Tag Archives: Psalms of praise

Psalm 147 The Praise of God’s People

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Ripples (or Capillary Waves) in Water By Roger McLassus, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=513043

Psalm 147

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.

Psalm 146 The Praiseworthy God

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King David, the King of Israel by Gerard van Honthorst

Psalm 146

1 Praise 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.

5 Happy are 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.

Psalm 145 Poetry in Praise of the LORD

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Saint Augustin By Philippe de Champaigne - Los Angeles County Museum of Art: online database: entry 171584, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8481227
Saint Augustin by Philippe de Champaigne – Los Angeles County Museum of Art: online database: entry 171584, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8481227

Psalm 145

Praise. Of David.

1 I will extol you, my God and King,
 and bless your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
 and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the LORD and greatly to be praised;
 his greatness is unsearchable.

4 One generation shall extol your works to another
 and shall declare your mighty acts.
5 They will recount the glorious splendor of your majesty,
 and on your wondrous works I will meditate.
6 They will proclaim the might of your awesome deeds,
 and I will declare your greatness.
7 They shall celebrate the fame of your abundant goodness
 and shall sing aloud of your righteousness.

8 The LORD is gracious and merciful,
 slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
9 The LORD is good to all,
 and his compassion is over all that he has made.

10 All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD,
 and all your faithful shall bless you.
11 They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom
 and tell of your power,
12 to make known to all people your mighty deeds
 and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your 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.
14 The LORD upholds all who are falling
 and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look to you,
 and you give them their food in due season.
16 You open your hand,
 satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is just in all his ways
 and kind in all his doings.
18 The LORD is near to all who call on him,
 to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of all who fear him;
 he also hears their cry and saves them.
20 The LORD watches over all who love him,
 but all the wicked he will destroy.

21 My 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.

Psalm 138 Praising the LORD With One’s Whole Heart and Being

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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 138

Of David.

1 I give you thanks, O LORD, with my whole heart;
  before the gods I sing your praise;
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
  and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
  for you have exalted your name and your word
  above everything.
3 On the day I called, you answered me;
  you increased my strength of soul.

4 All the kings of the earth shall praise you, O LORD,
  for they have heard the words of your mouth.
5 They shall sing of the ways of the LORD,
  for great is the glory of the LORD.
6 For though the LORD is high, he regards the lowly,
  but the haughty he perceives from far away.

7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
  you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies;
 you stretch out your hand,
  and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
  your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.
  Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Psalm 138 utilizes themes common throughout the book of Psalms as it thanks and praises the God the psalmist follows with their whole heart. To follow the LORD with one’s whole heart is not merely a matter of belief but also behavior. The heart in Hebrew thought is not the seat of emotion but the seat of will and intention. The first stanza of the psalm begins with the heart, the seat of will and intention, and ends with the nephesh (NRSVue soul) which is the center or essence of life and being. ‘Heart’ and ‘soul’ they give thanks, sing praise, bow down, and call upon the LORD their God.

This psalm, like many portions of the Hebrew Scriptures, are not monotheistic as we conceive, but view the LORD the God of Israel as the God above all gods. In the midst of a pluralistic world where others worship other gods the psalmist sings the praise of the God above all gods. This God whose name[1] and ‘word’[2] are exalted above everything is the God worthy of thanks, praise and bowing down to. The LORD is known by the central descriptions of God’s characters: ‘steadfast love’ (hesed)[3] and faithfulness (‘emet). The LORD is a God who answers when the psalmist calls and they are strengthened in courage and ‘strength of soul’ in response.

The praise of the LORD expands from the psalmist in the first stanza to ‘all the kings of the earth’ in the second. The ‘words’ of the LORD have now spread to the nations and these mighty one join the psalmist in singing of the glory of God. Throughout the psalms there have been times when the praise of God has been echoed throughout the creation but here the emphasis is on the nations not only praising the glory and power of the LORD but also the ways of the LORD. Central to the way of the LORD is the care of the lowly who God regards. The mighty and haughty may find themselves distant from God but the lowly and vulnerable are seen and protected by God. The kings of the earth in honoring the ways of God would also turn to practices which protect the vulnerable and lowly.

