29 December 2020

Reading Psalms and Lighting Candles: a Hebrew Word Study

In the darkest season of the year, we wait for the light. We light candles to represent the coming Light. This blog post reprises my facebook books prepared for my church during 2020: A collection of  verses from the Psalms which help define five Hebrew words:

 Hope. Peace. Joy. Love. Messiah.

The last section includes my own translation of the 89th Psalm.


Tomorrow marks the first Sunday of Advent and many will light a candle to represent Hope. I offer a few tidbits from my study notes on the Psalms in Hebrew, the first language of all the tongues that have raised their voices in hope throughout 3,000 years.
The Hebrew word is Tikvah. Hope in a time of waiting. Hope is waiting for a new day to dawn although this night is dark and long. Biblical hope is more than wishful thinking or dreaming.
Tikvah is expectation, and expectation is not a passive word. It is preparation.
Expectation is a woman awaiting the birth of her child. It is labor, sometimes painful.
Hope is no misty daydream; hope comes with faith which "gives substance to things hoped for" and makes our hope "sure and certain."
Tikvah is living and acting today as if our hope had already come while we wait for the coming.
Tikvah. The Hebrew root refers to a cord or a binding together.
It is Rahab's red cord, the hope of her family's salvation although the walls of Jericho will tumble.
Hope is the rope lowered into a pit to rescue the one who is trapped.
Hope is the lifeline tossed to one who has been overwhelmed in the sea after the ship has floundered and all is lost. All is lost, except the life that reaches for and grabs the lifeline, holding tight,, waiting the promised rescue.
Psalm 9:18 "For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever."
Psalm 33:18,22 "Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love... Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you.
Psalm 39:7 “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in you."
Psalm 42:11 & 43:5 "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God."
Psalm 62:5 "For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him."
Psalm 71:5,14 "For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth." "But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more."
Psalm 78:7 "So that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments."
Psalm 119:81 "My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word."
Psalm 119:74 "Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in your word."
Psalm 119:114 You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.
Psalm 130:5, 7 "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope..."
"O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption."
Psalm 146:5 "Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God."
Psalm 147:11 "...the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love."

Shalom, Shalom. Peace, perfect peace.
“You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:3-4).
"Shalom" appears more frequently in The Prophets than in the Psalms. It is a word spoken and promised by Yeshua, Jesus. Paul, the Apostle, defining the unity of Jew and Gentile in Christ/Messiah wrote: “For He is our shalom, the One who made the two into one and broke down the middle wall of separation” (Eph. 2:14).
This idea of Shalom, both one of the names of the LORD and the doing of YWWH, is one of the most significant themes of Hebrew Scripture. "Shalom" and its New Testament Greek counterpart "eirene" and their cognates appear 550 times in the Bible.
In most of our English Bibles, we translate "shalom" as "peace" and it means so much more than an absence of war or conflict. It is not a passive feeling, but an active making. God makes peace; the children of God are called to be peacemakers. The concept of shalom is one of the most significant themes in Hebrew Scripture.
What is peace? What is this "peace that passeth understanding?"
Quoting Dr. Cornelius "Neal" Plantinga's book Not the Way It's Supposed to Be:
"Shalom is …the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight…Shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be…the full flourishing of human life in all aspects, as God intended it to be."
Where there is Shalom, there is:
Righteousness, Justice, Community, Integrity, Well-being, Wholeness, Connectedness, Salvation...
When God give us peace, we find that God has also given us:
Health, Reconciliation, Contentment, and Abundance.
In the Psalms, the emphasis is on the interdependent relationship of righteousness and peace. In the Psalms, Shalom is frequently associated with Torah/the Word or Law of the LORD.
Advent is a season of expectant waiting.
We await the coming and the coming again of our Messiah, our Sar Shalom, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
The 72nd Psalm is believed to be Solomon's Coronation hymn and foreshadows the coming of the everlasting kingdom promised to the house of David.
So, we light candles to push back the darkness.
We wait.
We hope.
We renew our faith and continue the work of peace which is God at work within us and through us.
Psalm 4:8 I will lie down in peace and sleep; for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 29:11 The LORD will give strength to His people; The LORD will bless His people with peace.
Psalm 34:14 Keep apart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.
Psalm 37:37 Mark the blameless man, and behold the upright; For the man of peace will have a posterity.
Psalm 72:3, 7 Let the mountains bring peace to the people, And the hills, in righteousness…. In his days may the righteous flourish, And abundance of peace till the moon is no more
Psalm 85:8 I will hear what God the LORD will say; For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones; But let them not turn back to folly.
Psalm 85:10 Lovingkindness and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
Psalm 119:165 Those who love Your law have great peace, And nothing causes them to stumble.
Psalm 122:6,7, 8 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: "May they prosper who love you. May peace be within your walls, And prosperity within your palaces."
For the sake of my brothers and my friends, I will now say, "May peace be within you.
Psalm 125:5 But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways, The LORD will lead them away with the doers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 128:6 Indeed, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 147:14 He [the LORD} makes peace in your borders; He satisfies you with the finest of wheat. "



