story of the Hebrew people, the exodus where God brings the people out of Egypt and into the promised land.[3] Yet, God’s provision of food, mindfulness to the covenant, demonstrating God’s power before the nations, and granting the people a heritage or inheritance from the nations is an ongoing action. God is known by what ‘works’ God has done, or as Philip Melanchthon would famously say in the 1500s, “that to know Christ is to know his benefits.” (Melanchthon, 2014, p. 24)

The best-known line of this psalm is “the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” The Hebrew word for fear (yare’) encompasses a larger meaning than our English fear. As Nancy deClassé-Walford states it also means:

“awe, reverent, respect, honor.” It appears in Hebrew as a synonym for “love.” (‘ahab, Deut 10:12); “cling to” (dabaq, Deut 10:20); and “serve” (‘abad, Deut 6:13; Josh 24:14) (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 841)

Knowing the ‘works’ of God and performing these works should lead to honor and awe, respect and honor, service and love. Wisdom that has good understanding can, to use Martin Luther’s explanation of the first commandment, “fear, love, and trust God above all things.” The ‘fear of the LORD’ leads the poet to ‘give thanks to the LORD with their whole heart.’ This is what a wisely practiced life looks like.

[1] ‘Praise the LORD” (NRSV). Hallelujah is a compound word of the verb to praise (hallel) and the first half of the name of God (yah from Yahweh). Some scholars believe that the final verse of Psalm 113 was originally the opening verse of Psalm 114 which would make four psalms which begin with Hallelujah, but as we have received the text we have three psalms beginning with Hallelujah and with Psalm 113 opening and closing with the word.

[2] Hebrew poetry breaks lines into cola. This is often reflected in the printing of poetic portions of scripture in how they are displayed. Psalm 111 in most bibles is easily divided this way because each on begins alphabetically with the next letter of the Hebrew alphabet (excluding verse 1a ‘Hallelujah’). In this poem the cola are marked by punctuation (comma, semi-colon, or period).

[3] Wonderful deed (Hebrew nipla’ot) is often used to refer to God’s works at that time (Exodus 3:20; 15:11; Psalm 77: 11, 14). (NIB IV:1133)

The Book of Psalms 1-110

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Love is Not a Victory March by Marie -Esther@deviantart.com

BOOK I  (Psalms 1-41)

Psalm 1: Poetry and Law
Psalm 2: The Lord’s Messiah
Psalm 3: Hope in the Heart of Brokenness
Psalm 4: Finding a Space in the Blessing
Psalm 5: The God Who Hears and Protects
Psalm 6: How Long, O Lord
Psalm 7: The God Who Judges
Psalm 8: The Soul Searcher’s Psalm
Psalm 9: Praising the God of Justice and Might
Psalm 10: Calling on God to be God
Psalm 11: Confident Faith in the Midst of Trouble
Psalm 12: Save Us From Ourselves
Psalm 13: The Cry from the God Forsaken Place
Psalm 14: The Wisdom of Holding to the Covenant
Psalm 15: Entering the Sacred Presence of God
Psalm 16: Remaining Faithful in a Pluralistic Setting
Psalm 17: An Embodied Prayer
Psalm 18: Royal Thanks at the End of the Journey
Psalm 19: Creation, the Law and a Faithful Life
Psalm 20: In the Day of Trouble
Psalm 21: A Blessing for the King
Psalm 22: A Desperate Cry to God
Psalm 23: The LORD as Shepherd, Host and Destination
Psalm 24: The Coming of the LORD
Psalm 25: The Struggle of Faith from Aleph to Tav
Psalm 26: Liturgy of the Falsely Accused
Psalm 27: Faith in an Age of Anxiety
Psalm 28: Can You Hear Me LORD?
Psalm 29: The Thundering Voice of God
Psalm 30: The Life of Praise
Psalm 31: Faith, Questions and the Life of Faith
Psalm 32: A Psalm of Restoration
Psalm 33: The Earth is Full of the Steadfast Love of God
Psalm 34: The Experienced Faithfulness of God
Psalm 35: Lord, Fight for Me in the Struggle
Psalm 36: The Way of God and the Way of the Wicked
Psalm 37: A Song of a Wise Life
Psalm 38: A Cry for Forgiveness and Healing
Psalm 39: There Are No Words
Psalm 40: Experienced Faithfulness and the Hope of Deliverance
Psalm 41: The One Who Cares for the Poor

