READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXVI

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

Psalm 34

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

That day David continued on his flight from Saul and he came to King Achish of Gath.  The courtiers of Achish said to him, “Why, that’s David, king of the land!  That’s the one of whom they sing as they dance:

‘Saul has slain his thousands;

David, his tens of thousands.'”

These words worried David and he became very much afraid of King Achish of Gath.  So, he concealed his good sense from them; he feigned madness for their benefit.  He scratched marks on the doors of the gate and let his saliva run down his beard.  And Achish said to his courtiers, “You see the man is raving; why bring him to me?  Do I lack madmen that you have brought his fellow to rave for me?  Should this fellow enter my house?

–1 Samuel 21:11-16, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)

This is the reference in the superscription of Psalm 34:

Of David, when he feigned madness in the presence of Abimelech, who turned him out, and he left.

–Psalm 34:1, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999)

The discrepancies in the king’s name may be a minor matter.  I can think of more than one Biblical character with more than one name.  Examples include Saul of Tarsus/St. Paul the Apostle, St. Simon/Peter/Cephas, St. Joseph/Barnabas, and St. John/Mark.  The alternative explanation–that the author of the superscription was confused about the name of the King of Gath–is also feasible.

Anyway, I regard the superscription as a tacked-on piece of prose.  I am also dubious of Davidic authorship, given the frequent habit of composing a text and attributing it to a famous and revered dead person.

So, as a spiritual mentor of mine from decades past liked to ask when studying or discussing the Bible,

What is really going on here?

Psalm 34 extols divine rescue.  This is a theme we have encountered in previous psalms and that we will find repeated frequently before the termination of this series.

Yet divine rescue is not what is really going on here.  Walter Brueggemann classifies the Psalms into three categories in The Message of the Psalms:  A Theological Commentary (1984).  Psalms of orientation indicate trust, joy, and delight in God.  Psalms of disorientation reflect suffering, hurt, and alienation.  He classifies Psalm 34 with the psalms of new orientation, or expressions of hope.  The instruction in Psalm 34 explains how to consolidate and sustain the new orientation.  This instruction sits within the frame of divine rescue of the faithful.

This instruction is for the people.  They are to hold God in awe, keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit, swerve from evil and do good, and seek and pursue peace/amity (depending on translation).

The newly oriented Israel must engage in society building, to develop forms of behavior which sustain the gift of new social possibility.

–Walter Brueggemann, The Message of the Psalms:  A Theological Commentary (1984), 133

The newly oriented people are free in God to practice mutuality in love for each other.

John Donne (1572-1631), an Anglican priest and a poet, understood this principle.  He wrote:

No man is an island,

Entire itself;

Every man is a piece of the continent,

A part of the main.

+++++

If a clod be washed away by the sea,

Europe is the less.

As well as if a promontory were:

As well as if a manor of thy friend’s

Or of thine own were.

+++++

Any man’s death diminishes me,

Because I am involved in mankind.

And therefore, never send to know for whom the bell tolls;

It tolls for thee.

The absence of mutuality many practiced during the COVID-19 pandemic os a recent memory as I write this post.  I recall, for example, an incident from August 2020, when I worked on the decennial census.  I remember that I wore a mask, consistent with (a) Census Bureau policy, (b) medical and public health advice, and (c) morality.  I recall that the mask was plain–white on one side and blue on the other.  I remember knocking on one door, only to face a conservative, anti-federal government man who, with open hostility, refused to answer any questions.  I recall him telling me:

That mask you are wearing represents Satan.

I cannot achieve my potential without the support of others.  Those whose paths cross mine cannot achieve their potential without any support either.  My experience composing hagiographies at SUNDRY THOUGHTS provides me with examples of people with initiative who succeeded in achieving their potential when others helped and encouraged them.  I think, for example, of Michael Faraday (1791-1867), a driven man.  I also understand that he would not ave become a great and influential scientist unless (a) the owner of a laboratory had offered him a job, and (b) Faraday had accepted it.

The denial of anyone’s potential diminishes the whole society.  We are all responsible to and for each other.  May more of us practice mutuality, for the common good and the glory of God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 31, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIUSEPPINA NICOLI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MINISTER TO THE POOR

THE FEAST OF HENRY IRVING LOUTTIT, JR., EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF GEORGIA

NEW YEAR’S EVE

THE FEAST OF ROSSITER WORTHINGTON RAYMOND, U.S. NOVELIST, POET, HYMN WRITER, AND MINING ENGINEER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZOTICUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PRIEST AND MARTYR, CIRCA  351

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

Advertisement

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXV

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

Psalm 32

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

One lesson from the Book of Job that has not pierced the theological shells of many people is that illness or other misfortune is not necessarily divine punishment for sin.  We read Psalm 32, in which the author assumes that his illness resulted from unforgiven sins.  We can also read stories in the Gospels in which characters made the same erroneous assumption.

