Psalm 18

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

POST VI OF LX

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days.  I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 226

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

One tradition attributes Psalm 18 to King David, in the context of his victories over Philistines.  Davidic authorship is less than certain, given the ancient and widely accepted ancient custom of writing something then giving credit to a famous dead person.  What is certain, however, is that Psalm 18 and 2 Samuel 22 are similar in content.

The author, writing as David, thanks God for the victories.  The line

Yahweh rewarded me because I was just

(Mitchell J. Dahood translation)

recurs.  The description of King David as just confounds me, even within the Psalm.  (Never mind the shabby treatment of Michal and the subsequent murder of Uriah the Hittite.)  This text reads like Davidic Dynastic propaganda to me.

The author’s descriptions of official violence disturb me.  The boasts of having pulverized, exterminated, and trampled his enemies as if they were dust, for example, are troubling.  I understand that violence is, under certain circumstances, a legitimate and necessary (for national defense) activity of a state or kingdom, but I think of it as a sad necessity, not a reason to boast.

Nevertheless, the author’s recognition of dependence upon God in triumph is refreshing.  It is easy to admit one’s dependence on God during difficult times, but perhaps less so when one is “on top.”  The urge to sing one’s own praises to the exclusion to those of God can be a powerful temptation.

May we glorify God during good times, bad times, and the times in between.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 31, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA, FOUNDER OF THE SOCIETY OF JESUS

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Advertisement