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Psalm 75 God’s Answer to the Boastful and Arrogant

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The Temple by Radojavor@deviantart.com

Psalm 75

<To the leader: Do Not Destroy. A Psalm of Asaph. A Song.>
1 We give thanks to you, O God; we give thanks; your name is near. People tell of your wondrous deeds.
2 At the set time that I appoint I will judge with equity.
3 When the earth totters, with all its inhabitants, it is I who keep its pillars steady. Selah
4 I say to the boastful, “Do not boast,” and to the wicked, “Do not lift up your horn;
5 do not lift up your horn on high, or speak with insolent neck.”
6 For not from the east or from the west and not from the wilderness comes lifting up;
7 but it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another.
8 For in the hand of the LORD there is a cup with foaming wine, well mixed; he will pour a draught from it, and all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs.
9 But I will rejoice forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 All the horns of the wicked I will cut off, but the horns of the righteous shall be exalted.

This short psalm which points to trusting God in the presence of those who are boastful and wicked may, like the previous psalm, originate in the context of the destruction of Judah by Babylon. The first three psalms of book three of the psalter are likely placed together intentionally at the beginning of the psalms of Asaph. Although the psalm itself does not have many references that would specifically point to the destruction of Jerusalem or the exile in Babylon it shares common language with the prophets of that time, particularly Habakkuk. Yet, the psalm itself can be a source of strength for anyone who is waiting for God to lift up the weak and bring down the arrogant, silence the boastful, and judge the wicked.

The psalm likely takes place in the context of a worshipping community praising God in preparation for petitioning God with their concern. The initial verse is a challenge to translate and understand because of the phrase ‘your name is near.’[1] Yet, if this is initially spoken within the context of a worshipping assembly in the temple (your name’s dwelling place in the previous psalm) it is a community giving God thanks in the midst of the temple. The words of the assembly are interrupted by God’s voice beginning in the second verse where God declares that at the appointed time God will judge with equity. The divine oracle may extend through verse five or verse six, but these words from the God who holds the pillars and foundations of the earth in the midst of the chaos tells the wicked and boastful not to sound their own horn. Perhaps this is the boastful Babylonians who are gloating in their military might and national power, but in the presence of the God of Israel their insolence is an annoyance. The solution to the crisis of that time will not come from the east (Egypt) or the west (Babylon) or the wilderness. The lifting up of the oppressed and lowly will be accomplished by the God of Israel. Verse eight uses a common image in scripture for God’s judgment, a cup,[2] and like the prophets the psalm expresses God’s judgment on the wicked and arrogant as a hope for the righteous who are suffering in the turmoil of the world. The divine voice returns for the final verse where the power (horns) of the wicked are cut off and the righteous are lifted up.

For the psalms, and the bible as a whole, the righteous live in dependence on God while the foolish, arrogant, and wicked boast in their own power and accomplishments. Even in the midst of the chaos of the world around them where the wicked seem to be powerful the faithful still assemble to give thanks to God and to anticipate God’s action to set the world aright.  The people of God have always been a “community waiting and hoping for justice.” (Brueggemann, 2014, p. 327) God’s justice may not be seen in the moment, but the community lives in hope and seeks out the places where they can hear God’s voice speaking to them. They wait for the time when the boastful are silenced and the wicked are brought down so that all of humanity and all creation can live in shalom (peace).

[1] The Hebrew versions of this (MT) reads “and near your name, they recount.” The Greek (LXX) and Syriac ancient translations read “and we call on your name.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 602) I agree with the NRSV and NIV which follow the Hebrew as explained above.

[2] Isaiah 51: 17, Jeremiah 25: 15; 49: 12, Ezekiel 23: 32-34, Habakkuk 2: 15-16, Revelation14: 10; 16:19; 18:6

Psalm 73 When Faith is Challenged

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

Psalm 73

<A Psalm of Asaph.>
1 Truly God is good to the upright, to those who are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled; my steps had nearly slipped.
3 For I was envious of the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pain; their bodies are sound and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are; they are not plagued like other people.
6 Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them like a garment.
7 Their eyes swell out with fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues range over the earth.
10 Therefore the people turn and praise them, and find no fault in them.
11 And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Such are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.
13 All in vain I have kept my heart clean and washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued, and am punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will talk on in this way,” I would have been untrue to the circle of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task,
17 until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I perceived their end.
18 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!
20 They are like a dream when one awakes; on awaking you despise their phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered, when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was stupid and ignorant; I was like a brute beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with you; you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me with honor.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire other than you.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
27 Indeed, those who are far from you will perish; you put an end to those who are false to you.
28 But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, to tell of all your works.

Several church communities I am familiar with have adopted the popular, “God is good all the time and all the time God is good” saying. While I do not disagree with the assertion that God is good, an honest reflection on the life of faith may question the experience of God’s goodness. One of the gifts of the psalter is that it includes prayers that wrestle with the experience of God’s goodness in a world where the wicked seem to prosper and the righteous suffer. The righteous ones in the psalms ask questions of God, speak openly of the things that make them question their way of life as they, “keep looking for truth in the midst of an imperfect world.” (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 593)

What does it mean for God to be good to the upright and the pure of heart in a world where the wicked are at peace and the righteous suffer. The observation of a world where the immediate experience seems to contradict the promise of prosperity for those keep God’s covenant. In Hebrew the psalmist sees the shalom of the wicked (translated prosperity in the NRSV). Shalom indicates peace and prosperity. It is what is promised to the righteous but is now viewed by the psalmist as being received by the wicked. Their physical and emotional health is secure, they are well fed, they bear no consequences for their violent words and actions, their pride is viewed by others as a virtue. Their way of life seems to contradict the will of God and yet they seem to be rewarded in society for their self-centered actions. On a societal level this seems to have been the struggle of Israel, staying faithful to God when their neighbors seemed to prosper, and on an individual level the psalmist confesses that it nearly caused him to stray from the path and adopt the practices of these apparently successful wicked ones.

In contrast the ones who has kept their hearts clean and washed their hands in innocence have encountered suffering.   Whether their pain is physical or social, it causes them to question the efficacy of the way of life they have attempted to walk. They live in tension between their faithfulness to the circle of the faithful and their view of the peace and prosperity of the wicked. In the moment the world appears to be upside down with the wicked prospering and being commended while the righteous suffer and are excluded or taken advantage of. It is only by bringing this question to the community of faith and the place of worship that the psalmist is able to see beyond their perception of the moment.

The resolution of this psalm reminds me of the difference between climate and weather. Weather is the observation of the atmospheric conditions and their impact in a short window of time while climate looks at the compilation of individual weather observations to study the changes over time. The psalmist initially is observing the wicked within a short window of time but once they enter the sanctuary of God they see that this window of time is transitory. In the moment the wicked may experience shalom, but it is an evanescent experience that will vanish like a dream disappears upon waking. Indeed, the psalmist views the current prosperity of the wicked as an slippery slope that ultimately leads to their ruin. The psalmist confesses their own shortsightedness which caused them to question God’s goodness in the world and to consider the attractiveness of the ways of the wicked ones who lived well-fed and well-loved in their community.

The psalmist ends in a space of faith. The experience of the moment is transitory, but God is their rock that they can lean upon. God’s justice may not be experienced immediately, but the wicked will not find shalom forever, they will find that God can know and that their actions are seen. Yet, in pondering the prosperity of the wicked, the righteous one has found their treasure in being close to God. The process of questioning one’s experience has brought the poet closer to God. The prosperity of the wicked no longer seems as appealing since the psalmist desires nothing more than the presence of God. For the upright they come to know that God is good not in their experience of material prosperity but instead in God’s physical proximity.