Even though the psalmist appears to be delivered in the first stanza, the final stanza returns to God protecting them in the midst of trouble. Thematically this stanza is similar to Psalm 23 preserving the faithful one in the midst of trouble and delivering them from their enemies. The hand of the LORD is a central feature to these final two verses, appearing three times. The psalmist is the work of the hands of God but also asks God to stretch out the hand in protection and deliver with the right hand. The LORD fulfills God’s purposes, and the psalmist echoes the refrain of Psalm 136 ‘your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever.’ J. Clinton McCann Jr. summarizes the psalm nicely when he states:

The psalmist is able to present his or her whole life to God, because the psalmist trust that it is God’s character to manifest “steadfast love” (hesed) and “faithfulness” (‘emet). (NIB IV: 1232)

The psalmist’s wholehearted and embodied thanks, praise and worship points to a future reality when all the king and nations of the earth join in the celebration of the ways of God. They entrust themselves to the God of steadfast love and faithfulness who walks with them in the midst of trouble.

[1] The name of the LORD is a central idea in Hebrew thought and lies behind the commandment on honoring God’s name and keeping it holy. The temple, for example, is ‘a house built for the name of the LORD.’ The name of the LORD can refer to the presence of God but with the understanding that all the earth cannot contain the presence of the LORD.

[2] The Hebrew term for ‘word’ throughout this psalm is not the normal debar but instead from the verbal root ‘amar. Nancy deClaissé-Walford indicates this is more of an emphasis on voicing of the word and perhaps ‘sayings’ is a more accurate translation of this less common word. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 960)

[3] For more about the hesed of God see my comments on Psalm 136.

Psalm 118 A Reflection on the Steadfast Love of God

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Aerial image of the Coburg Fortress By Carsten Steger – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=108179310

Psalm 118

1 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!

2 Let Israel say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

3 Let the house of Aaron say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

4 Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.”

5 Out of my distress I called on the LORD; the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place.

6 With the LORD on my side I do not fear. What can mortals do to me?

7 The LORD is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.

8 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in mortals.

9 It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.

10 All nations surrounded me; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

11 They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

12 They surrounded me like bees; they blazed like a fire of thorns; in the name of the LORD I cut them off!

13 I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me.

14 The LORD is my strength and my might; he has become my salvation.

15 There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous: “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly;

16 the right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly.”

17 I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.

18 The LORD has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death.

19 Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD.

20 This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it.

21 I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation.

22 The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

23 This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.

24 This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

25 Save us, we beseech you, O LORD! O LORD, we beseech you, give us success!

26 Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless you from the house of the LORD.

27 The LORD is God, and he has given us light. Bind the festal procession with branches, up to the horns of the altar.

28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God, I will extol you.

29 O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.

Psalm 118 has the flow of a moment of worship with a repetition which easily leads to a responsive feel between the primary speaker and the congregation gathered. This psalm closes the Egyptian hallel psalms used during the Passover meal in the Jewish tradition and is the psalm for both Palm Sunday and Easter in the lectionary for Christians. Although we cannot know how this psalm was used in the time after its composition it does echo in all four gospels as they tell of the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before the crucifixion as well as numerous other echoes throughout the New Testament. Martin Luther, while he was hiding at Coburg Castle during the Diet of Augsburg inscribed the words of verse seventeen on the wall as a message of confidence and reassurance. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 868) This worship like song of praise has shaped the practice and faith of countless generations of both Jewish and Christian faithful.

The opening words of Psalm 118 are words frequently used in gathering people for worship or concluding a prayer in worship in the Hebrew Scriptures. Chronicles uses nearly identical wording to close for David’s first psalm of thanksgiving when the ark of the covenant is brought into the tent of God, Solomon uses it while dedicating the temple, and Jehoshaphat uses these words in his reformation.[1] Both Psalm 106 and 107 have the same words in their opening verse. Particularly with the opening of Psalm 107 which begins book five of the psalter and Psalm 118 beginning and ending with this statement about the goodness of the LORD and the hesed (steadfast love NRSV) of God enduring forever may form both a bookend for the psalm but also for this portion of the psalter. Psalm 118 on its own and this group of psalms (107-118) can be grouped together as a reflection on the goodness and the hesed of God.

Israel, the house of Aaron, and those who fear the LORD are all to declare that the LORD’s hesed endures forever. These are the same trio of groups called upon to trust the LORD in Psalm 115: 9-11 and to the initial readers it was likely an emphatic way of referring to all of Israel, although most modern readers hear the final verse as expanding this trust and proclamation beyond Israel to ‘those who fear the LORD’ throughout the nations. For Psalm 118 the focus in the first four and final verse on the hesed of the LORD prepares the hearer of the psalm to reflect on the verses in between as demonstrating and explaining the unending hesed of the LORD.