There is also the matter of psychosomatic conditions, of course.  The Biblical concept of “soul” is not the Platonist version thereof.  The Biblical concept is “essential self,” not that which occupies a body much like a liquid fills a glass.  The boundary between the physical and the mental does not always exist.  Sometimes the border is porous.  Those of us who have been close to a person with at least one mental illness may understand the biological origins of such illnesses, as well as the fluidity extant in the physical-mental dynamic.

The psalmist’s experience involves guilt, which has physical manifestations.  At this point, I say,

I resemble that remark.

I know guilt–much of it misplaced–from the inside out.  I understand survivor’s guilt and the negative consequences of asking,

What if I had…?

So, the sage words of Walter Brueggemann speak to me:

…guilt fully embraced and acknowledged permits movement, a new reception of life, and a new communion with God.  Only then can the guilt be resolved and genuinely relinquished.  There are, the psalm asserts, no alternatives.  The body will not be deceived, even as God will not be mocked.  Freedom from guilt requires embracing it and having it dealt with by the mercy of God.

—The Message of the Psalms:  A Theological Commentary (1984), 97

Knowing that one needs to act accordingly is a good start.  If the old saying that

the end depends upon the beginning

is true, nobody should disparage a good start.  Yet moving beyond that good start requires more than human power.  For example, I know rationally that my survivor’s guilt is irrational and my asking “What if?” is pointless, counterproductive, and destructive.  Yet I carry survivor’s guilt and ask, “What if?”  As I continue to take my guilt to God, I understand my disagreement with myself.  I pray, to quote a man from a story in a Gospel:

Lord, I believe.  Help my unbelief.

We human beings are, as Psalm 103 reminds us, “but dust.”  We also bear the image of God.  May we proceed from a correct understanding of ourselves relative to God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 31, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE SEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GIUSEPPINA NICOLI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN AND MINISTER TO THE POOR

THE FEAST OF HENRY IRVING LOUTTIT, JR., EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF GEORGIA

NEW YEAR’S EVE

THE FEAST OF ROSSITER WORTHINGTON RAYMOND, U.S. NOVELIST, POET, HYMN WRITER, AND MINING ENGINEER

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZOTICUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, PRIEST AND MARTYR, CIRCA  351

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXIV

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

Psalm 31

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

People steeped in scripture speak and, if they are literate, write in scriptural terms.  I know this from experience.  Perhaps you, O reader, do, too.  And, not surprisingly, the Bible contains texts from people steeped in scripture.  Therefore, some parts of the Bible echo other portions of the Bible.  Psalm 31 is a fine text for a study of this pattern.  Psalm 31 quotes the prophet Jeremiah, alludes to Jonah, and echoes other psalms.

The psalmist had been seriously ill for a long time.  He, feeling abandoned by friends and besieged by enemies, turned to God.  The psalmist also acknowledged his sinfulness and confessed his sins.  He was also honest about his anger:

Let the wicked be humiliated, 

hurled into Sheol!

–Verse 18b, Mitchell J. Dahood

I understand that resentment-fueled anger.  I recall easily praying along similar lines, minus Sheol.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires are known, and from you no secrets are hid:  Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Chrit our Lord.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), 355

God knows us better than we know ourselves.  So, misguided piety which tells us not to tell God x, y, and z does not conceal x, y, and z from God.  May we be honest with God and ourselves.  If that honesty leads to seemingly impious prayers, so be it.  We can take everything to God, who already knows everything about us.  Those parts of our spiritual lives that are not all sunshine and kittens can transform, by grace.  But we need to be honest.  We cannot move forward in the right direction until we (a) admit where we are, and(b) trust God and lead us along the proper path forever.

The paths of God may not be identical for any two people.  The paths will vary according to circumstances.  Yet the paths of God terminate at the same destination and have the same moral-spiritual definition.  They are paths of love for God, other people, ourselves, and all of creation.  They are paths of mutuality and the Golden Rule.  They are paths of honesty with God and ourselves.  Many of these paths intersect, and overlap, so some of us may walk together for a while.  May we support each other as we do so.

One of the most difficult conditions about which to be honest is brokenness.  Admitting that one is spiritually and/or emotionally broken may violate a cultural norm or a social more.  Doing so may also threaten one’s ego.  Admitting one’s brokenness to God leads to accepting one’s complete dependence upon God.  So much for rugged individualism!