BOOK II (Psalms 42-72)

Psalm 42 Thirsting for God in an Arid Time
Psalm 43 Calling for God’s Love among a Loveless People
Psalm 44 Demanding a Fulfillment of God’s Covenant Promises
Psalm 45 A Love Song among the Psalms
Psalm 46 A Mighty Fortress
Psalm 47 God Assumes Kingship Over Creation
Psalm 48 God and Zion
Psalm 49 Wealth, Wisdom and Death
Psalm 50 Recalled to the Covenantal Life
Psalm 51 Seeking the Possibility of Redemption
Psalm 52 The Wicked Will Not Prosper Forever
Psalm 53 Reflecting Again on the Unjust
Psalm 54 A Cry for Deliverance
Psalm 55 A Desperate Prayer from an Unsafe Environment
Psalm 56 Trusting God in the Midst of Trouble
Psalm 57 Fleeing to the Steadfast Love and Faithfulness of God
Psalm 58 A Jagged Prayer for Vengeance
Psalm 59 God’s Steadfast Love as an Alternative to the Dog-Eat-Dog Worldview
Psalm 60 A Plea for God’s Return to the People
Psalm 61 A Life Dependent on God
Psalm 62 Truly Faith Surrounds My Troubles
Psalm 63 Hungering and Thirsting 
Psalm 64 Protect the Innocent One from the Words of the Wicked
Psalm 65 A Song of Thanksgiving to a Gracious Creator
Psalm 66 Formed by Steadfast Love
Psalm 67 A Blessing for the Earth
Psalm 68 God as Warrior and Protector of the Powerless
Psalm 69 A Cry for Deliverance from Unjust Suffering
Psalm 70 God Help Me Quickly
Psalm 71 A Prayer for Help Shaped by a Life of Worship
Psalm 72 Leading God’s Covenant People

Book III (Psalms 73-89)

Psalm 73 When Faith is Challenged
Psalm 74 A Psalm When the World Collapses
Psalm 75 God’s Answer to the Boastful and Arrogant
Psalm 76 The Fearfully Powerful Defender of Peace
Psalm 77 Searching for God in a Shattered World
Psalm 78 Telling History to Change the Future
Psalm 79 Words of Pain and Hope in a National Crisis
Psalm 80 A People Waiting for God’s Forgiven
Psalm 81 Hear! O People
Psalm 82 The God Who Upholds Justice for the Vulnerable
Psalm 83 A Fearful Prayer for Deliverance
Psalm 84 Better is One Day in the House of God
Psalm 85 Waiting for God’s Kingdom to Come
Psalm 86 A Servant’s Plea For Their Lord’s Deliverance
Psalm 87 Mother Jerusalem
Psalm 88 Only Darkness Knows Me
Psalm 89 Shattered Worlds and Broken Symbols

Book IV (Psalms 90-106)

Psalm 90 Remembering the Character of God in Crisis
Psalm 91 Enfolded in God’s Protection
Psalm 92 Song of the Sabbath
Psalm 93 God the King
Psalm 94 Thy Kingdom Come
Psalm 95 Lifting Up Voices and Listening in Silence
Psalm 96 A New Song of God’s Triumph
Psalm 97 The Righteous Reign of God
Psalm 98 A Joyous Song of God’s Salvation
Psalm 99 The Universal King Worshipped by a Particular People
Psalm 100 Know the LORD is God and We are God’s

Psalm 101 A Leader Shaping a Community of Character
Psalm 102 The Song of One Suffering in Solitude
Psalm 103 A Meditation on the Steadfast Love of God
Psalm 104 Praise the Great God of Creation
Psalm 105 Give Thanks to the Faithful God of Our Story
Psalm 106 Confessing the Unfaithfulness of the People of God

Book V (Psalms 107-150)

Psalm 107 The God of Steadfast Love Who Rescues
Psalm 108 Old Words Brought Together For A New Time
Psalm 109 A Prayer for God’s Vengeance
Psalm 110 A Psalm of Enthronement

Psalm 110 A Psalm of Enthronement

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Stained Glass window at the Melkite Catholic Annunciation Cathedral in Roslindale, MA depicting Christ the King with the regalia of a Byzantine Emperor

Psalm 110

Of David. A Psalm.
1The LORD says to my lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2The LORD sends out from Zion your mighty scepter. Rule in the midst of your foes.
3Your people will offer themselves willingly on the day you lead your forces on the holy mountains. From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
4The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”
5The LORD is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.
6He will execute judgment among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will shatter heads over the wide earth.
7He will drink from the stream by the path; therefore he will lift up his head.