The speaker speaks of the LORD’s rescue of them from a tight space. The Hebrew word for distress (mesar) in verse five has the sense of “narrow,” “restricted,” or “tight.” (NIB IV:1154) Knowing this fuller meaning gives a more poetic flow to the verse as the speaker is taken from a tight or narrow space into a broad place. This rescue leads the psalmist to speak in trust in confidence in the LORD’s ability to deliver from anything that mortals and rulers (princes) may array against them. As the apostle Paul will later state to the church in Rome in an echo of this psalm, “If God is for us, who is against us.” (Romans 8:31b) The psalm echoes the common image of God as a refuge against these mortals and princes arrayed against them.

These enemies poetically swarm like bees, blaze like fire among thorns and push hard against the psalmist but the LORD cuts them off and helps the faithful one in distress. The words of verse fourteen through sixteen pulls on the words of the song of Moses in Exodus 15:1-18, ancient songs of faith whose words that become relevant to the psalmist’s experience of delivery. After the ordeal which pushed the psalmist hard but the LORD delivered, they can exclaim that “I shall not die, but I shall live, and recount the deeds of the LORD.”

Throughout the Hebrew scriptures there is a primary testimony that punishment and testing all come from God. Yet, even in that testing and punishment there is mercy where God does not abandon the psalmist and allows them to both endure the moment and enter into this time of praise and triumph. There is the movement through the gates of the righteous into the worship space where the psalmist can lift up his triumphal praise with the congregation of the faithful. Verse twenty-two which speaks of the stone the builders rejected probably referred to the psalmist originally (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 868) but this psalm is used multiple times in the New Testament as a way of reflecting on the rejection and exaltation of Jesus.[2] This marvelous deliverance from the tight space to the broad place allows the psalmist and those gathered with him to realize that “this is a day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

The psalm closes with what continues to feel like a triumphal procession which continues to seek the favor of the LORD as they celebrate the moment of triumph. As mentioned above, verse twenty-six echoes in the gospel narration of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem before his crucifixion. Even if we may not fully grasp the specifics of the worship event in the psalm where the festal procession is bound with branches, the movement towards the altar and the temple is clear. The people and the psalmist process in thanksgiving and praise to celebrate the experience of deliverance because of the hesed of God. They continue to worship the God they experience as a good God of unending steadfast love (hesed).

[1] 1 Chronicles 16:34; 2 Chronicles 5:13; 7:2; 20:21.

[2] Mark 12: 10-11; Acts 4: 11; Ephesians 2: 20-21; 1 Peter 2: 4-8.

Psalm 117 The Goal of all the Peoples

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Tarnov literary and art school, Miriams Tanz, Miniatur aus dem bulfarischen Tomic Psalter (1360-1363)

Psalm 117

1 Praise the LORD, all you nations! Extol him, all you peoples!

2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD!

This is the shortest psalm in the psalter, but as James L. Mays states, “it thinks on a grand scale.” (Mays, 1994, p. 372) The people of Israel were never a world empire, nor were they a people who aggressively attempted to spread their beliefs and worship practices to the world around them. Yet, they do believe that the LORD is the God not only of Israel. The LORD created the heavens and the earth and all the peoples of the world. Just as the psalmist has encouraged the people gathered to worship to join in the hymn of all creation, now all the peoples of the nations are invited to participate in the end for which they were created: the praise of the LORD.

The motivation for the nations and peoples turning to the LORD in praise in this short psalm is not the acts of God but the character of God. The steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness (‘emeth) of God are a frequently used pair of attributes that are rooted in God’s self-description in Exodus 34: 6-7. These attributes of the LORD are great[1] and powerful enough is the psalmist’s imagination to evoke a scene where all the nations of the earth join in proclaiming Hallelujah! (NRSV Praise the LORD)[2]

The apostle Paul quotes Psalm 117:1 in Romans 15:11 with several other references to the nations (Gentiles) praising God. This psalm helped shape his vision of a world where every knee could bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10-11) Yet before the evangelistic movement of the early Christians into the nations there exists within the Jewish imagination a vision of a world where the nations join with them in their praise of God. Ultimately the telos[3] or end/goal of all humanity is the praise of God and in this psalm, we get to envision the world where all the nations are engaged in their proper work of praise.