I admit frankly and readily that I am not spiritually and emotionally whole.  I carry a heavy load of grief from which, I expect, I will never recover fully.  Trauma persists.  I tell you nothing that I have not admitted to God.  I know that spiritual self-sufficiency is a delusion.

“How happy those who know their need for God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs!  

“How happy are those who know what sorrow means, for they will be given courage and comfort.”

–Matthew 5:3-4, J. B. Phillips, The New Testament in Modern English–Revised Edition (1972)

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 29, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FIFTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF ANTONIO CALDARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER AND MUSICIAN

THE FEAST OF JOHN BURNETT MORRIS, SR., EPISCOPAL PRIEST AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS

THE FEAST OF PHILIPP HEINRICH MOLTHER, GERMAN MORAVIAN MINISTER, BISHOP, COMPOSER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT THOMAS BECKET, ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AND MARTYR, 1170

THE FEAST OF THOMAS COTTERILL, ENGLISH PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND LITURGIST

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXIII

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

Psalm 30

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

Superscriptions in the Book of Psalms are not always accurate.  Aside from the tradition of writing a text then attributing it to a famous dead person–David, for example–some superscriptions are obviously inaccurate.  Consider Psalm 30, O reader:

A psalm of David.  A song for the dedication of the House.

“The house” is the (First) Temple, constructed after David’s death and dedicated by Solomon.

Yet I have more important matters about which to write.

Recall the Hebrew concept of Sheol, O reader:  The dead, in the underworld, could not praise God.  Living people could praise God, however.

The psalmist had been seriously ill; death had seemed probable.  Yet he recovered then praised God.  Between the beginning and the end of the psalm, the psalmist made some important points:

1. Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.  Divine anger passes quickly–“but a moment.”
2. Spiritual complacency comes easily during good times.  Times of difficulty can be occasions for spiritual growth if one does not turn away from God.
3. Divine judgment is frequently an opportunity for repentance.

The caveat on all this is that Psalm 30 has a human filter.  We read the psalmist’s perceptions, filtered through a theological and cultural context.  We mere mortals have human filters for everything; we cannot change that.  The reality of God exceeds our abilities to perceive God.  None of this means that many human perceptions of God are correct, of course.  They are all partial, however.

As for me, I thought in my quiet days,

“Never will I stumble.”

–Psalm 30:7, Robert Alter

I resemble that remark.  Perhaps you, O reader, resemble it, too.

I also attest that God has turned my dirge into a dance.  I await a repeat performance.  Until then, I am not going anywhere.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE FOURTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF THE HOLY INNOCENTS

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXII

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

Psalm 28

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

A review of Late Bronze Age Jewish theology is in order.  Sheol was the underworld, where the dead resided.  They, cut off from God, could not praise God.  A synonym for Sheol, was the Pit–a miry bog.  Zoroastrianism, with its concepts of reward and punishment in the afterlife, influenced Jewish theology, starting with the Persian conquest of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.  Therefore, Zoroastrianism has influenced the Christian concepts of Heaven and Hell.

The psalmist, in verse 1, likens God being deaf to his plea to himself being in Sheol, cut off from God:

To You, O LORD, I call.

My Rock, do not be deaf to me.

Lest You be mute to me

and I be like those gone down to the Pit.

–Psalm 28:1, Robert Alter

I like puns, as those who know me well attest.  Some dread my double entendres; others enjoy them.  Puns do not translate, by definition.  So, we who do not read Biblical texts in the original languages need exegetes to explain the puns to us.

The pun in 28:1 depends on the Hebrew words translated as on “deaf” and “mute.”  The Hebrew word translated as “deaf” is teherash.  The Hebrew word translated as “mute” is tehesheh.  God, of course, does not turn a deaf ear to the psalmist; God is not mute.  The psalmist, who does not perish, praises God, starting in verse 6.

Psalm 28 turns from the individual to the plural at the end:

The LORD is His people’s strength

and His anointed’s stronghold of rescue.

Rescue Your people

and bless Your estate.

Tend them, bear them up for all time.

–Psalm 28:8-9, Robert Alter

Once more, the collective context frames the individual context.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXI

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

Psalms 27 and 36

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

Psalms 27 and 36 share some themes.  Many psalms share themes, of course.  Yet writing this series of blog posts properly does require breaking off portions that are not too big.

Psalm 27 is purely individual.  The pious psalmist, beset by foes, trusts God.  He expects that God will preserve his life.  The psalmist anticipates remaining

in the land of the living

–not dying and going to Sheol.  In the last verse, the psalm changes voice; the singular first person–I, me, and my–addresses the reader.

