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READING THE BOOK OF PSALMS

PART LXIV

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Psalms 105, 106, 107, 126, and 137

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Psalms 106, 126, and 137 reflect the harrowing experience of the Babylonian Exile.  Psalms 105, 106, and 107 are similar yet different. Hence, I write based on these five psalms in this post.

The Hebrew Bible has a small collection of repeated “God is…” statements.  The more common manner of explaining divine attributes is to recall what God has done and to state what God does.  By extension, we humans–both collectively and individually–are like what we do and have done.  Judaism, having neither invented nor accepted Augustinian Original Sin, teaches that we can keep the covenant if only we will; doing so is neither beyond our reach nor too difficult for us (Deuteronomy 30:11-14).  Sirach 15:15, a Jewish text from the Hellenistic period, agrees:

If you wish, you can keep the commandments,

and to behave faithfully is within your power.

—The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Psalms 105, 106, and 107, taken together, present a stark contrast between divine faithfulness and human infidelity, with its terrible consequences.

Although Robert Alter dates the composition of Psalm 137 to the early part of the Babylonian Exile, The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014) places composition after the Babylonian Exile.  Either way, the anger and resentment of exiles is palpable in the text.  Why should it not be so?  The treacherous Edomites bear the brunt of particularly potent venom.  Without attempting a justification of

Happy who seizes and smashes your infants against the rock,

(to quote Robert Alter’s translation), I ask one question:

What else did you expect?

Treating a population harshly frequently and predictably leads to such resentment, complete with revenge fantasies.

Etymology tells us that the English word “anger” derives from the Old Norse angr, meaning “grief.”  We mourn that which we have lost.  So, we become angry.  If all we do with that anger is to take it to God, we do well.  However, if we permit that anger to consume us, we harm ourselves.

Whether Psalm 126 anticipates the end of the Babylonian Exile or reflects upon it, having happened, is a matter of scholarly debate.  Either way, the juxtaposition of Psalm 126 to Psalms 106 and 137 works well and continues the story.  That God ended the Babylonian Exile pays off Psalm 106:47:

Deliver us, O LORD our God,

and gather us from among the nations.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

The Books of Ezra and Nehemiah detail a portion of the troubles returned exiles endured.  Beside those books one may properly read the conclusion of Psalm 126:

Restore our fortunes, O LORD,

like watercourses in the Negeb.

Those who sow in tears

shall reap with songs of joy.

Though he goes along weeping,

carrying the seed-bag,

he shall come back with songs of joy,

carrying his sheaves.

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

FEBRUARY 7, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HELDER CAMARA, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF OLINDA AND RECIFE

THE FEAST OF SAINT ADALBERT NIERYCHLEWSKI, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1942

THE FEAST OF DANIEL J. HARRINGTON, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND BIBLICAL SCHOLAR

THE FEAST OF GREGORIO ALLEGRI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, COMPOSER, AND SINGER; AND HIS BROTHER, DOMENICO ALLEGRI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER AND SINGER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MOSES, APOSTLE TO THE SARACENS

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BOYCE AND JOHN ALCOCK, ANGLICAN COMPOSERS

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READING LAMENTATIONS, PART V

Above:  Lamentations

Image in the Public Domain

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Lamentation 4:1-22

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The main bright ray of hope in the Book of Lamentations is in Chapter 3.  Theological whiplash continues as the readings revert to…lamentations.  Chapter 4 describes the siege of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.E.. as well as the suffering and degradation of the city’s residents at the time.

Some points require explanation:

1. In verse 1, gems and gold represent people.  They are precious yet discarded.
2. Jackals (verse 3) had a reputation as despicable scavengers.
3. Ostriches (verse 3) were supposedly cruel and neglectful parents (Job 39:13-18).
4. Starving children were too weak to cry in verse 4.  (Ezekiel 3:16; Psalm 137:6; Job 29:10)
5. The inhabitants of Sodom died quickly (Genesis 19:24-25), but the inhabitants of Jerusalem suffered a long agony.
6. Coral and sapphire were colors associated with vigor in verses 7-8.  Those colors have disappeared.
7. Fire represented divine wrath (Lamentations 2:3 and 4:11; Deuteronomy 32:22; Isaiah 10:17; Jeremiah 17:27).  There was also the literal fire that destroyed Jerusalem, of course.
8. Contrary to popular belief (Psalms 46 and 48), Mount Zion was not inviolable.  The belief that God would not let Mount Zion fall came from foreigners (Lamentations 4:12).
9. Shedding blood (verses 13 and 14), in this case, referred to committing idolatry (Ezekiel 22:1-5; Psalm 106:37-40).  The people most closely associated with purity were the most impure.  Those once among the most respected in society had become as impure as lepers (verse 15).
10. The Poet spoke in verses 1-16 and 21-22.  The Community spoke in verses 17-20.
11. The tone in verse 21 is ironic.  Edom comes in for condemnation here and in Amos 1:11-12; Isaiah 21:11-12; Obadiah; Jeremiah 49:7-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; and Ezekiel 35:1-15.
12. Verse 22 offers a glimmer of hope.  The Babylonian Exile will end, we read.  Justice will prevail because punishes sins, we read.