[1] Brueggeman and Bellinger note that the term “great” in Hebrew is better translated might or strength with a military connotation. The term has the meaning of the strength to work one’s will. (Bellinger, 2014, p. 503)

[2] Hallelujah is the Hebrew word for praise (hallel) and shortened form of the name of God (yah) joined together.

[3] I’ve written about telos when working through the Gospel of Matthew in Perfection and Blamelessness in the Bible. I like the way Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt capture the idea of telos  in The Coddling of the American Mind. “Aristotle often evaluated a thing with respect to its “telos”—its purpose, end, or goal. The telos of a knife is to cut. A knife that does not cut well is not a good knife.” (Haidt, 2018, p. 253)

Psalm 104 Praise the Great God of Creation

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Sun over Lake Hawea in New Zealand By Michal Klajban – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78855569

Psalm 104

 1Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great. You are clothed with honor and majesty,
 2wrapped in light as with a garment. You stretch out the heavens like a tent,
 3you set the beams of your chambers on the waters, you make the clouds your chariot, you ride on the wings of the wind,
 4you make the winds your messengers, fire and flame your ministers.
 5You set the earth on its foundations, so that it shall never be shaken.
 6You cover it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains.
 7At your rebuke they flee; at the sound of your thunder they take to flight.
 8They rose up to the mountains, ran down to the valleys to the place that you appointed for them.
 9You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.
 10You make springs gush forth in the valleys; they flow between the hills,
 11giving drink to every wild animal; the wild asses quench their thirst.
 12By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation; they sing among the branches.
 13From your lofty abode you water the mountains; the earth is satisfied with the fruit of your work.
 14You cause the grass to grow for the cattle, and plants for people to use, to bring forth food from the earth,
 15and wine to gladden the human heart, oil to make the face shine, and bread to strengthen the human heart.
 16The trees of the LORD are watered abundantly, the cedars of Lebanon that he planted.
 17In them the birds build their nests; the stork has its home in the fir trees.
 18The high mountains are for the wild goats; the rocks are a refuge for the coneys.
 19You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting.
 20You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out.
 21The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.
 22When the sun rises, they withdraw and lie down in their dens.
 23People go out to their work and to their labor until the evening.
 24O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
 25Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.
 26There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed to sport in it.
 27These all look to you to give them their food in due season;
 28when you give to them, they gather it up; when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.
 29When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die
 and return to their dust.
 30When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.
 31May the glory of the LORD endure forever; may the LORD rejoice in his works —
 32who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.
 33I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being.
 34May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD.
 35Let sinners be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless the LORD, O my soul. Praise the LORD!

This psalm and its predecessor are linked by their common opening and closing, “Bless the LORD, O my soul (nephesh).”  The pairing of these psalms reminds me of a table prayer that I taught my children as they were growing up, “God is great, God is good, and we thank God for our food.”  As Rolf A. Jacobson can state,

Whereas the central theological witness of Psalm 103 is that God is good (that is, the Lord is a God of hesed), the driving witness of Psalm 104 is that God is great. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 774)

This psalm looks in doxological wonder at the beauty, majesty, and order of God’s creation and exuberantly pours out praise at the greatness of the God who created the heavens and the earth. Like earlier psalms that marveled in the intricate connections and scale of creation, the psalmist joins their voice as a humble offering amidst the chorus of creation.

When modern people talk of creation our typical mode of thought is scientific and explanatory. The debate between creationists who try to limit God’s creation to the seven days of Genesis 1 and evolutionists arguing for a natural evolution of the universe are both framed by the language of modernity, a language which would be foreign to the scriptures. The biblical way of approaching the creation is the language of poetry and praise, wonder and curiosity. The entire direction of both the biblical narratives of creation in Genesis 1-2 and the places where the bible poetically wonders at the creation is oriented on giving praise, honor, glory, and majesty to the God of creation. This poem shares the characteristic joyfulness of the faithful ones throughout the scriptures reflecting on God’s own joy at the good creation.

Both Psalm 104 and the Genesis narratives utilize and subvert the mythological language found in the creation myths throughout the Middle East. While the Lord’s chambers are established upon the waters, an image of chaos throughout the Middle Eastern mythologies, both Genesis and the Psalms have the LORD bringing order out of chaos in a non-violent manner. Light and heavens, waters and wind, fires and flames, clouds and earth all become ordered to form the dominion of God and all the elements are brought together to build and serve the order of God. The waters rise up like a garment and though they can cover the mountains they flee at God’s rebuke and are bound and contained. The chaotic waters that threatened to flood the earth become the lifegiving seas and waters which provide for the plants of the earth and the animals of the field.