Psalm 110 is repeatedly referenced in the New Testament[1] as a way of demonstrating that Jesus is the Messiah and that as the Messiah, he is more important even than David. Yet this psalm so important to early Christians is heard differently by Jewish readers. Within these reflections I’ve tried to hold both Christian and Jewish voices in conversation, and I think that both can help us gain a fuller picture of the scriptures that we share. This enthronement psalm shares similar themes to Psalm 2. Both psalms view this newly anointed lord as the chosen vessel of the LORD the God of Israel. The king may be seated at the right hand[2]

As an enthronement psalm for a Davidic king, these words would likely come from a court prophet or singer to be spoken as God’s words over the new king. The prophet or singer refers to the new king as ‘my lord’ because they serve that king. The capitalization of the letters in the other occurrences of LORD in this psalm indicate that it refers to the divine name, YHWH, and the vowels are pointed around the letters to indicate to the speaker to say ‘Lord’ (or Adonai in Hebrew) instead of the divine name. YHWH speaks through the prophet to the new king and invites the king into this position of honor and promises to fight on the new king’s behalf. Verse three is full of textual difficulties, as Nancy deClaissé- Walford states, the

words appear to be an elevated description of the newly enthroned monarch, obeyed willingly by the people and endowed with strength and stamina—the dew of your childhood—which emanate from the splendor of holiness.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 836)

Although there were both royal and priestly roles in the world of the Davidic kings, the kings of Israel did have priestly functions. Now the king is linked to the ancient figure of Melchizedek who comes from Salem, and who is also a king, and blesses Abraham by God Most High. This King of Salem becomes the priestly model for the King of Jerusalem, likely built on the same spot generations later. This installation of the new king in both a royal and priestly role integrates this new leader into their privileged place in God’s ordering of the world. (Mays, 1994, p. 352)

The ancient world was a violent place, and the Davidic kings were expected to lead the nation to both safety and military victory. Yet, Israel was never to be a military power,[3] and their strength resided in the God who executes judgment among the nations. The language of ‘filling the nations with corpses’ and ‘shattering heads over the wide earth’ continues the elevated description of the power behind the new monarch and the power behind the throne that ultimately controls the fate of the nations. The LORD, the God of Israel, will provide the stream beyond the path of the new king allowing this king to lift up his head in honor and strength.

Christian readers will hear this psalm through the lens of Christ, and ‘sitting at the right hand of the Father’ becomes a way that the church will talk about the honored and powerful position of Jesus for the church and the world. Jesus takes on the role of king for Christians and this led to the persecution of many early followers of Jesus who refused to pay honor to the divinity of Caesar. The book of Hebrews also highlights the way Jesus fulfils the role of the priesthood for Christians.[4] In liturgical churches the final Sunday of the church year is Christ the King Sunday which celebrates the way Jesus is enthroned at the right hand of God, but instead of being a conquering king he was a crucified messiah. Revelation 19: 11-16 is the closest the New Testament gets to the militaristic language of verse five and six of this psalm. The quotation of this psalm by Jesus in his conflicts with the Pharisees in Matthew 22:44 and parallels probably was not viewed as a convincing argument by his opponents and most Jewish leaders, if they utilize this psalm today, would be waiting for a return of a Davidic ruler who can rule from the power of the LORD the God of Israel and bring the nation back to a place of security. As large of a role as this psalm plays in the New Testament, I don’t believe that it plays a similar role in the thought of contemporary Judaism.

