READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS
PART XXVI
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Psalm 34
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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.
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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.
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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
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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