The psalmist delight’s in “God’s superabundant liberality”[1] and imagines God looking with delight upon the majestic creation. The lens of the psalmist begins his reflection on the works[2] of God’s hands with agricultural images that would likely be closest to their daily experience. God causes grass to grow for cattle, and plants that people harvest that bring forth the food that people eat. God is great and God is good, and they thank God for the food that God provides. God provide for the necessities of life but also for the joyous things: wine to gladden the human heart, oil for the human face, and bread to strengthen the heart.[3] Yet, the reflection on the works of God do not end with the immediate benefits for human society. God provides for the trees and the birds that live in them, wild goats and rabbits. There is a time for everything, daytime and nighttime for humanity and the creatures of the forest, days marked by the sun and seasons marked by the moon. The lion, the representative great beast of the forest, humanity works in the city and fields, and Leviathan the great beast of the sea all joins in the noise of creation calling out to God. Leviathan, the great chaos monster that was a threat to the gods in other societies, is now merely a plaything of the LORD. The great lion of the forest and the dragon of the sea have been tamed by the creating LORD upon whom both depend.  Lion, humanity, and Leviathan all know that God is great, and God is good, and it is the LORD who they thank for the food that God provides in due season.

Yet, the creation is dependent upon God’s continual attention and sustainment. Hebrew thought has no conception of the modern image of a god who created the universe as a clockmaker creates a clock, winds it up and then departs. The creation remains dependent upon God’s face being turned towards it and God’s breath[4] residing within and animating the creature. Humanity and all creation are completely dependent upon the continued provision of the LORD which animates the creatures and renews the face of the ground. The face of the ground looks up in adoration at the face of the LORD which provides for it. The earth trembles at the attention of the LORD and the touch of God’s finger upon the mountain causes them to smoke.

The psalmist sings his song amid the majesty of creation as an offering to the LORD. The penultimate line where the psalmist asks for “sinners to be consumed from the earth, and let the wicked be not more” may seem like a discordant note to end the psalm with, but within the ordered world of creation and God’s justice and righteousness there is no space for those who undermine the order of creation. Hebrew wisdom does separate good from evil, righteous from sinners, wise from foolish, and the faithful from the wicked. Yet, the LORD is both good and great, providing life, food, and joy for all of creation, and the psalmists humble meditation tries to with their humble offering of praise to bring a little joy to the creator. Their whole life[5] is involved with blessing and praising the good and great God of creation.

Cecil Alexander’s joyous song “All Things Bright and Beautiful” echoes the emotion and orientation of this psalm:

All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all.

And in the final verse of this song, after reflecting on creation from the smallness of flowers to the majesty of the mountains, Cecil Alexander’s words come back to the human standing amid the wonders of God’s works:

God gave us eyes to see them, and lips that we might tell how great is God Almighty, who has made all things well.

Or in the words of the psalmist, Bless the LORD, O my soul (nephesh). Praise the LORD. May our eyes, lips, and entire being continually live in wonder at the greatness of the creation that God’s hands formed, at the faithfulness of God continuing to look upon the face of the earth and sending forth the ruach (wind, spirit, breath) which continues to animate and sustain the creation and to respond in praise.

[1] John Calvin’s term. (Bellinger, 2014, p. 446)

[2] Works, Hebrew ‘asa, is an important concept in the poem which is sometimes translated make (s)/made (v. 4, 19, 24b) and other times as works (v. 13, 31). (NIB VI: 1096)

[3] Worth noting that the heart in Hebrew is not the instrument of emotion but of will and decision.

[4] This is the Hebrew ruach which can also mean spirit or wind. All creation in both Genesis 1 and Psalm 104 is dependent upon the ruach which originates in God. English translates ruach as breath and spirit in successive verses obscuring this connection.

[5] Hebrew nephesh is not simple the Greek concept of soul but encompasses all of life.