[1] Matthew 22:44; Mark 14:62; 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 2:34-35; 7:55; Romans 8:34; Ephesians1:20; Colossians 3:1; Hebrews 1:3,13; 8:1; 10:12; 1 Peter 3:22

[2] Being seated at the right hand is a position of honor and power. It is interesting that in Psalm 109 the psalmists asks for an accuser to take this position for the wicked person. The name Benjamin comes from a conjunction of the Hebrew word for son (bin) and right hand (yamin).  

[3] Deuteronomy 17: 14-20 which sets the limits on a king for Israel indicates that the focus is not to be on building a stronger military but instead on a ruler being faithful to the LORD and the covenant.

[4] Particularly Hebrews chapters 5 and 7.

Psalm 109 A Prayer For God’s Vengeance

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From Susan Harris Anger and art// A Rage to Paint https://www.susanharrisart.com/blog

Psalm 109

To the leader. Of David. A Psalm.
1Do not be silent, O God of my praise.
2For wicked and deceitful mouths are opened against me, speaking against me with lying tongues.
3They beset me with words of hate, and attack me without cause.
4In return for my love they accuse me, even while I make prayer for them.
5So they reward me evil for good, and hatred for my love.
6They say, “Appoint a wicked man against him; let an accuser stand on his right.
7When he is tried, let him be found guilty; let his prayer be counted as sin.
8May his days be few; may another seize his position.
9May his children be orphans, and his wife a widow.
10May his children wander about and beg; may they be driven out of the ruins they inhabit.
11May the creditor seize all that he has; may strangers plunder the fruits of his toil.
12May there be no one to do him a kindness, nor anyone to pity his orphaned children.
13May his posterity be cut off; may his name be blotted out in the second generation.
14May the iniquity of his father be remembered before the LORD, and do not let the sin of his mother be blotted out.
15Let them be before the LORD continually, and may his memory be cut off from the earth.
16For he did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to their death.
17He loved to curse; let curses come on him. He did not like blessing; may it be far from him.
18He clothed himself with cursing as his coat, may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones.
19May it be like a garment that he wraps around himself, like a belt that he wears every day.”
20May that be the reward of my accusers from the LORD, of those who speak evil against my life.
21But you, O LORD my LORD, act on my behalf for your name’s sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.
22For I am poor and needy, and my heart is pierced within me.
23I am gone like a shadow at evening; I am shaken off like a locust.
24My knees are weak through fasting; my body has become gaunt.
25I am an object of scorn to my accusers; when they see me, they shake their heads.
26Help me, O LORD my God! Save me according to your steadfast love.
27Let them know that this is your hand; you, O LORD, have done it.
28Let them curse, but you will bless. Let my assailants be put to shame; may your servant be glad.
29May my accusers be clothed with dishonor; may they be wrapped in their own shame as in a mantle.
30With my mouth I will give great thanks to the LORD; I will praise him in the midst of the throng.
31For he stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death.

This process of reflecting on scripture, particularly the parts of scripture that the church rarely utilizes, has opened my eyes to a far more dynamic and honest relationship between God and God’s people. Sometimes that dynamic and honest relationship is uncomfortable for people who grew up, like me, in churches where prayer was always a calm and measured practice. Psalm 109 rarely will find its way into a church bulletin or a sermon, but this psalm of imprecation that prays for harm to come to a wicked person provides a fertile place for discussion of the relationship between ourselves, others who have wronged us, and God. Anger and the desire for vengeance are powerful emotions, and too often we as people of faith have refused to give voice to these human feelings. Yet, these feelings will find their way into our lives and into the culture around us.

In a situation where the relationships that shape our society are shattered the faithful ones cry out to God. They name the brokenness that they encounter. They name those who have wronged them. But the brokenness of the world and the person who has brought about the suffering are placed into God’s hands. The person lifting up this cry to God has no ability to determine what God will do with the prayer and the ‘wicked one.’ Here, instead of suppressing the reality of suffering and pain or taking vengeance into their own hands, the faithful one cries out in desperation to God to act on their behalf.

