Psalm 2: The Sovereignty of God

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART II

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

Psalm 2

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

Psalm 2 concludes the introduction to the Book of Psalms.  The placement of this text as Psalm 2 is both intentional and logical.  Psalm 1 teaches that those who know that their lives depend on God are blessed, even in a difficult environment.  Psalm 2 emphasizes the sovereignty of God.

The text is vague regarding its historical context.  Jerusalem and Judah are under a military threat.  The King of Judah is the anointed one of God.  The King of Judah and all the other monarchs answer to God, the ultimate king.  Most of them seem unaware of this, but their obliviousness does not change their reality.  Those who scorn God will suffer divine scorn.  Likewise, people who trust in God will be blessed.  They know that their lives depend upon God.

Comparing translations yields interesting results.

1. Most versions have the peoples plotting vain things or plotting in vain.
2. Robert Alter’s translation has people murmuring vain things.  In Psalm 1, Alter translates hagah not as “meditate” but as “murmur.”  Therefore, the righteous man murmurs divine instruction (torah) day and night.  The rebellious peoples in Psalm 2 contrast with the blessed people of God in Psalm 1.
3. The translation by Father Mitchell J. Dahood, S.J., for The Anchor Bible series goes in its own direction.  The rebellious peoples “number their troops.”  Hagah can also mean to number or to count out loud.  The picture here is of rebellious peoples relying on their military might, not on God.

Robert Alter points out the “geo-theological paradox” of the divine choice of Mount Zion:

Zion is a modest mountain on the crest of which sits a modest fortified town, the capital of a rather small kingdom, surrounded by vast empires.  Yet, the poet boldly imagines it as God’s chosen city, divinely endorsed to be queen of nations and the splendor of humankind.

—The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary, Vol. 3, The Writings (2019), 29

God’s choice may seem to make no sense.  Nevertheless, it is what it is.

Verse 11 commands the rebellious monarchs–foes of Judah–to serve God with reverence, in awe.  “Fear of God” is an unfortunate translation, at least most of the time.  This is a matter of humility, not terror, at least most of the time.  “Fear of God” is usually an attitude of recognizing human inadequacy in the context of God.  Such inadequacy may lead many people to tremble and perhaps even to feel terrified.  Alternatively, it can prove to be liberating and can prompt rejoicing.

Translations of verse 11 can yield fascinating word choices.  For example, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985, 1999) reads in part:

…tremble with fright….

Dahood’s translation indicates reverent trembling:

…and live in trembling, O mortal men.

Alter’s translation tells the rebellious monarchs to

exult in trembling.

For the sake of honesty, I point out that, in textual context, verse 9 has threatened the rebellious monarchs with the prospect of God smashing them with a rod of iron.  Fright makes sense in that context.

I am reluctant to seek Jesus in the Hebrew Bible.  I do not mistake the Old Testament for a Where’s Waldo? book and Jesus for Waldo.  However, I do think that I must address the proverbial elephant in the room in verse 7:

You are My son.

I Myself today did beget you.

–Robert Alter’s translation

This is a reference to the regnant King of Judah, a monarch of the House of David.  It is not a reference to Jesus.

The concept of Messiah evolved.  Scholars have written thick books about this concept and its development over time.  Originally, as in Psalm 2, the Messiah was the regnant Davidic monarch.  The concept changed after the Fall of Jerusalem (587/586 B.C.E.).  By the time Jesus of Nazareth walked and taught, competing concepts of Messiahship existed within Judaism.  The translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls revealed this diversity of ancient theological opinion and contradicted the long-standing consensus that the expectation of a military deliverer was universal.

God may not seem to be in charge.  Appearances often deceive.

J. Clinton McCann, Jr., writes:

The power of God is not the absolute power of a dictator but the power of committed love.  In worldly terms, might makes right.  But on God’s terms, right makes might.

—The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 4 (1996), 691

The Reverend Maltbie Davenport Babcock (1858-1901) was a prominent Presbyterian minister in the United States.  He was a polymath and a lover of nature, too.  And he was not naive, humanitarian work with refugees was one of his passions.  After Babcock’s death at the age of 42 years, his widow arranged for the publication of his poetry.  One text became a justly famous hymn.

You, O reader, may have sung the following lines or a hymnal committee-rewritten version of them many times.  Babcock wrote:

This is my Father’s world,

O let me ne’er forget

That though the wrong seems oft so strong,

God is the Ruler yet.

This is my Father’s world:

The battle is not done;

Jesus who died shall be satisfied,

And earth and heaven be one.

Psalm 2 affirms that “God is the Ruler yet.”  The divine smashing in Psalm 2 may alarm some.  It does not, however, disturb me.  As in Revelation, the old, corrupt order must terminate before the fully-realized Kingdom of God can hold sway on Earth.  Also, the deliverance of the oppressed may be the doom of the oppressors, who have judged themselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 8, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE TWELFTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF WALTER CISZEK, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY PRIEST AND POLITICAL PRISONER

THE FEAST OF SAINTS AMATUS OF LUXEUIL AND ROMARIC OF LUXEUIL, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS AND ABBOTS

THE FEAST OF AMBROSE REEVES, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF JOHANNESBURG, AND OPPONENT OF APARTHEID

THE FEAST OF ERIK CHRISTIAN HOFF, NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN COMPOSER AND ORGANIST

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIN SHKURTI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1969

THE FEAST OF SAINT NARCISA DE JESÚS MARTILLO-MORÁN, ECUADORIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC MYSTIC AND ASCETIC

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

Advertisement