Some thoughts for the 3rd Sunday of Advent:
First, Hope-- waiting in expectation.
Second, Peace—the webbing together of God, humans, and all creation in justice, fulfillment, and delight.
While we wait in hope, while we sit in prayer seeking peace and do the work of peacemaking, finally there comes a spark to light the night. That spark is joy.
Happiness is dependent on events but joy is deeper; it grows, and glows, from the inside out.
It is the fruit of wisdom that comes from delight in the Word, the Law, Torah. Joy is relationship, gratitude, and worship.
Light the candle of Joy and
“Let us be weary of the dark voices crying doom;
let us be weary of the fearful voices crying only for their nation;
let us be weary of the disinherited voices crying in hopelessness;
let our voices sing the laughter of God;
let our voices sing good news to the poor;
let our voices sing restitution of the oppressed;
let our voices sing healing of the violated;
let our voices sing the return of the banned;
let our voices be the laughter of God.
Amen.” -- paraphrased from the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, during the 18th century*
Let our voices sing for Joy:
Psalm 4:7 You have put gladness in my heart, more than when their grain and new wine abound.
Psalm 16:11 You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.
Psalm 21:6 For You make him most blessed forever; You make him joyful with gladness in Your presence.
Psalm 30:11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness,
Psalm 43:4 Then I will go to the altar of God, To God my exceeding joy; And upon the lyre I shall praise You, O God, my God.
Psalm 45:7, 15 Psalm 45:7 You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; Therefore God, your God has anointed You with the oil of joy… They will be led forth with gladness and rejoicing; They will enter into the King's palace.
Psalm 51:8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
Psalm 68:3 But let the righteous be glad; let them exult before God; Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.
Psalm 97:11 Light is sown like seed for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.
Psalm 100:2 Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
Psalm 106:5 That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones, That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation, That I may glory with Your inheritance.
Psalm 137:6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth If I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem Above my highest


Tomorrow night we light a candle for Love.
This Hebrew word for love is Chesed and is used 130 times in Psalms, half the times it is used in all of Hebrew Scripture. What does this word mean?
Chesed is
always and ever loving-kindness, mercy, pity, grace,
always sufficient, pressed down & overflowing loving provision,
always caring, tender, shepherding, compassionate, doing the best thing for the other
always steadfast, never to be shaken, never-coming-to-an- end, without limit
Faithful Love.
Interestingly, “chesed” derives from a primitive Hebrew root “chacad” which evokes the image of bowing one’s head in courtesy to an equal and means to show kindness to another. Thus, God’s chesed originates in Creation: “Let us create humankind in our own image.”
Any instance of God’s chesed is an invitation to relationship, to conversation, to friendship, to a life walked in company with God as Abraham, Moses & David experienced.
That invitation and relationship is affirmed by Jesus, our Immanuel, God-with-Us, in his final discourse where he said “but I have called you friends.” (John 15)
Psalms 5:7 “…as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy…”
Psalms 6 “O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled; But You, O Lord—how long? Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
Psalms 13:5-6 “I have trusted in Your mercy; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.”
Psalms 17:6-8 “I have called upon You, for You will hear me, O God; Incline Your ear to me, and hear my speech. Show Your marvelous lovingkindness by Your right hand, O You who save those who trust in You From those who rise up against them. Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings…”
Psalms 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy (chesed) shall follow me all the days of my life.”
Psalms 36:7-9 “How precious is your faithful love, O God! All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
Psalms 33:18 “Truly the eye of the LORD is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his love.”
Psalms 63:1, 3: “O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water… Because your love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
85:9-12 “Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, That glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth have met together; Righteousness and peace have kissed. Truth shall spring out of the earth, And righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yes, the Lord will give what is good…”
86:5, 15-16 “Thou, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.” “You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Psalm 107:1-2 “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so…” I like to use this verse to introduce a listing of all the ways God has loved me and people I know when I offer a prayer of thanksgiving.
Read the 89th Psalm to see the covenant with the House of David.
Read the 103rd Psalm for a catalog of God’s chesed.



Tonight, we light the “Christ” candle and celebrate the most unlikely birth of the King of kings. “Christ,” like the Hebrew “Messiah”, means “Anointed One.” There are many biblical instances of anointing. Oils, specially prepared, fragrant with spices and perfumes,were used for healing, for preparing brides and grooms, for confirming legal contracts, for preparing the dead for burial.