Hope for the LORD!

Let your heart be firm and bold,

and hope for the LORD.

–Robert Alter

For the sake of thoroughness, I mention a dissenting interpretation of “the land of the living.”  Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation has

the land of life eternal

instead.  Hayyim denotes eternal life in Daniel 12:2. Dahood follows that usage and draws it back into the Late Bronze Age.  I find this argument unconvincing.

As we turn to Psalm 36, we read that crime, perversity, or transgression (depending on the translation) speaks within the heart of a wicked person.  This is the kind of human being who plans iniquity and lacks regard for God.  This person, like the “benighted man” of Psalms 14 and 53, fears no divine consequences of actions.

In contrast, we read, God is kind and just.  God grants the needs of beasts and human beings alike.  God is the fountain of life and the source of light.  The imagery is Edenic.  The wicked cannot reside in such a setting, so they cannot oppress the righteous in the new Eden.

We do not live in the new Eden, though.  We reside in the land of the living, but many wicked people do, too.  So, until we arrive in the new Eden, may God deliver the oppressed from oppressors.  And may they repent of their iniquity.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XX

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

Psalm 26

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

Psalm 26 bears striking similarities to Psalms 1 and 25.  The placement of this tex as Psalm 26 makes sense as a follow-up to Psalm 25.  However, Psalm 26 is a purely individual lament.

The psalmist is perplexed.  He had assumed, as Job’s alleged friends did, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked.  Yet the psalmist’s situation belies or seems to belie that theological position.  Whether he requests a divine judgment or divine vindication depends on the interpreter/translator.  Mitchell J. Dahood asserts that no vindication was necessary, for the psalmist, assured of his integrity, sought divine recognition of it.  Robert Alter follows Dahood’s position.  Yet TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures renders the germane verb as “vindicate,” as in, to grant the reward for righteousness.

Despite the Reformed insistence that human beings are damnable creatures by our corrupted nature, the Book of Psalms holds a higher opinion of people.  We are a little less than divine–or as a familiar translation of Psalm 8 says,

a little lower than the angels.

This position is consistent with the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  So, the Jewish and Roman Catholic assertions of human merit hold theological water.

We mere mortals still know far less than God does.  Our “received wisdom” and inherited theological orthodoxy do not always match our circumstances.  Will reality override a theory, or will we double-down in ideology?  That is a matter we have the power decide for ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

THE THIRD DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XIX

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

Psalm 25

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

The Hebrew acrostic poetic form occurs in the Book of Lamentations and in nine psalms.  Psalm 25 is one of those texts.  Interestingly, the psalm omits two Hebrew letters and repeats two Hebrew letters in the acrostic pattern.  This curious fact may indicate revision of the text in antiquity.

Many people around whom I live think of the Bible as a collection of texts dictated by God.  Their attitude ignores the reality of extant ancient copies of the same Biblical texts that differ from each other, sometimes subtly.  There is also the matter of the “seams” in Genesis-Judges.  One can recognize the “seams” of the editing of different texts together if one pays very close attention.  But what does fundamentalism have to do with facts?  The attitude of those who regard Biblical authors as glorified secretaries would have been foreign to ancient Hebrews, who edited and revised texts.  The last great editor, my reading tells me, was Ezra, whom we can thank for the current form of much of the Hebrew Bible.

Another fascinating tidbit is that Psalm 25:16 is the last time until 142:5 that a psalmist claims to be alone.  We read a personal lament.  The psalmist is alone, in human terms.  He pleads with God and has many enemies.  The psalmist prays for the forgiveness of his sins and affirms the hesed–steadfast love–of God.  The psalmist trusts in God.  He is not alone; God is with him.

What will preserve or watch over the psalmist?  Comparing translations proves helpful in answering that question.  Mitchell J. Dahood and TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures read:

integrity and uprightness.

Robert Alter’s translation reads:

uprightness, wholeness.

Alter, preferring to maintain the rhythm of the Hebrew text, proposes that the synonyms, bracketed together, convey one concept.  He identifies that concept as:

absolute integrity.

Psalm 25 concludes on a national focus:

O God, redeem Israel

from all its distress.

–Psalm 25:22, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

Such a turn from the individual focus to the national focus occurs frequently in the Book of Psalms.  The individual’s troubles are real.  They are also a microcosm of the problems of the collective.  Yet the interpretive difficulty in Psalm 25 comes into sharp relief with verse 22.  The text is the lament of a pious individual through verse 21.  As other parts of the Hebrew Bible attest, such assertions of piety cannot apply to the people as a whole.  So, we find more evidence of editorial alteration in antiquity.