I ponder the idea of a world in which justice prevails because God punishes sins.  I think about the world as it is and perceive that it bears little resemblance to God’s ideal world.  The disparity between reality and the ideal is discouraging.  Were I more poetic, and if I had the desire to compose a set of lamentations for the world and United States of America in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, I would do so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 19, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN DALBERG ACTON, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC HISTORIAN, PHILOSOPHER, AND SOCIAL CRITIC

THE FEAST OF ADELAIDE TEAGUE CASE, EPISCOPAL PROFESSOR OF CHRISTIAN EDUCATION, AND ADVOCATE FOR PEACE

THE FEAST OF MICHEL-RICHARD DELALANDE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF VERNARD ELLER, U.S. CHURCH OF THE BRETHREN MINISTER AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM PIERSON MERRILL, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND HYMN WRITER

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READING JEREMIAH, PART XXX

Above:  Jeremiah

Image in the Public Domain

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Jeremiah 49:7-22

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The Edomites were relatives of the Hebrews–descendants of Esau, a.k.a. Edom, actually (Genesis 25:19-34; 33:1-20; 35:1-36:43).  The Edomites were traditional, bitter enemies of the the Hebrews.  Edomites joined Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian forces at the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.).  Hebrew antagonism toward the Edomites made its way into the Bible (Isaiah 34:1-17; Isaiah 63:1-6; Lamentations 4:21-22; Ezekiel 25:12-14; Ezekiel 35:1-15; Amos 1:11-12; Obadiah; Malachi 1:2-5; Psalm 137:7; et cetera).

This antagonism is especially evident in Jeremiah 49:7-22, which, unlike some of the oracles in this set, lacks a lament.  Also, Jeremiah 49:22 echoes 48:41-44 (regarding Moab) and 50:44, 44-46 (regarding the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire).

Since I commenced this project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in chronological order, I have read the material regarding Edom in Amos 1:11-12 and Isaiah 21:11-12.

The Edom material in Obadiah and in Ezekiel 25:12-14; 35:1-15 awaits me, in due time.

Some points in the oracle require explanation:

1. This oracle and the Book of Obadiah probably drew from the same source.
2. Borzah was the main city-fortress of Edom.
3. Edom, associated with wisdom (Job 1:3; Proverbs 30:1; Proverbs 31:1) had become prideful and arrogant.

There would be no word of comfort for Edom.  The future was calamity for Edom and the Edomites.  Edomites, who had moved into southern Judah after the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) and established a capital at Hebron, declined during the Persian period.  This region of Judah became Idumea.  During the Persian period, Nabatean encroachment upon Edom pushed many more Edomites into Idumea.  Those Edomites who remained in Edom assimilated with the Nabateans.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 15, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JOHN ELLERTON, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF CARL HEINRICH VON BOGATSKY, HUNGARIAN-GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF DOROTHY FRANCES BLOMFIELD GURNEY, ENGLISH POET AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EVELYN UNDERHILL, ANGLICAN MYSTIC AND THEOLOGIAN

THE FEAST OF SAINT LANDELINUS OF VAUX, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT; SAINT AUBERT OF CAMBRAI, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; SAINT URSMAR OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC ABBOT AND MISSIONARY BISHOP, AND SAINTS DOMITIAN, HADELIN, AND DODO OF LOBBES, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONKS

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READING HABAKKUK, PART III

Above:  Habakkuk and God

Image in the Public Domain

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Habakkuk 1:12-2:4

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Why, then, do you gaze on the faithless in silence

while the wicked devour those more just than ourselves?

–Habakkuk 1:13b, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)

That is an excellent question for God in any time and place.

The context of the prophet Habakkuk was probably after 605 B.C.E. yet before the first Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian invasion of Judah in 598/597 B.C.E.  The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire was notoriously cruel.  This, was, unfortunately, a characteristic common to many Mesopotamian empires in antiquity.