Holy oil (using a special recipe that could be used for no other purpose) was used to consecrate, make sacred, confirm the holiness of everything in the Tent of Presence in the Tabernacle and in the Holy of Holies of the Temple. This anointing of material things set them apart from the ordinary, dedicated them to the service of God, a preparation for and reminder of the Presence of God in the midst of God’s people.
Special oils were used to anoint people. These holy oils were prepared and consecrated to be “poured out” to the last drop over the head, to flow down the face and into the beards and over the bodies, and so confirm that these ordinary flesh and blood people were chosen, dedicated, set apart for the service of God and a reminder of God’s Presence in the midst of God’s people.
Priests were anointed.
Kings were anointed.
Prophets were anointed.
Generation after generation.
In Israel, it was known that the LORD had made a covenant with David that could not be broken. The prophets spoke of an Anointed One, Messiah, who was coming to redeem the nation, to reign as Highest King on David’s throne, to make right all that was wrong. For the sake of God’s people, this Messiah would suffer and through suffering prove God’s faithful love and would be lifted up, victorious. The Light of Israel’s God would become the Light of the world.
For this Messiah, they waited.
For this Messiah, we wait.
There are many Psalms that are Royal or Messianic Psalms: Psalms 2, 8,16, 22, 23, 24,40, 41, 45, 68, 72, 89, 102, 110, 118. There are other psalms that while not strictly messianic are related to the person, life, rejection, suffering, resurrection of Messiah. The messianic Psalms are often quoted and interpreted by New Testament writers. The 110th Psalm is the most frequently quoted Psalm and the Hebrew Scripture most frequently cited by the writers of the New Testament. Jesus himself offered teaching from the 110th Psalm.
Psalm 22:22-31
“I will declare Your name in the midst of the assembly.
All you who honor and worship the LORD, sing praises!
Honor and stand in awe!
The LORD has not spurned nor scorned the affliction of the lowly.
God has seen.
God has heard.
God has acted.
For You, Lord, my praise in the assembly…
The poor will eat and be filled.
Those who seek the LORD, sing praises!
May you be of good cheer forever.
All the far ends of the earth will remember
And return to the LORD.
Let all the families of the nations bow down,
For the LORD is king…
All generations will serve Him
They shall come and declare righteousness to a people yet unborn.
God has done it! It is finished!"
Psalm 24:8-11
"Who is the king of glory?
The LORD, most strong and mighty
The LORD, who is valiant in battle.
Lift up your heads, O gates,
And lift up, eternal portals,
That the king of glory may enter.
Who is he, the king of glory?
LORD Sabaoth, He is the king of glory."
Psalm 45:3-8
"You are loveliest of the sons of man,
Grace flows from your lips.
Therefore, God has blessed you forever.
Gird your sword on your thigh, O warrior,
Your glory and grandeur.
And in your grandeur pass onward,
Mounted on a word of truth, humility, and justice…
Your throne of God is forevermore.
A scepter of right, your kingship’s scepter.
You loved justice and hated evil.
Therefore, did God your God anoint you
With oil of joy over your fellows.
Myrrh and aloes and cassia…"
Psalm 110
"The LORD has sworn.
He will not change heart.
You are priest forever.
By my solemn word, my righteous king*.”
*This less familiar translation is that of Robert Alter in his The Hebrew Bible (2019). Melchizedek means “righteous king.” Melchizedek was the priest and king of Salem. The word “salem” is related to shalom, peace. Jesus is indeed Sar Shalom (Prince of Peace), priest forever and righteous king “in the order of Melchizedek.”
Psalm 89:1-29, 33-37
[This is my own phrasing although in many places I follow other translations, most notably KJV, New English Bible (1970), Amplified Classic, Green’s Interlinear (1985), and Robert Alter’s The Hebrew Bible.]
I will sing of the mercy and loving-kindness of the LORD forever;
with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness for all generations.
For I have said,
Mercy and loving-kindness shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness will You establish in the very heavens, unchanging and perpetual.
You have said [These are the words of God]:
“I have made a covenant with My chosen one,
I have sworn to David My servant,
Your Seed I will establish forever,
and I will build up your throne for all generations.”
Selah
Let heaven praise Your wonders, O LORD,
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy.
For who in the heavens can compare to the LORD?
Who among the mighty can be likened to the Lord,
a God held in awe in the council of the holy ones, and worshipped in awe above?
YHWH Elohim Sabaoth, who is a mighty one like unto You, O Lord, with Your faithfulness round You?
You rule the tides of the sea; when waves arise, You still them.
You have broken Rahab in pieces; with Your mighty arm You have scattered Your enemies.
The heavens are Yours,
the earth is Yours;
the world and all that is in it is Yours;
You created them.
The north and the south, You created them;
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon shout joy of Your name.
You have a mighty arm; strong is Your hand,
Your right hand is soaring high.
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
mercy and loving-kindness and truth go before Your presence.
Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound;
they walk, O LORD, in the light of Your presence!
In Your name they rejoice all the day,
and in Your righteousness they are exalted.
For You are the glory of their strength
and by Your favor our horn is lifted up!
For YHWH is our shield and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
You once spoke in a vision to Your faithful and did say:
“I have gifted a mighty One with the power to help;
I have lifted up one chosen from among the people.
I found David, My servant;
with My holy oil I anointed him,
And my hand shall hold firm with him forever
and my arm will strengthen him.
No enemy shall strike him; no wickedness shall bring him low.
I will beat down his foes before his face and defeat those who hate him.
My faithfulness and mercy and loving-kindness shall be with him,
and in My name shall his horn be lifted up.
I will set the sea in his hand; the rivers in his right hand.
He shall cry to Me,
You are my Father,
my God,
and the Rock of my salvation!
And I will make him My firstborn,
the King of kings of the earth.
Forever My mercy and loving-kindness will keep him
and My covenant with him shall stand fast and be confirmed.
His seed will continue
and his throne endure as the days of heavens…
I will never remove my mercy from him;
my faithfulness will not fail.
I have spoken a covenant and I will not change.
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness which cannot be violated,
I do not lie to David.
His seed will endure forever
and in My presence David’s throne will last
like the Sun and the Moon in the heavens, a faithful witness. "[Selah.]


19 November 2020

Hebrew Poetics: Concantenation through the Psalms

 








[Teaching notes by K Cummings Pipes, SouthwestCentralHouston, ZOOM class

 This is the second in a series. Here is a link to Part 1:

Hebrew Poetics in Psalm 1]

Andrea read Psalm 1.

Blessed! How blessed! 

Not a statement of fact. Not a teaching or code of law. It's a proclamation, a shout, an assertion of deep fulfillment, a state of harmony with the world, with others, and with oneself. It's a bold and joyous celebration of unity and peace with the God whose name we know.