Ellen Davis’s chapter on the cursing psalms in Getting Involved with God: Rediscovering the Old Testament (Davis, 2001, pp. 23-29) has shaped a lot of my thinking about the imprecatory (or cursing) psalms in general and this psalm in particular. The language of the bible shapes should shape our practices of faith, and the psalms and the prophets can give us language to articulate our honest feelings in our conversations with God. These may not be the more attractive offerings of thanksgiving or praise, but these words and feelings we also commit to God’s steadfast love. Ellen Davis shared the advice she received from a professor to take the imprecatory psalms into the chapel at a time when it was unoccupied and pray them at full voice. The experience helped her to move beyond her hurt and begin the needed journey to forgiveness. She remarks afterwards,

For the cursing psalms confront us with one of our most persistent idolatries, to which neither Israel nor the church has ever been immune: the belief that God has as little use for our enemies as we do, the desire to reduce God to an extension of our own embattled and wounded egos. (Davis, 2001, p. 26)

God cares for both the faithful and the wicked. Yet, that does not mean that the crimes of the wicked are not noticed by God. Psalm 109 anticipates a God who both hears this petition and acts upon it. The wicked and deceitful seem to have no problem using their words to shatter or their lies to cause harm to both the individual and the community. There are times when the innocent are surrounded by words of hate or attacked without justification. There are situations where love is repaid with hate and good with evil. As I was working through this psalm, I was reading Elie Wiesel’s Night where he shares his experience of being a young Jewish boy whose hope and faith were broken in Auschwitz in 1944 and Suzanne Collins, Sunrise on the Reaping which continues the fictional Hunger Games series where children are put into a fatal game for the entertainment of the powerful. Both the historical and the fictional may be extreme examples of a world where wickedness has triumphed over kindness, but the origin story of the people of Israel is the story of a God who rescued them from oppression and slavery. It is a story of a God who heard their cries and acted for their rescue from that a world without steadfast love.

One of the keys to hearing this psalm occurs in verse six. Most English translations being the verse with “They say” which places the most extreme portions of the psalm in the mouths of the adversary. Yet, there is no textual support in Hebrew for the words “they say.” (Bellinger, 2014, p. 473) Even if these words are put into the mouth of the adversary, the psalmist still wishes for these words that the adversary pulls around themselves like a cloak may become the garment they wear every day and soak into their body like water or oil all the way to the bones. Whether you read these words as being spoken by or toward the adversary, this brokenhearted prayer ascends to God bearing the hurt and brokenness of the psalmist’s world asking for God to intervene on the psalmist’s behalf and answer the psalmist’s pain.

The Hebrew word hesed, often translated steadfast love when coming from God or kindness (as in verse 12 and 16) when coming from other people, is a key idea throughout the Old Testament. Hesed is tied to the covenant between God and God’s people, as well as the covenant between the people of God. Central to the accusation of this individual is their failure to show hesed.

For he did not remember to show kindness (hesed), but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted to their death. Verse 16.

Hesed is the glue that holds the Hebrew society together. It is both the proper relationship between God and God’s people but also the proper relationship among the people. When hesed is not present, the poor, needy, and brokenhearted die. The implications of a person living in disregard for the standards of society may be fatal. This could apply to a nobleman in Jerusalem who takes advantage of the vulnerable or a businessperson or politician who uses their influence in a way that impacts the physical and emotional health of others. The bible’s way of thinking assumes a common obligation between humanity and creation to care for one another. I once heard Rolf Jacobson remark that the Ten Commandments and the law in general were about, “my neighbor’s best life.”

The words directed at the wicked adversary are sharp. That a wicked person would be appointed against him, someone to accuse him on his right hand, when he is tried to be found guilty (Hebrew wicked), and that his prayers would be sin (either missing the mark or something refused by God). That his life would be short and another would claim his position, that even his wife and children would bear the repercussions of his fall. The adversary created a world without hesed (kindness) for the psalmist and now may the world fail to show him hesed. That the sins of his ancestors would be remembered and yet his memory fade. In Hebrew I don’t think there could be a stronger curse than to encounter a world devoid of hesed.

 One verse of this psalm has entered the political dynamics of the United States. I first encountered a bumper sticker with Psalm 109:8, “May his days be few, may another seize his position” referring to Barak Obama. The psalm is used to appear to be prayerful and cursing at the same time. Psalm 109:8 may have been utilized before Barak Obama, but I have seen it used to piously point to Donald Trump and Joe Biden since. It is unlikely that most people who have worn this psalm proudly on a shirt, button, or on their car read the entirety of the psalm, but unfortunately in the polarized and angry political climate the vengeful desires against not only those in power but their entire family would probably be embraced by many. Verse eight is also the only verse of this psalm that appears in the New Testament, in Acts 1:20, when Peter makes the case for replacing Judas. Yet, the use in the New Testament bears no desire for vengeance on Judas, merely understands the psalm as authorizing the search for a new disciple to fill the twelfth position after Judas’s death.

