Psalms 111 and 112: Trusting in Divine Generosity Then Acting Accordingly

READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXVII

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Psalms 111 and 112

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Psalms 111 and 112 are similar yet different.  Both texts are Hebrew acrostic poems that begin with “Hallelujah.”  Yet, commentaries tell us, each psalm has a different focus–111 on praise of God, and 112 on praise of the righteous individual.  Psalm 111 seems to be the model for Psalm 112, also.  God is faithful, gracious, and compassionate, we read in Psalm 112.  Meanwhile Psalm 112 sounds like material from speeches by Job’s alleged friends:  fidelity to God brings wealth, health, and a host of mighty descendants, among other blessings.  Both texts seem to reflect the tidy moral symmetry of moral retribution, which the poetic portion of the Book of Job rejects.

But what if what the texts say something other than what they seem to say?  What if cultural blinders prevent us from recognizing the actual content of these psalms?  What if some of the content in the previous paragraph is erroneous?

If the wicked in Psalm 112 are, as Walter Brueggemann argues, those who do not practice generosity because they cannot trust divine generosity, Psalm 112 may be about the generosity of God more than the righteous individual.  Psalm 112 may tell us that we, trusting in divine generosity, can be generous agents of grace.  Such generosity is the path to real joy, Brueggemann writes:

Satisfaction and life fulfillment do not come from greed and self-filling and self-sufficiency.  They come from trusting the generosity of God who always feeds us (Ps. 111:5), and we can in turn be generous.  The happy person is the one who knows about the abundance of the Creator who withholds nothing needful from his precious creation.  Believing that permits a very different social practice.

—The Message of the Psalms:  A Theological Commentary (1984), 47

Brueggemann’s case persuades me.  My review of patters of treating others badly and cruelly reveals a lack of generosity in those actions and policies.  When we do not trust in divine generosity, we may feel that we are in an every-man-for-himself situation.  We may feel justified in throwing others to the proverbial dogs to protect “me and mine.”  We are wicked, according to Brueggemann’s interpretation of Psalm 112.  Then we condemn ourselves to misery, also, and our desire will come to nothing.  Yet, if we behave generously toward others, we embark down the proper path.

Trusting in the generosity of God entails acknowledging our complete dependence upon God.  That can unnerve us easily and rapidly, especially if we value the delusion of rugged individualism.  No, mutuality–not rugged individualism–is a pillar of the Law of Moses.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 10, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT SCHOLASTICA, ABBESS OF PLOMBARIOLA; AND HER TWIN BROTHER, BENEDICT OF NURSIA, ABBOT OF MONTE CASSINO AND FATHER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM

THE FEAST OF SAINT BENEDICT OF ARIANE, RESTORER OF WESTERN MONASTICISM; AND SAINT ARDO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT

THE FEAST OF HENRY WILLIAMS BAKER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMNAL EDITOR, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF JULIUS H. HORSTMANN, U.S. PRUSSIAN EVANGELICAL MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT NORBERT OF XANTEN, FOUNDER OF THE PREMONSTRATENSIANS; SAINT HUGH OF FOSSES, SECOND FOUNDER OF THE PREMONSTRATENTENSIANS; AND SAINT EVERMOD, BISHOP OF RATZEBURG

THE FEAST OF PHILIP ARMES, ANGLICAN CHURCH MUSICIAN

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