Blessed! ‘ashrei in Hebrew a strong… interjection

So begins the first Psalm. The word “bless” in its various Hebrew forms is the most commonly used word in the Psalms. Over 100 times.”

 Translators use the word “happy” but that word is perhaps “too light" to suggest the depth of meaning hidden in the Hebrew word. Blessedness is a deep state of satisfaction, of fulfillment, of unity and peace with the God whose image we bear.

The word “blessed” may also be used to refer to God, most notably in the phrase “Blessed be the LORD” where the root idea is of “prostration and bowing in an attitude to adoration and praise.”

 “Blessing” as it applies to individuals, to Israel as the chosen people of God, and to the LORD God [YHWH  Adonai Elohim] is the over-arching theme of the Psalms.

 When we began our study in September, I asked: What does it mean to be blessed? Who is blessed? How do we see blessing in times of fear, pain, loss, doubt, oppression, separation, death? How do we recover our balance? How do we find “the level place” [that idea is one of the meanings of the word “bless”] that level place where we can walk in safety and security. Where is the “straight path, the open way” to promised blessing? [those, too, are meanings in the word “bless”] What is the “next step”? [yet another meaning of “bless”]”

 Today we have come full circle in our study of the Psalms--this collection of Hebrew poems written by many individuals, over at least a millennium. Even until this day, we read and hear the words of the Psalms and we echo them: wondering at the “works of God’s hands,” celebrating the life and covenant of Israel’s poet/king David. In a world coming apart with Asaph we cry for justice and we rely on “the steadfast love of the Lord.” We lament suffering, searching for “the way” out of captivity. We rejoice in the teaching of Torah, the Word of the LORD, “looking to the hills from whence cometh our help” and ascending to that higher ground, walking up the next step of the Temple courts, step by step, nearer to the Holy of Holies and the presence of God, “singing a new song,” in the assembly of the righteous, and shouting Hallelujah!

What is it that draws that Hallelujah out of our hearts and out of mouths? “Blessed be the name of the LORD!” “My soul kneels” and I “sing a new song” of blessing and praise because I know I am blessed. We are blessed! Blessed! Ashrei! Hallelujah!

What do these ancient songs, the hymnal of God’s people  for more than 3,000 years, [think about that--3,000 years!] teach us about what it means to be blessed?

How I wish we had time to read them all and I’m grateful that some of these have been part of Andrea’s teaching these last few weeks. Here is a quick tour through the Psalms (each numbered in parenthesis) of what it means to be blessed:

Blessed is anyone who is wise and walks the way of the Lord and find refuge in Yahweh (1)

The blessed are forgiven (32)

Blessed is the nation whose God is Yahweh (33)

The blessed have a concern for the helpless (41)

Blessed are the upright, the pure in heart (73)

The blessed trust Yahweh Sabbaoth, Lord of Hosts (84)

The blessed are instructed by God and taught Torah, and given respite from adversity (94)

The blessed sing a new song (98)

The blessed “fear the LORD and find great joy in his commandments” (112)

Blessed are “those who walk the way of the LORD… and seek God in their hearts” (119)

The blessed are those who bless God: because we know

God hears (138). God examines us and knows us (139). God rescues me (140). God is my refuge (141). Blessed are the people who have Yahweh for their God. (144)

The blessed bless the name of the LORD.

As the first Psalm promised and as all scripture teaches: to be blessed is to stand in the congregation of the righteous. 

All these  blessings our ours. Ashrei! Blessed!

Blessed with “The abundant riches of Christ Jesus our Lord who loves us and gave himself for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2)

 Brent lead us in a song of thanksgiving, #68 in our hymnal.

Give Thanks (Don Moen) lyrics

Andrea read the 150th Psalm

Having begun our study with the first Psalm, we have spent the last several weeks with the last, the 150th.  

We sometimes read a single Psalm and then find ourselves a bit lost or uneasy. Reading the 150th Psalm is like coming late to a party:  the feasting is well underway, the wine of good spirits is flowing, the band is loud, some folks are singing along, and the crowd is dancing about and shouting good cheer. It’s easy to feel a bit confused and overwhelmed.

Lectionary readings and Sunday orders of service teach us to read a psalm as standing alone or perhaps as it relates to other scripture. We would seldom view a few verses from the Gospels or the Epistles as free standing, without context. Yet, most of the time, we read a single psalm with no context and then we find ourselves a bit lost or uneasy. Sometimes, even the comfort we derive from the beloved 23rd Psalm may feel a bit… forced? Shaky, uncertain? As if we need something different, something  more.

 That confusion or uncertainty may be because we are neglecting one of the primary devices of Hebrew poetics:  Concantenation.

Concantenation is a group of things combined or joined or linked together to produce a particular result or effect. It takes separate things and makes them into a series.

In Hebrew poetics, concantenation is key word linking, a chain of repeated words or words repeated from verse to verse to verse. [Examples Psalms 25, 123, 130]

Some commentators believe that concatenation is the underlying structure of the entire book of Psalms e.g. each psalm connects to the psalm that follows.  Examples Psalm 1 & 2 are linked by “blessed” and by  “meditate” or “plot” which share roots. Psalm 2 & 3 are linked by “way” with “perish.” Psalm 3 & 4 by “holy hill” etc.

While I wouldn’t say that this linking from psalm to psalm to psalm is the underlying structure of the book of Psalms, I do think that it’s a great tool for putting the psalms in context. It can help indentify clusters of psalms that are more powerful when read together as a series.

