Psalms 9 and 10: The End of Oppression

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART IX

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

Psalms 9 and 10

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

Psalms 9 and 10 were originally one text.

Psalm 8 tells us that God created human beings “little lower than divine,” to use the translation in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures.  Yet, in the same translation, we read in 9:20-21:

Rise, O LORD!

Let not man have power;

let the nations be judged in Your presence.

Strike fear into them, O LORD;

let the nations know that they are only men.

That attitude differs mostly from “little lower than divine.”  So be it.  Why should all psalmists have agreed with each other?  Sometimes I disagree even with myself.

Psalms 9 and 10 are impatient.  They affirm the justice of God, such as we have encountered already in this series.  For example, the wicked fall into their own traps (9:16-17 and 10:10).  Yet we read passages such as 10:1, from Robert Alter’s translation:

Why do You stand far off, O LORD,

Turn away in times of distress?

The psalmist uses the metaphor of king, judge, and warrior for God.  The psalmist thinks that he must implore God to enforce divine justice.  That feeling is ubiquitous, for so are violence and exploitation.  Injustice covers the land and victimizes the vulnerable.  Why does God stand by and not act more often?

I offer no easy answers for that difficult question.  As I write this post, Russian forces are waging an unjust war in Ukraine.  Also, a portion of the United States body politic sides with Russia against Ukraine.  Dictators do have their fan clubs, after all.  We recall from a previous post that, in God’s order, right makes might, not the other way around.  Yet Putin and the Patriarch of Moscow are allies.

A comparison of translations of Psalm 10 reveals different tenses in verses 17-18.  For example, Robert Alter uses the present tense while TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures uses the future tense.  Does God listen to the poor, or will God listen to the poor?  Either way, the orphan and the wretched/downtrodden need a champion, so that nobody will oppress them any longer.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

DECEMBER 15, 2022 COMMON ERA

THE NINETEENTH DAY OF ADVENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF THOMAS BENSON POLLOCK, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRED D. GEALY, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF HENRY FOTHERGILL CHORLEY, ENGLISH NOVELIST, PLAYWRIGHT, AND LITERARY AND MUSIC CRITIC

THE FEAST OF JOHN HORDEN, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF MOOSENEE

THE FEAST OF RALPH WARDLAW, SCOTTISH CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, HYMN WRITER, AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF ROBERT MCDONALD, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND MISSIONARY

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

Advertisement