Nevertheless, the placement of the ills of the individual within the context of the community makes sense to me.  I cannot be whole in a sick and divided community.  The actions and attitudes of others affect me, just as I influence my community.  Also, the decisions of others may restrict or expand my options, regardless of the scope of my talents, abilities, and ambitions.  So, the ills of the community are my problems, too.

May we–both individually and collectively–revere God and take care of each other.  May we, by grace, build up and maintain the common good.  May we encourage all our members and enable them to achieve their full potential.  May God’s absolute integrity, protecting us, inspire us to lead lives of absolute integrity, both collectively and individually.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 26, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR

THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

Above:  The Middle Oconee River at Ben Burton Park, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, October 14, 2017

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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

PART XVIII

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

Psalms 24, 29, and 33

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

The theme of God in creation runs through Psalms 24, 29, and 33.  These three texts, taken together, portray God as the sovereign and mighty master of creation and history.  The God of Psalm 24 is the leader of heavenly armies.  The God of Psalm 29 bears more similarity to Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, than to the God of the still, small silence in 1 Kings 19:11b-12.  The God of Psalm 33 is the one who delivers kings and warriors, for large armies, great strength, and horses are false hopes.

Such a deity is worthy of praise.  Such a deity reveals self in creation.  The righteous–those in right relationship with God, others, self, and all creation–can “read creation,” to quote Walter Brueggemann.  Therefore, they lead hope-filled lives of trust in God.  Creation itself reveals God’s covenant with the people.

I like the Reformed teaching that God has two books–the Bible and nature.  Reading both books correctly requires a particular perspective and can be challenging.  Concerted effort is no guarantor of success.  And, as I know acutely from my historical training, NO TEXT INTERPRETS ITSELF; AT LEAST ONE HUMAN BRAIN IS NECESSARY.  I, as an Episcopalian, channel scripture through tradition and reason.

In Psalms 24, 29, and 33, the human context for individual righteousness is faith community.  My global Western culture gives short shrift to the community and revels in individualism.  My culture maintains an imbalance of the individual and the collective.  Thus, many people labor under the misconception that they can be “spiritual, not religious,” and take a solo spiritual journey.  They miss the essential role of faith community, with both support and accountability.

May we, in faith community, follow God, pursue righteousness, and revere and protect nature.  God speaks to us through it, too.  Which messages are we missing because we are not paying attention?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 26, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT STEPHEN, FIRST MARTYR

THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS

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

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XVII

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

Psalm 23

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

Familiarity frequently breeds contempt.  On other occasions, it breeds complacency.  For many people, such as me, one of the churchiest people with a pulse, certain passages of scripture are familiar.  Some are very familiar, perhaps in a given translation.  Many people older than me quote Psalm 23 flawlessly from the King James Version.  The familiar language, although beautiful, can obstruct engaging with the text.

I find that reading Psalm 23 in Robert Alter’s translation and in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures makes this familiar text fresh.  Therefore, I can really engage with it.

God–YHWH–is the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  The Good Shepherd renews the psalmist’s life, guides him in pathways of justice, and provides for him.  The psalmist has enemies.  Unlike in other psalms, God does not destroy them.  Instead, these foes have to observe a banquet to which God has not invited them.

Alter translates a line of Psalm 23 as:

You moisten my head with oil…..

God does not anoint the psalmist’s head.  No, God moistens it.

The verb here, dishen, is not the one that is used for anointment, and its associations are sensual rather than sacramental.  Etymologically, it means something like, “to make luxuriant.”  This verse then lists all the physical elements of a happy life–a table laid out with good things to eat, a head of hair well rubbed with olive oil, and an overflowing cup of wine.

–Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 71

As we progress through the text, we read that only goodness and kindness/steadfast love with either “pursue” or “attend” the psalmist for many long days, but not forever.  The Hebrew text does not indicate “forever.”  The enemies do not pursue; they cannot keep up.  Alternatively, if we follow the “attend” rendering of the text, God’s goodness and hesed accompany the psalmist.  Divine goodness and hesed are like the two messengers who always accompany a deity in Canaanite mythology.  However, Psalm 23 flips the script, if this translation is correct:  God accompanies a faithful person.

Both translations–“pursue” and “attend”–have their appeals.  The image of God pursuing us out of love provides much comfort.  So does the image of God accompanying us.  This is the image Isaac Watts (1675-1748) used in a hymn, “My Shepherd Will Supply My Need.”

The sure provisions of my God

Attend me all my days….

So, O reader, you are one of God’s sheep.  Rejoice in that status and ponder Psalm 23 anew.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 25, 2022 COMMON ERA

CHRISTMAS DAY

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