“The righteous will live by faith” is a familiar line that should never be trite.  Sadly, many people reduce it to triteness.  It is a line, originally from Habakkuk 2:4, and quoted in Romans 1:17, in the context of justification with God.  The line occurs, originally, in the context of God’s reply (2:2-4) to the second complaint of the prophet.

The LORD answered me and said:

Write the prophecy down,

Inscribe it clearly on tablets,

So that it can be read easily.

For there is yet a prophecy for a set term,

A truthful witness for a time that will come.

Even if it tarries, wait for it still;

For it will surely come, without delay:

Lo, his spirit within him is puffed up, not upright,

But the righteous man is rewarded with life

For his fidelity.”

—TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

Robert Alter’s translation of Habakkuk 2:4 follows:

Look, the spirit within him is callous, not upright,

but the righteous man lives through his faithfulness.

—The Hebrew Bible:  A Translation with Commentary (2019)

The translation of Habakkuk 2:4, according to The Revised English Bible (1989) follows:

The reckless will lack an assured future,

while the righteous will live by being faithful.

Habakkuk 2:4, in The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011), reads:

See, the rash have no integrity;

but the just one who is righteous because of faith shall live.

The variety in translations opens up a sense of shades of meaning in the Hebrew text.  Does a righteous person–man, whatever–receive life as a reward for fidelity to God or survive extreme hardship by being faithful to God?  Also, the varying translations of the first part of 2:4 interest me.  Lacking integrity, being puffed up, and being callous sound different than having no future.  Perhaps they have no future because they are puffed up and are callous.  The translation in The Revised English Bible (1989) reminds me of why I frequently add that version to the stack of translations I consult on Bible study projects.  The Revised English Bible (1989) maintains a high literary quality and is often idiosyncratic and not literal.  Yet captures the meanings of texts.

In the original context, the faithful Jews of Judah seemed to have no future.  The future seemed to belong to the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.  God said that reality was the other way around.  God told Habakkuk that the divine schedule was not the prophet’s schedule.

Imagine, O reader, that you were a faithful Jew living late in the Babylonian Exile.  Imagine that you were, as in Psalm 137, sitting by the waters of Babylon and singing songs of Zion.  Imagine that you had never lived in Zion.  How might Habakkuk 2:4 have sounded to you?  How might you have responded to it?

Imagine also, O reader, that you were a faithful Jew (perhaps the same one) years later, having returned to your ancestral homeland?  How might you have related to Habakkuk 2:4 then?

Waiting for God can be extremely challenging in a variety of circumstances–not just worst-case scenarios.  Waiting for God requires trust in God.  That can come only via trust in grace.  One may desire to trust God; that is a good start.  Trusting God and walking in healthy relationship with God requires divine assistance.  It is available.  How many of us see it and do not recognize it?  And how many of us never even see it?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 5, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT DOROTHEUS OF TYRE, BISHOP OF TYRE, AND MARTYR, CIRCA 362

THE FEAST OF BLISS WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER, MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR, ARRANGER, AND HARMONIZER; AND HIS WIFE, MILDRED ARTZ WIANT, U.S. METHODIST MISSIONARY, MUSICIAN, MUSIC EDUCATOR, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF INI KOPURIA, FOUNDER OF THE MELANESIAN BROTHERHOOD

THE FEAST OF MAURICE BLONDEL, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PHILOSOPHER AND FORERUNNER OF THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL

THE FEAST OF ORLANDO GIBBONS, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER; THE “ENGLISH PALESTRINA”

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READING 2 KINGS 22-25, 1 ESDRAS, 2 CHRONICLES 34-36, EZRA, AND NEHEMIAH

Above:  Zedekiah

Image in the Public Domain

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PART IX

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2 Kings 24:18-25:26

2 Chronicles 36:11-21

1 Esdras 1:47-58

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By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept:

when we remembered the holy city.

–Psalm 137:1, A New Zealand Prayer Book (1989)

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For a different yet similar perspective on this material, read Jeremiah 37-44, O reader.

The last four Kings of Judah were in impossible situations.  Each one had bad choices and worse choices, not good choices.  Circumstances they did not create defined the monarchs’ horizons.  Geopolitics (being sandwiched between Egypt and Chaldea, to be precise) contributed to the difficulty.  And all of the four kings died in exile–one in Egypt and three in Babylon.  Zedekiah’s fate was the cruelest of the four fates.

Zedekiah was never his own man as King of Judah.  Mattaniah (“Gift of YHWH”) became Zedekiah (“YHWH is my righteousness”) when Nebuchadezzar II appointed and renamed him.  Zedekiah reigned as a vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II for about 11 years (597-586 B.C.E.).