For example: our understanding of the 23rd Psalm is greatly enhanced if we read it as part of a concatenated sequence, Psalms 23-28, about our shepherding God.  I usually begin this reading with Psalm 22 which is not part of the series because it contains the words Jesus spoke from the cross. I like to remember Jesus praying this psalm. The cross of Christ is always a good starting place for a follower of Jesus. Hear these very shortened excerpts:

 “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

“Yahweh!  my shepherd… for your name’s sake, even though I walk through a valley dark as death… I shall dwell in the house of the LORD…”

“The earth is the LORD’s… who may go up the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in God’s holy place?  He who has clean hands and a pure heart… Lift up your heads, you gates….”

Unto thee, O LORD my God, I lift up my heart… for your Name’s sake, forgive… for I have waited for thee, O LORD.”

“Give me justice, O LORD… for your constant love is before my eyes and I live in your truth. I have not sat among worthless men… nor sit among the ungodly… O LORD, I love the beauty of your house… I will bless the LORD in the full assembly.”

“The LORD is my light and my salvation… One thing I ask of the LORD, one thing I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD… Now I can raise up my head… Teach me your way, O LORD… wait for the LORD, be strong, take courage, and wait for the LORD.”

“To you, O LORD, I call, O my Rock… I lift up  my hands…

Blessed be the LORD, my strength and my shield… Save your people and bless your own, shepherd them, carry them forever.”

 At the end of the book of Psalms, we find another such series of concantenated psalms. There are many others.

Psalms 138 – 144 form a collection of “Davidic” psalms which concludes with 145th Psalm, a Davidic Song of Praise  which is followed by five psalms each beginning and ending with "Halleljah!"

These Psalms reprise the themes of Book 1 of the Psalms.

Brent led us in a song not in our hymnal but well known to us. I am linking to an on-line version. Bless the Lord, O my soul (10,000 reasons)

Matt Redman singing the hymn he wrote. Bless the Lord O My Soul 10000 Reasonshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSxocnIaN0A

I have a group of friends who play an interesting game that might be called Concantenation. They carry on conversations composed entirely of quotations from books, or movies, or songs. In the middle of normal conversation, usually mundane small talk, someone tosses in a line from let’s say a movie. Someone else recognizes the line and responds with another line from the same movie or maybe from another movie. A line from another movie spoken by the same actor or from a song that was part of the score or from the same film genre.  The trick is to keep the conversation going so that it sounds like normal conversation. Listeners are either amused or confused. For the record, I’m completely clueless when it comes to this game.

One aspect of poetry is word play. The psalmist who wrote the 144th Psalm is playing a similar game: almost every verse is a quotation from another Psalm. Psalm 144 is a reprise of Davidic themes from Book I of the Psalms:  God is my refuge. God is my rock. God is my shield. Rescue me. Lead Me. Show me the way.t go.

 Larry read Psalm 144

Did some of that sound familiar? The very clever psalmist has not only made a psalm of quotations but has given it a similar structure to the 18th from which it quotes. Psalm 144:1-11, 15 all come from other psalms. Verses 11-14 are an insertion that counts the blessings of being returned from Captivity and settled in a propsering land. 

Verse 1a    quotes    18:34 &36

Verse 3      quotes    8:4

Verse 4      quotes    39:6, 102:11

Verse 5      quotes    18:9, 104:32

Verse 6      quotes    18:14

Verse 7-8    quotes    18:16

Verse 9       quotes    33:2-3

Verse 10    quotes    18:50

[Insertion verse 11-14 count blessings. If used in Temple liturgy these verses might be changed for occasion.]

Verse 15b  quotes    33:12a

 The concantenated series is followed by Psalm 145, a Davidic Psalm of Praise. Although there are many psalms that include praise, this is the only one to bear the title.

Roianna read the 145th Psalm.

Taking all we have gleaned from this quick overview of Psalms, and the psalms and devotional commentaries that Andrea has shared in the last 3 months, let's turn again to the last psalm, Psalm 150,  but let’s get to that party at the beginning of the victorious festival.

Psalms 146-150 is the gathering promised in verse 5 of  Psalm 1. We are standing in the courts of the righteous, the gathering of God’s people, the assembly of the godly to sing the praise high above all praise.

"Praise above all praise" is the definition of “Hallelujah” It’s a compound word:  “Hallel” Praise “u” above all all praise followed by “jah” or “Yah” a shortened version of the holy name of God.

These psalms both begin and end with “Hallelujah” and there are 10 of them. In the numerologies of ancient times, 10 serves as a multiplier and implies “no limit.”

[You may recall Jesus made use of this multiplier when he told his disciple to forgive his brother 70 x 7 times, 7 x 10 x 7 times.]

Those of us who read and pray the daily lectionary will find ourselves reading these psalms again and again.

Praise above all praise echoing through all ages, no limit, eternal!

Psalms 146-150 conclude the story of the Psalms—the story of a man, the story of a king, the story of a nation, the story of a return from Captivity. Together they are a victorious festival of praise. These psalms also move to an ever-widening circle, from personal to national to the natural world of heavens and earth to the courts of the righteous to everyone and everything in all Creation.