How do we use this rarely utilized psalm. My first reflection comes from Dietrich Bonhoeffer in his The Prayerbook of the Bible:

So the psalm of vengeance leads to the cross of Jesus and to the love of God that forgives enemies. I cannot forgive the enemies of God by myself, only the crucified Christ can; and I can forgive through him. So the carrying out of vengeance becomes grace for all in Jesus Christ. (DBWE 5:175)

Bonhoeffer takes the traditional Lutheran law-gospel hermeneutic where the psalm of vengeance (as law) pushes us to the love of God in Christ (gospel). As Ellen Davis mentioned earlier our inability to see anything redeemable in our enemies does not preclude God from acting in mercy and grace towards them. But Ellen Davis also has a wise if uncomfortable way of utilizing these psalms of cursing:

If you have the courage (and it will take some), try turning the psalm a full 180 degrees, until it is directed at yourself, and ask: Is there anyone in the community of God’s people who might want to say this to God about me—or maybe, about us? (Davis, 2001, p. 28)

We may not feel oppressed. We may not have anything we need to forgive in another, but perhaps there is someone who we have wronged. Whose futures have we, intentionally or unintentionally, harmed? Whose wives and children have learned to curse our names as individuals or as a group? Whose reputations have we destroyed? In her own way she encourages this use of the psalm as law which highlights the places where we also have not shown hesed.

Yet even a psalm of cursing ends with thanks to the God who defends the needy and saves from those who would condemn. Ultimately hesed, so important to this psalm and the Old Testament in general, is one of the defining characteristics of God. God is both the model of what hesed looks like, but also the one who intervenes when hesed is not found. This psalm has demonstrated all the differences between the world of oppression the psalmist lives in and the world God intends for God’s people. It resonates with the Lord’s prayer which calls out to God for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Psalm 108 Old Words Brought Together For A New Time

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Nehemiah View the Ruins of jerusalem’s Walls, Gustav Dore 1866

Psalm 108

A Song. A Psalm of David.
 1My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul!
 2Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.
 3I will give thanks to you, O LORD, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations.
 4For your steadfast love is higher than the heavens, and your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
 5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.
 6Give victory with your right hand, and answer me, so that those whom you love may be rescued.
 7God has promised in his sanctuary: “With exultation I will divide up Shechem, and portion out the Vale of Succoth.
 8Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine; Ephraim is my helmet; Judah is my scepter.
 9Moab is my washbasin; on Edom I hurl my shoe; over Philistia I shout in triumph.”
 10Who will bring me to the fortified city? Who will lead me to Edom?
 11Have you not rejected us, O God? You do not go out, O God, with our armies.
 12O grant us help against the foe, for human help is worthless.
 13With God we shall do valiantly; it is he who will tread down our foes.

Psalm 108 brings together portions of two psalms attributed to David for a new time. Most interpreters believe that Psalm 57: 7-11 and Psalm 60: 5-12 were written before they were later joined together in the current psalm. This is a common practice in scripture where a key idea or phrase is utilized in multiple contexts[1] but here the entirety of the psalm is a composition of two previous psalms. Psalm 57: 7-11 forms the initial five verses while Psalm 60: 5-12 forms the final eight verses. Based on the position of Psalm 108 in book five of the Psalter the new situation may involve the return of the people to their home after the exile, but even without knowing a concrete situation for the invocation of these words from earlier psalms it points to the long-standing resonance and vitality of these words in the life of the people.

The heart (the organ of will in Hebrew) is steadfast and the proper response to the steadfast love of God is for the entirety of one’s being to respond in praise and song. The steadfast love (hesed) and the faithfulness of God are beyond measure and the psalmist’s gift of song echoes the chorus of a grateful creation to its creator. The joyous ending of Psalm 57 introduces the petition of verse six which initiates the quotation of Psalm 60.

