Psalm 40: Thanksgiving and Lament

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART XXX

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Psalm 40

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Just as the Book of Psalms is repetitive, many of my comments in the posts in this series are also repetitive.  However, I seek to rein in that repetition.  So, O reader, I refer you to the previous post in this series for analysis that applies to the end of Psalm 40.

When I read this psalm for this post, I got poetic whiplash.  The psalmist spent twelve verses thanking God for rescuing him.  Then the psalmist opened verse 13 with a lament, which may be in either the past or the present tense, depending on the translation one prioritizes.  I first read Psalm 40 in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (which uses the present tense in verse 13) then read the translations by Robert Alter and Mitchell J. Dahood.

The translation of 40:13 in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures reads:

For misfortunes without number envelop me;

my iniquities have caught up with me;

I cannot see;

they are more than the hairs of my head;

I am at my wit’s end.

Robert Alter’s translation of 40:13 follows:

For evils drew round me

beyond count.

My crimes overtook me

and I could not see–

more numerous than the hairs of my head–

and my heart forsook me.

Mitchell J. Dahood’s translation of 40:13 reads:

Alas, evils have encompassed me,

till they are without number;

My iniquities have overtaken me,

and I am unable to escape.

They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,

and my heart fails me.

The lament borrows linguistically from the son of praise.  Commentators detail parallels; I choose not to repeat the work of exegetes regarding that topic.  Instead, I opt to focus elsewhere.  As Walter Brueggemann notes, the progression in Psalm 40 is superficially wrong.  Yet, that progression makes sense the more one thinks about it.  For example, one who struggles with grief may move back and forth through the five stages of grieving.  One may thank God then fall into lament immediately afterward.  Emotions and spiritual states are not always linear.

I attest to that truth.  Perhaps you, O reader, can attest to it, also.  Regardless of where you are on the spiritual and emotional spectrum at any given moment, take your honesty about your feelings to God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JANUARY 4, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF SAINT ANGELA OF FOLIGNO, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PENITENT AND HUMANITARIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ELIZABETH ANN SETON, FOUNDER OF THE AMERICAN SISTERS OF CHARITY

THE FEAST OF SAINTS GREGORY OF LANGRES, TERTICUS OF LANGRES, GALLUS OF CLERMONT, GREGORY OF TOURS, AVITUS I OF CLERMONT, MAGNERICUS OF TRIER, AND GAUGERICUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS

THE FEAST OF JOHANN LUDWIG FREYDT, GERMAN MORAVIAN COMPOSER AND EDUCATOR

THE FEAST OF MARY LUNDIE DUNCAN, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

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