Psalm 146 the redeemed individual praises God, our sufficient help

Psalm 147 praises the redeemer of Israel in the restored city of God

Psalm 148 praises God who is the Creator heaven & earth, "in whom all things move and have their being"

Psalm 149 is the “new song in the assembly of the faithful” where the “timbrel and the lyre” celebrate God’s victory and justice, the righteous judgement of God. This last Hallelujah Psalm echoes  the first Psalm and completes the circle. If we were to follow the concanetation we would end in the beginning, a new beginning.

Psalm 150 is a frenetic shouted Hallelujah with song and dance. Mention is made of seven musical instruments: ram’s horn, lute, lyre, timbrel, strings, flute, cymbals. Probably those 7 instruments are meant to recall the 7 days of the Creation poem of Genesis 1.

Robert Alter in a foot note in his magnificent translation of The Hebrew Bible: "Let all that has breath praise Yah." Appropriately, the psalm and the book conclude on a note of universalism: not Israel alone but every living thing is exhorted to praise the God of all creation. From this grandly resonate conclusion one can see how the Book of Psalms has spoken to people through the ages, across the borders of nations, language, and sectarian division.” 

Many people use the book of Psalms as a primer to prayer. All prayer finally, in one way or another, becomes praise. The Psalms teach us not to be insensitive to all the doubts, fears, tears, and pain that are summed up and gathered together in these final psalms of praise.

Prayer almost never begins in praise; it usually begins in hurt. But, if we keep turning toward God for the next step, if we pray often and long, if we wait upon the Lord, prayer will finally grow into praise.

This does not mean that every prayer we make will be capped off with praise but that the life of prayer is always reaching toward God, reaching toward praise.

Years ago, when I first taught Psalms to our Thursday Bible Class, Frances Mathews responded,

“Might as well start learning to do it now because as near as I can tell that’s what we’ll be doing for eternity.”       

      Frances Mathews, Ladies Bible Class, Southwest Central Church of Christ , Houston, TX  1995





03 September 2020

A Brief Introduction to Hebrew Poetics in Psalm 1.

 


The message of the First Psalm overlaid on a painting by Floyd County Artisit Winnie Carthel which hangs on the wall of my bedroom.

[Teaching notes by K Cummings Pipes, SouthwestCentralHouston, ZOOM class

This is the first of a series of 2. I link the November 19 post with Part 2 Hebrew Poetics: Concantentaionhttp://the-life-i-read.blogspot.com/2020/11/hebrew-poetics-concantenation-through.html]

"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the wicked, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."  Psalm 1:1  KJV

Blessed!

How blessed! Happy! How happy!
It's not a statement of fact. Not a teaching or code of law.
Blessed!
It's a proclamation, a shout, an assertion of deep fulfillment, a state of harmony with the world, with others, and with oneself
It's a bold and joyous celebration of unity and peace with the God whose name we know, the God whose name we whisper.

Blessed! ‘ashrei in Hebrew a strong, masculine interjection
So begins the first Psalm.

The word “bless” in its various Hebrew forms is the most commonly used word in the Psalms. Over 100 times.

The idea of blessing is the over-arching theme of the Psalms.

What does it mean to be blessed?
Who is blessed?
How do we see blessing in times of fear, pain, loss, doubt, oppression, separation, death?
How do we recover our balance?
How do we find “the level place” [that idea is one of the meanings of the word “bless”] that level place where we can walk in safety and security?
Where is the “straight path, the open way” to promised blessing? [those, too, are meanings in the word “bless”]
When I’m lost, when I’ve stumbled, when I don’t know the way, how do I find the way back?
What is the “next step”? [yet another meaning of “bless”]

 A Hebrew scholar notes the possibility that “Blessing!”  ’ashrei may be an sound-alike  pun on ‘ashurim “steps” and this idea reinforces the walking metaphor of the first Psalm. 

[Robert Alter citing Nahum Sarna]


In the handouts for this lesson, I provided a copy of Psalm 1 from one of the most recent translations of Hebrew scripture into English.  Robert Alter’s highly annotated translation is excellent and belongs in the library of any serious student of the Bible.

I took the liberty of changing Alter’s v. 1 “Happy” to “Blessed” and added 2 “!” to make visible the strong masculine interjection of the Hebrew.

Psalm 1 (Robert Alter’s translation.)

1    Blessed! 

“the man who has not walked in the wicked’s counsel, 
nor stood in the way of offenders has stood, 
nor in the session of scoffers sat.
2    But the LORD’s teaching is his desire,                    
And His teaching he murmurs day and night.
3    And he shall be like a tree planted by streams of water  
that bears its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not wither—
and in all that he does he prospers.

4    Not so! the wicked,  but like chaff that the wind drives away.
5    Therefore, the wicked will not stand up in judgment,  
nor offenders in the band of the righteous.
6    For the LORD embraces the way of the righteous,    
And the way of the wicked is lost.”

Today I’m charged with presenting a brief introduction to some aspects of Hebrew poetics applied to the First Psalm. Some of those basic principles are:

1.    Word choice not only definitions but hidden meanings and the “sounds” of alliteration, rhyme, puns, play on words, shadings of meaning.

2.  Metaphor and Imagery 
3.  Structure which in Psalms is usually defined by key word repetition and parallelism of phrases.

Imagery and metaphor are the language of poetry, where a simple picture of something quite common and ordinary is elevated into something greater, more complex, more powerful, more beautiful, more eternal:

"all the world’s a stage, 
love is a red red rose, 
hope is the thing with feathers, 
conscience is a man’s compass, 
let justice flow down like a river, 
shall we gather at the river, 
I am the light of the world, 
I am the good Shepherd…"
 
Throughout Hebrew scripture, one of the primary identities of God is the One Who Speaks. God speaks in Creation, God speaks to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; God speaks from a burning bush, from Mount Sinai and the giving of the Ten Words; God speaks to kings, and by prophets etc.