The psalms are spoken from the embodied experience of the covenant people, and that experience involves times where God’s promise and presence feel distant. The beloved ones of God have always understood their continued existence was contingent on God’s continual provision. As in a previous time the people do not need a stronger army or a better military technology, they need the God who reigns over both Israel and the surrounding nations, to come to their aid. As J. Clinton McCann Jr. can articulate.

Their prayer is not that of the powerful, who seek to claim God’s sanction of the status quo. Rather, their prayer is the desperate prayer of those who turn to God as the only possible hope in an apparently hopeless situation (v. 11) (NIB IV:918)

If these words reemerge in the fragile situation of the post-exilic return to Jerusalem where the people are threatened by hostile neighbors, the reminder that Moab, Edom, and Philistia are all under God’s claim[2] is a source of comfort. Yet, the people who claim the title of ‘those whom you love’ now feel the abandonment of God. God no longer goes out with the people or defends them, but they cry out to God for God’s renewed favor.

The psalms understand the dependence of the people upon God’s continual provision but also speak eloquently about the perception of God’s absence. This psalm utilizes two previously utilized psalms to speak of the trust in God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in a time where they feel endangered by God’s absence. Yet, the perception of God’s distance causes the beloved ones of God to cry out to God for deliverance from their current distress. For they can do nothing on their own, but with God they shall do valiantly.

[1] For example, 1 Chronicles 16 brings together Psalm 105: 1-11 and Psalm 106: 35-36, of Isaiah 2: 2-4 is repeated in Micah 4: 2-3. There are numerous other examples of parallels.

[2] The designation of Moab as washbasin, Edom as a place where shoes are hurled, and Philistia as one that the LORD shouts in triumph over may be intended as an insult to these nations, but it also may simply be a way of designating that they too remain under God’s control. Moab, Edom, and Philistia all incur words of judgment in the prophets (Ezekiel 25, Jeremiah 47–48, Obadiah 12-13).  

Psalm 107 The God of Steadfast Love Who Rescues

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Rembrandt, Christ in the Storm (1633)

Psalm 107

 1O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever.
 2Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, those he redeemed from trouble
 3and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.
 4Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to an inhabited town;
 5hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted within them.
 6Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress;
 7he led them by a straight way, until they reached an inhabited town.
 8Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
 9For he satisfies the thirsty, and the hungry he fills with good things.
 10Some sat in darkness and in gloom, prisoners in misery and in irons,
 11for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High.
 12Their hearts were bowed down with hard labor; they fell down, with no one to help.
 13Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
 14he brought them out of darkness and gloom, and broke their bonds asunder.
 15Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
 16For he shatters the doors of bronze, and cuts in two the bars of iron.
 17Some were sick through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities endured affliction;
 18they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death.
 19Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress;
 20he sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from destruction.
 21Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
 22And let them offer thanksgiving sacrifices, and tell of his deeds with songs of joy.
 23Some went down to the sea in ships, doing business on the mighty waters;
 24they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.
 25For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.
 26They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their calamity;
 27they reeled and staggered like drunkards, and were at their wits’ end.
 28Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out from their distress;
 29he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.
 30Then they were glad because they had quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.
 31Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wonderful works to humankind.
 32Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders.
 33He turns rivers into a desert, springs of water into thirsty ground,
 34a fruitful land into a salty waste, because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
 35He turns a desert into pools of water, a parched land into springs of water.
 36And there he lets the hungry live, and they establish a town to live in;
 37they sow fields, and plant vineyards, and get a fruitful yield.
 38By his blessing they multiply greatly, and he does not let their cattle decrease.
 39When they are diminished and brought low through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
 40he pours contempt on princes and makes them wander in trackless wastes;
 41but he raises up the needy out of distress, and makes their families like flocks.
 42The upright see it and are glad; and all wickedness stops its mouth.
 43Let those who are wise give heed to these things, and consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

This psalm of thanksgiving divides into four representative manners by which the faithful have been saved by their God: hunger and thirst, imprisonment and oppression, sickness and nearing death, and bombarded by wind and waves upon the sea. These four life threatening events are matched to the four cardinal directions of the compass in most English translations.[1] The LORD, the God of Israel, is the one who rescues from the wilderness of the desert and the dangers of the sea, from the bondage and oppression as well as sickness because of sinful ways. God responds to the cries of a lost and scattered people and provides them food and drink, recovery and rescue.