The theology in the designated readings and in Jeremiah is consistent.  That theology upholds the sacredness of Zedekiah’s oath to God to be the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar II.  That theology also understands Nebuchadnezzar II as an instrument of God.

The assassination of governor Gedaliah and the subsequent mass exodus to Egypt (see also Jeremiah 40:13-41:18) added to the heartache of the Fall of the Jerusalem and the destruction of the Kingdom of Judah.

A common way of interpreting the conquest of a kingdom or an empire was that the gods of the victorious power had defeated the gods of the conquered power.  Nebuchadnezzar II had conquered Judah, but not YHWH.  The Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire had a date with divine judgment, too.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 5, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED TENNYSON, ENGLISH POET

THE FEAST OF ADAM OF SAINT VICTOR, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF ALBRECHT DÜRER, MATTHIAS GRÜNEWALD, AND LUCAS CRANACH THE ELDER, RENAISSANCE ARTISTS

THE FEAST OF GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT, POET AND COMPOSER

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This is post #2250 of BLOGA THEOLOGICA.

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Above:  The Denial of Saint Peter, by Caravaggio

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ,  who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236

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The Assigned Readings:

Micah 4:1-7

Psalm 137

Jude

Luke 22:54-65

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I detect two different moods in the set of readings for this Sunday.  On one hand, we have judgments, as in Psalm 137 and Jude.  On the other hand, we have Jesus almost certainly looking compassionately at St. Simon Peter, who had just denied knowing him.  We also read of an ideal future in Micah 4:1-7, in which the nations will seek religious instruction in Jerusalem.  That prophecy contradicts Micah 5:14, in which some nations will remain disobedient and suffer the consequences, however.

With which side of that divide do we identify?  Do we really want to bash our enemies’ babies’ heads against rocks?  Or do we really seek to be like Jesus?  My bishop, Robert C. Wright, says to “love like Jesus.”  I affirm that standard.  I also know how Jesus loved–so much that he died.  Loving like Jesus is a difficult challenge.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARGARET CLITHEROW, ENGLISH ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 1586

THE FEAST OF FLANNERY O’CONNOR, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC WRITER

THE FEAST OF GEORGE RUNDLE PRYNNE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF JAMES RENDEL HARRIS, ANGLO-AMERICAN CONGREGATIONALIST THEN QUAKER BIBLICAL SCHOLAR AND ORIENTALIST; ROBERT LUCCOCK BENSLY, ENGLISH BIBLICAL TRANSLATOR AND ORIENTALIST; AGNES SMITH LEWIS AND MARGARET DUNLOP SMITH GIBSON, ENGLISH BIBLICAL SCHOLARS AND LINGUISTS; SAMUEL SAVAGE LEWIS, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND LIBRARIAN OF CORPUS CHRISTI COLLEGE; AND JAMES YOUNG, SCOTTISH UNITED PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND LITERARY TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUDGER, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF MUNSTER

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2020/03/26/devotion-for-the-fourth-sunday-in-lent-year-c-humes/

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Above:  Some of my Bibles, November 6, 2018

Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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The Reverend Timothy Matthew Slemmons, writing in Year D (2012), noted that the Revised Common Lectionary (1992), with its three-year cycle and two tracks between Pentecost and Christ the King Sunday, covers about one-quarter of the (Protestant) Bible.  He also noted that a seven-year cycle would be necessary for nearly complete coverage.

Why not have a seven-year cycle, at least?  There are, for many, theological issues with the Deuterocanon, of course.  A hypothetical lectionary committee might get around this difficulty by scheduling Hebrew canonical readings as alternatives to Deuterocanonical lections.

But why not an eight-year cycle?  Here are some details:

1. Read the entirety of all the canonical Gospels–Matthew (Years A and E), Mark (Years B and F), Luke (Years C and G), and John (Years D and H).
2. Read every word of the Acts of the Apostles and all the epistles, including those that are epistles in name only.  (I mean you, Hebrews.)
3. Read all of the Book of Psalms, including the passages that make many people cringe, such as the end of Psalm 137, with fantasies of dashing the heads of enemies’ children against stones.
4. Take the deep dive into the Hebrew prophets.
5. Read the epic stories of the Hebrew Bible.
6. Give the Wisdom literature its due.
7. Yes, read Revelation, the Apocalypse of John.
8. Provide just one track all year, every year.
9. Do not refrain from reading any of the “texts of terror.”

The Revised Common Lectionary, for all its virtues, does avoid many difficult passages.  I notice this, for I teach a lectionary class in my parish during the Sunday School time.  I have a Bible open in front of me as I teach, so I see the conveniently omitted verses.  I respect the Bible and revere God enough to read even those passages that make me uncomfortable.  Sometimes I argue with them, but I do so faithfully, as when I notice the quoted (and affirmed) slur against Cretans in Titus 1:12.