As the writer of the New Testament book of Hebrews reminds us:

“Long ago God spoke… in many and various ways… but in these last days God has spoken to us by a Son.”
The Apostle John asserts that Jesus is the Word, from Alpha to Omega, from beginning to end, the final word. 

There can be a lot of meaning wrapped up in a single word.
Nowhere is that more evident than in Hebrew scripture.

Biblical Hebrew has fewer than 9,000 words (8,198 attested) formed from 2,099 roots.  
Modern Hebrew has 6 times that many words. 
English may have many as ¾ of a million. 
William Shakespeare (approx. contemporaneous with the KJV) used 31,534 unique words, more than 3 times the number of words in all of Biblical Hebrew.
So, we begin to see the translators’ dilemma:
every Hebrew word has layer after layer after layer of meaning.

When I studied Hebrew with Rabbi Samuel Karff, he suggested that, when translating a passage from Hebrew to English, one should look carefully at all the possible meanings of a Hebrew word and all the possible meanings of that word’s root. The words chosen to translate are strongly dependent on context. Especially in the wisdom writings which include the Psalms, one should “hold in one’s mind, all the meanings” and look carefully at the repetitions of those words within the psalm. “When in doubt, include more not fewer meanings and look at them in the context of all scripture.” The Rabbi laughed and  told me, “don’t bother with the Greek just bring your reading, your understanding of Hebrew scripture into your understanding of Messiah in your Christian text."

Now returning to Psalm 1.
I’ve already noted the “walking metaphors” hidden in the root meanings of the word “bless.”
We might even say that, at its most basic level, to be blessed is to be walking in the way of the LORD.

[It is worth noting the Hebrew words used to refer to God. The Hebrew Elohim is translated “God.” The Hebrew Adonai is translated “Lord” and emphasizes God’s authority. That word may also be used for a man in authority. 
Here in this first Psalm and elsewhere, particularly in the older Psalms 3-72 which are offered in the context David’s life—as man and as God’s anointed King—the Hebrew word is the personal name of God, too holy to be spoken aloud. Thus, the word in text would be written “Yah-weh” or “Y-h W-h” but is always spoken as “the LORD” to distinguish from “Adonai.” 
Some newer translations omit the all caps, but the distinction between these words is important to preserve. We bow to the Lord; we have an intimate personal relationship, a spiritual relationship, a breath-to-breath relationship with the LORD whose name we know and whisper.]

The Hebrew word “the way” derek and its primitive root darak are used over 800 times in Hebrew scripture, 80 times in the Psalms.

phrase “walking the way” means
a road as it is walked one step at a time, 
a pathway, a journey, a course of life, 
a mode of action, custom or habit, 
conversation, 
direction.

Eugene Peterson titled  his book about the Psalms of Ascent (120-134) using the apt phrase: “a long obedience in the same direction.”

I should also note that the root word darak can mean treading the harvest, threshing the grain from the chaff which is blown away with the wind. This layer of meaning in the word "darak" is a powerful reinforcement of the shortened metaphor in v. 4

The Hebrew word “the law” is Torah and its primitive root is “yarah” yaw-raw are frequently associated with “walking the way.”


We usually think of Torah almost as a legal term, meaning precept or statute but the derivation and related words expand our idea of Torah to  include 
“teaching” the word Robert Alter chose for his translation, to instruct, to inform, to direct.

There are other images hidden in the idea of The Law, the Word of the Lord:
flowing as water (or falling as rain) – a blessing image,
to point out as if by aiming a finger, to indicate direction,

a boundary, a hedgerow that marks the path, a turning in the road. [which became the dominant understanding of the word in 19th and 20th Centuries commentaries.]

Also hidden deep in the layers of the word yarah are words for “turtle dove” and “bullock” the sacrificial animals for the poor and the rich. I wept with joy when I first noticed this hidden meaning. The primary purpose of Torah, the Law of the LORD, is not legalism but chesed, the Hebrew word that can be translated as grace, unfailing love, the steadfast love of the Lord. 
The Torah of Hebrew scripture and the Gospel’s new commandment of love both point to reconciliation with God, with our selves, and with others.

It is no surprise, then, that within the structure of many Psalms, Torah, the Law of the Lord, is often associated with words for salvation and blessing.

Finally, both Hebrew words or their roots, Torah the law of the LORD and darak the pathways of righteousness, include archery images: setting the arrow, bending the bow, and shooting the arrow on a straight course to the target.

Which is why I often pray a short prayer I wrote many years ago while on retreat with our Youth Group at Rockcleft:

Lord God, shoot us like arrows along your chosen course.
Let us fly straight and true as you direct us.
Let us hit the target.
          Let us not miss the mark.

Psalm 1 is rich in other metaphors:

“A tree planted by the water” which the Apostle Paul echoes in Ephesians with “rooted and grounded in faith”
“by rivers of water” “living water” which in Hebrew imagery evoke a reminder of God’s Spirit on the face of the waters teeming with life and of God’s provision of springs in a desert.

