[Teaching notes by K Cummings Pipes, SouthwestCentralHouston, ZOOM class
This is the second in a series. Here is a link to Part 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.
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)
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
Verse 3 quotes 8:4
Verse 4 quotes 39:6, 102:11
Verse 5 quotes 18:9, 104:32
Verse 6 quotes
Verse 10 quotes
[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.
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
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