The Bible is a theologically diverse–sometimes self-contradictory–and rich theological anthology.  Even we who study it seriously and frequently can always learn more from it.  Even we who study the Bible seriously and frequently need to study it more than we do.  A longer-term lectionary can provide an invaluable Bible study tool for use in congregations of a range of denominations.

I call for a more thorough and inclusive lectionary–one more inclusive of “texts of terror,” books overlooked and insufficiently sampled in the Revised Common Lectionary, and of various types of Biblical literature.  This will require more than three years per cycle; so be it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 6, 2018 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF CHRISTIAN GREGOR, FATHER OF MORAVIAN CHURCH MUSIC

THE FEAST OF GIOVANNI GABRIELI AND HANS LEO HASSLER, COMPOSERS AND ORGANISTS; AND CLAUDIO MONTEVERDI AND HEINRICH SCHUTZ, COMPOSERS AND MUSICIANS

THE FEAST OF THEOPHANE VENARD, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MISSIONARY, AND MARTYR IN VIETNAM

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Book One: Psalms 1-41

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

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The psalter of the Septuagint contains 151 psalms.

I have written based on all of them, in numerical order.  I have retained the Hebrew numbering system, not that of the Septuagint.

Although I have no theological reticence to venture into textual territory that, according the United Methodism of my youth, is apocryphal, I do have limits.  They reside in the realm of Orthodoxy, with its range of scriptural canons.  Beyond that one finds the Pseudipigrapha.  Psalm 151 concludes the Book of Psalms in The Orthodox Study Bible (2008); so be it.

The Hebrew psalter concludes with Psalm 150.  In other psalters, however, the count is higher.  In certain editions of the Septuagint, for example, Psalm 151 is an appendix to the Book of Psalms.  In other editions of the Septuagint, however, Psalm 151 is an integrated part of the psalter.  There is also the matter of the Syraic psalter, which goes as high as Psalm 155.  I have no immediate plans to ponder Psalms 152-155, however.  Neither do I plan to read and write about Psalms 156-160 any time soon, if ever.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 23, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS MARTIN DE PORRES AND JUAN MACIAS, HUMANITARIANS AND DOMINICAN LAY BROTHERS; SAINT ROSE OF LIMA, HUMANITARIAN AND DOMINICAN SISTER; AND SAINT TURIBIUS OF MOGROVEJO, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF LIMA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN COPELAND, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN TRANSLATOR

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1

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5

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31

32

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34

35

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41

Book Two:  Psalms 42-72

42

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44

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46

47

48

49

50

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55

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58

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Book Three:  Psalms 73-89

73

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Book Four:  Psalms 90-106

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97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

Book Five:  Psalms 107-150

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119:1-32

119:33-72

119:73-104

119:105-144

119:145-176

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

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136

137

138

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150

Also in the Greek:  Psalm 151

151

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His steadfast love is eternal,

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POST LVI OF LX

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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days.  I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.

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Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:

Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,

that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life,

which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ;

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 226

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In full Jewish style, Psalm 136 praises God for what He does and has done; God is like what He does and has done, Hebrew theology tells us.

we keep reading in refrain in TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985).  The Hebrew word translated as “steadfast love” is hesed; it also translates into English as kindness, mercy, and grace.  This hesed is everlasting.  The God of Psalm 136 is the same figure the author of Psalm 138 praises with all our heart, also while citing everlasting hesed.

The author of Psalm 137 does not seem to have God’s hesed on his mind.  The text is the lament of exiles in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire.  Not surprisingly, the psalmist is resentful–so much that he fantasizes about dashing Chaldean babies against rocks.

Though I walk among enemies,

You preserve me in the face of my foes;

You extend Your hand;

with Your right hand You deliver me.

The LORD will settle accounts for me.

O LORD, Your steadfast love is eternal;

do not forsake the work of Your hands.

–Psalm 138:7-8, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

Psalm 138, even with its morally disturbing desire for divine retribution, does express confidence in God.  That confidence is absent from Psalm 137, although a vendetta is present.

The combination of the pious and the morally disturbing in Psalms 136-138, taken together, is human and honest.  Such honesty before God can be spiritually beneficial, if one is open to transformation by God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 22, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JACK LAYTON, CANADIAN ACTIVIST AND FEDERAL LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

THE FEAST OF JOHN DRYDEN, ENGLISH PURITAN THEN ANGLICAN THEN ROMAN CATHOLIC POET, PLAYWRIGHT, AND TRANSLATOR

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