Like many psalms, this psalm focuses on the steadfast love (hesed) of God. God’s unending steadfast love is the reason for the song, but the steadfast love is recognized through the redemption that has been received. The desert wastes were a theme of both the people’s original journey from Egypt to the promised land, and an exilic theme as God promises the people a new exodus leading them from exile to their home. The land of Israel is bordered by the Syrian and Arabian deserts to the east as well as the Saharan desert to the south. Although there are fertile places in the Middle East, and much of Israel is a productive land, any extended travel over land involves traversing the desert. Within the desert waste it is very easy to become lost, and both food and water are precious commodities away from one’s home. Yet in the song they cry to the LORD and there is an immediate (in the progression of the text) reply to the cry of distress. The LORD hears the hungry and thirsty and satisfies them with good things. The LORD hears the lost and leads them on a straight path to a town where they can receive shelter and nourishment. Although hunger and thirst play a significant role in the narrative of the exodus and the words of the prophets pointing to a return to the promised land it is only mentioned here in the psalms, with the exception for hungering and thirsting for God (Psalm 42,43). (Mays, 1994, p. 345)

The second tribulation that the people cry out from is imprisonment and oppression. This also echoes the original situation of the people at the beginning of the exodus as well as the exile, yet the only other psalm that mentions imprisonment is Psalm 142. Here the imprisonment is because they rebelled and spurned the words of God and likely reflects the experience of the community in exile rather than one individual imprisoned, yet even this experience of imprisonment and oppression the people call, and God responds. No bronze doors or iron bars can prevent the LORD from rescuing the people of God when they cry out for deliverance.

The sickness experienced, like the imprisonment in the previous section, is a result of sin and iniquity. The Hebrew term translated sickness (‘awal) means ‘foolish ones.’ (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 818) The petitioner is suffering as a result of their own actions, and they are at the point where they can no longer eat and stand at the gate of death. Yet even the gate of death is not too far for the LORD to hear their call and respond in steadfast love. Sickness and imprisonment, hunger and thirst, being lost in the desert and even lost at sea the people of God remainonly a cry away from the experience of the steadfast love of God.

Finally, the faithful are rescued from calamity on the sea. Seafaring was not a large part of Hebrew culture and the only other psalm speaking about the sea is Jonah’s prayer in Jonah 2. Yet, like the wanderers lost in the desert these seafarers are lost in the wind and waves of the sea. Once again, the mighty wonders of the LORD on the sea may terrify, but the LORD’s mighty deliverance is reason for praise. Sailors are reduced to reeling like drunkards until the LORD delivers them from the wind and waves which threaten their ship and their lives. The action of Jesus to still the wind and the waves with a word[2] echoes the obedience of the waves and wind to the LORD in verse twenty-nine. The LORD brings those lost at sea back to a haven.

Martin Luther captures the essence of this psalm which responds to all the LORD has done when he states, “For all of this I owe it to God to thank and praise, serve and obey him.” (Luther, 1978, p. 25) Later hymnwriters would try to lift up their thanks in songs like William Whitings “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” and Martin Rinkhart’s “Now Thank We All Our God.” For God has led God’s people through desert and sea, sickness and suffering. Yet, God can also turn the fertile places to infertile. The princes who wield power are humbled before the power of the LORD, but the humble crying out for deliverance are saved. The God of the psalms is the God who created and sustains the heavens and the earth. This God can turn the current reality in creation upside down: deserts can become fertile, while rivers can run dry, storms can be stilled, and even the chaotic sea tamed. The Weak can turn to their God of steadfast love for deliverance but the proud and foolish princes may find their way frustrated by the same God. Wisdom to the psalmist is considering the steadfast love of God which does amazing things for the faithful ones who cry out for deliverance.

[1] No Hebrew Manuscript has ‘south’ in verse three. Instead in Hebrew the word is sea, and several other translations also have sea (including the Septuagint and the Vulgate). 

[2] Matthew 8: 23-27, Mark 4: 35-41, Luke 8: 22-25.