Let’s pause to visualize these images of the growing tree with roots nourished in living water. Recall all the times in the Bible where rivers are the setting, where water is mentioned:

Creation, Jacob’s Well, the Red Sea and the Jordan river where the  foreign leper Naaman found healing, the waters of Babylon where the people hung their harps because they could no longer sing the psalms of Zion, baptisms 
[both Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament offer examples. The Hebrew word is "mikvah" a pool of living water for immersion and purification which brings one into the presence of God.]

The tree that is planted is living water is a rich, rich metaphor.
This broadening understanding of Hebrew scripture brings a new perspective to Jesus changing water into wine and speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well and proclaiming that the those who receive his “living water will never thirst”…

What the tree and the water and the blessed man of Psalm 1 have in common is growth and movement. Living things grow. The one who is blessed is walking, moving toward God. Note that the verbs used in v. 1 of this Psalm are those used in the beloved 23rd Psalm

v. 3 offers a rich and verbose description of that blessed growth: fruit abundant in season, leaves that don’t wither.
Blessed!
A tree can withstand a drought without withering when it drinks living water. It is fruitful and prospers. 
It is worth noting here that a tree that bears fruit often requires pruning, its growth is not only nourished by the living water but shaped by the will of One who tends tree.

The word "prosper" yatsliah is a masculine verb, more likely to be used to refer to a man than a tree. Its use here makes clear that this image of a fruitful tree is a metaphor of the blessed man, the godly man who is walking the way.
This metaphor of the fruitful tree and the prospering man (blessed!) pushes us back up to the descriptors in v. 1
This poetic device--word choice and metaphor reinforced by the structure of the poem--reminds us that there is a man who made other choices. There is a man who chose to walk in the counsel of the ungodly and to stand in the way of sinners and to sit down with the scornful.  That man moved in the wrong direction and stopped moving.

Then in verse 4, the interjection: “Not so! the wicked”


Usually KJV does a better job than many more recent translations at catching the rhythms of the Hebrew but here it fails.

“Not so!” punches in forceful opposition to the “Blessed!” of v. 1
The verse that follows that “Not so!” is so very short in comparison to the blessed abundance of v. 3
v. 4 is short and abrupt and very sharp and serves as a verbal “cutting off” a perishing, if you will. The structure of the psalm implies "Torah" but there is no "Torah" in any of its many layers in the ungodly man who is not fruitful and is blown away in the wind as chaff from the threshing floor.

v. 5  because they would not walk in the way of the Lord, because they “stood in the way of sinners” they will not stand up in the judgement.
Here the psalmist is using two different words for "stand" but playing with the images. Because they stood where they should not have stood and sat down, the wicked now cannot stand up. They do not have a leg to stand on in the congregation of the righteous.
["the congregation of the righteous" is an image of judgement and is a thematic idea which we will revisit at the end of this study when we look at Psalm 150.]

Finally, there is a metaphor in v. 6 although it is hidden in our English translations.

“The LORD knoweth the way of the righteous” could be more rightly translated using a visually evocative metaphor:
“The LORD shepherds the way of the righteous.” 

Robert Alter translated this phrase: “… the LORD embraces the way of the righteous” and noted that the “The Hebrew-- literally “knows” -- is a verb often used for intimate connection, the sexual union of man and wife.

I like Alter’s  translation, because it calls to mind the 85th Psalm which also speaks to the idea of judgement;
“Gracious love and faithful truth are joined together; righteousness and peace embrace and kiss.”  (my translation)

I close with a quote from my favorite Old Testament theologian, Walter Brueggmann (Israel’s Praise):

“Psalms are not only responses to the reality of relationship with the biblical God but also expressions that help reshape that relationship with God.  That is, psalms not only reflect reality but also shift reality." 

We stopped here for a short Q&A before continuing with a very quick look at the structure of Psalm 1. 

           

Psalm 1 has two interlocking structures: (1)  two lines in parallel, repeated which is the structure of the oldest Hebrew poetry and (2) the chiastic/nested or ring structures of newer, [post Captivity] writings.
      
Structure: linear through time, A & B offer contrasting rather than similar parallel lines:

present:         A         1-3      Blessed 
not walking, standing,  or sitting with the wicked
B         4-5      the wicked
                        not standing with the assembly of righteous
future:            A         6          Blessed
walk the way God watches over
B         6          the wicked
walk the way that perishes

And a chiastic structure: 
[think of this kind of structure as Russian dolls, go in and then back out. 
The key point is usually in the middle and I’ve seen a few examples that go all the way into a G or even an I point. 
Psalm 1 presents one of the less common structures where there is no middle point, which shifts the emphasis to A and A’.  
In this case, the interior point D has been moved to the end, probably to support the linear, parallel structure ABAB of the older Hebrew poems. 
It is very unusual for a Psalm to have such a complex structure.]

            A                                 1          The blessed walk/stand/sit not with wicked…
                        B                     2                      their way (Torah)
                                    C          3                                  Comparison:  like tree/water
                                                                                    fruitful, useful
                                    C’         4                                  Comparison:  like chaff/wind
                                                                                    not nourishing, trash
                        B’                                            "not so" (their way implied:  not Torah)
A’                                5          The wicked do not stand with righteous

powerful & authoritative:   D         6          God shepherds the way of the righteous
the way of the wicked perishes

Taken together the structure of this Psalm underline the primary message of this psalm:

To be blessed is to walk the way that God knows, watches over, shepherds.  
The wicked (ungodly) follow a way that is cut off (from God) and that way is not "the way" and  perishes.