Psalm 100 Know the LORD is God and We are God’s

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James Tissot, Solomon Decicates the Temple (1896-1902)

Psalm 100

<A Psalm of thanksgiving.>
1 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come into his presence with singing.
3 Know that the LORD is God. It is he that made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name.
5 For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

This short psalm of thanksgiving centers the actions of praise around the knowledge that the LORD is God and the peoples’ relation to their creator and shepherd. It echoes the concern of the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4-5) and the first commandment (Exodus 20: 2-3, Deuteronomy 5: 6-7) that the people of Israel would know that the LORD is God alone and their role is to know, serve and belong to their God. The movement of the psalm is centered around seven imperatives: shout (NRSV make a joyful noise), serve (NRSV worship), come, know, come (NRSV enter), testify (NRSV give thanks), and bless. Poetically the repetition of come (obscured in the NRSV translation) focuses the hearer on what is bracketed in between: the command to know that the LORD is God and that the hearers are a part of his people. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 736) In response to the knowing the people are enabled to enter into the presence of God’s courts to bring praise and blessing.

Knowing is not just about knowledge of the LORD’s identity in Hebrew thought, it also involves acknowledgment that the community belongs to God and depends upon God. To be autonomous (one’s own law) in a Hebrew way of thinking is to be wicked. The statement that they are the LORD’s people and the sheep of his pasture focus the hearers on their God’s personal responsibility in overseeing the people of Israel. [1]  Although at times there may be an earthly king who rules on behalf of the LORD, when those kings prove to be unfaithful shepherds the LORD removes those shepherds and becomes their shepherd who guides, protects, and keeps them. Their maker and protector is good (echoing the language of creation in Genesis) and provides steadfast love (hesed) and faithfulness (emuna) two of the characteristics of God’s self-revelation to Moses.[2]

The life of praise is a life of service to the LORD. A person who comes to the courts of God is also expected to know that the LORD is their God, their creator and protector. The response to that knowledge is doxology (giving thanks). It is a life that acknowledges one’s dependance upon the LORD. Psalm 100 makes a bold claim for a life of praise, service, and thanksgiving to God in a world that seems to serve many gods. The psalmist points to a life centered on the knowledge of God and praise filled obedience to God’s ways.

[1] See for example Psalm 74:1, 79:13, 95:7, Jeremiah 23:1-4, Ezekiel 34:11-22

[2] Exodus 34: 6-7

Psalm 98 A Joyous Song of God’s Salvation

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Statue of Watts, Abney Park Cemetery

 

Psalm 98

<A Psalm.>
1 O sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm have gotten him victory.
2 The LORD has made known his victory; he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD.
7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the LORD, for he is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity.

Isaac Watt’s well known Christmas song “Joy to the World” is inspired by Psalm 98, (Mays, 1994, p. 312) although instead of heaven and nature singing as in “Joy to the World”, the seas and the nations sing in the text of the psalm. The appropriate response of the people of God, the nations of the earth, and the elements and residents of the waters to the victory (or salvation)[1] of God is the boisterous music of praise and worship. The vocal and instrumental music of humanity joins with the harmonic and percussive notes of the earth and the land. The approach of the LORD the God of Israel to judge the world with righteousness and the peoples of the earth with equity is a moment of celebration for all the earth. The faithful ones are the sentinels announcing to the peoples of the world that the time has come to join in the song of creation as the marvel and salvation of God.

The salvation of God and the reign of God’s righteousness is a moment of joyous expectation for all of creation. The house of Israel has experienced God’s steadfast love[2] and faithfulness, but all the nations of the earth also witnessed God’s salvation and the creation itself responds in joy. As Ellen Davis can state,

Judgment is the positive and passionate assertion of God’s will for the world, beginning with the deep foundation of God’s rule in the human heart; therefore, it gives no quarter to deception and self-delusion. (Nancy deClaisse-Walford, 2014, p. 728)

The faithful ones know the internal dimension of God’s reign in their lives and yearn for the revelation of God’s reign in the world seen across governments and nations. Yet, the longing of the faithful is also the longing of the creation for God’s judgement which brings God’s kingdom to earth, so the ways of steadfast love and faithfulness experienced in the heavens may be done on earth. The only response is the joyous song of lyre, trumpet and voice joining the collection of the sounds of the sea, the rains, and the hills. Nature joins the song of heaven and both the faithful and the wicked bear witness to the moment when heaven and nature sing along with the upraised voices of people throughout the world.

[1] The Hebrew verb ysh is typically translated salvation and it occurs in each of the first three verses (victory in NRSV’s translation).

[2] Hebrew hesed.