and [himself] and, frequently, the nouns [man] and [men] to show that, in fact, the usage of the language ought rightly embrace both male and female agency. This is not a perfect solution. However, it at least acknowledges the need for the use of an inclusive language model without resorting to the repetitious use of the word “God.” There are other models out there which adopt a more drastic solution to a gender neutral rendering of the text (eg. The Saint Helena Psalter). I deem these models deficient in that they depart from the text by removing all references of the holy names of God in Hebrew, which are so central to the study of the Psalms. The repetitive use of the word “God” is in my view not at all helpful in seeking to achieve an inclusive model for a gender neutral text. The individual Hebrew Names for God are laden with rich theological meanings and nowhere moreso than in the book of Psalms.
Regarding the use of modern English versions of the Bible, I have relied on the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), the Revised English Bible (REB), the Grail Psalter, and the Jewish Publication Society’s Jewish Study Bible. Where no English version is indicated, I have supplied my own translation (LW). I have also used Mitchell Dahood’s translation in certain few instances. I have distributed thirty Hebrew psalms, including three which lie outside the Psalter, throughout the text where I treat them as illustrative of having a particular relevance to the topic at hand. Nearly all of these psalms are my own translation. A few of them include the embellishment of paraphrase (e.g. 4, and 91).
I wish to acknowledge the good people of the Episcopal Church of the Advent, Sun City West, Az for their participation in a series of discussions on the Psalms which I led during the Lenten season of 2012. Also this book would never have seen the light of day were it not for the late Gerald Henry Wilson who encouraged me to put pen to paper in the days shortly before his untimely death. Additionally, I am indebted to my good friend Jim Sanders who perused the entire manuscript and offered valuable and helpful insights and suggestions along the way.
I also wish to extend my appreciation to the library staffs of the Claremont School of Theology Library, Claremont, CA, and the Hubbard Library, Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA, for their help and assistance with the research part of this project. I was very fortunate to have these two excellent libraries at my disposal only separated by 30 miles of freeway—an easy commute. Finally, I dedicate this book, lovingly, to our family’s three beautiful daughters. They are each gone now—far too soon, to be with the Good Shepherd, “who on his shoulder gently lay, and home rejoicing brought them.”
+++
Merry Beth Davis October 09, 1963 – May 07, 1965
Cheryl Kay Weaver May 07, 1967 – November 13, 2005
Kimberly Noelle Weaver May 25, 1970 – October 07, 2006
+Pax Requiscant+
Lorne Edward Weaver,
Trinity Sunday, 2018
Upland, CA
Introduction
To open the Book of Psalms is to enter the world of God. To read the Psalms is to read the words of God and hear the words of the ancient people of Israel in response to this God who has graciously drawn them into an eternal covenant. The entire book of Psalms or, the Psalter, is one continuous conversation which ranges over many centuries–perhaps nearly a millennium-between the God of Israel and the people of Israel; or more accurately, the God of glory and this particular people who have been called to live life on the edge of glory as the people of God.
There is no mystery to this conversation. It is all an embroidery of grace. Specific words and phrases help us track the meaning of these 150 psalms down to our present day. It is this legacy—which is one of abiding trust—that mirrors a deep confidence in the presence of YHWH their God.1 That is the subject of this book.
It would be an understatement to say that these particular poems emerged out of a longing and passionate faith. The many different poets of the Psalms were convinced that YHWH was their God and they belonged to the Just One. Through this poetic medium it became possible for ancient Israel to articulate its understanding and perceptions of the world that flowed from their long journey toward a realized monotheistic belief. These hymns and songs, complaints and laments, prayers and praises are compact verbal structures reflecting simplicity itself. But their message is anything but simple.
Hebrew psalms appear frequently in the guise of cultic 2 hymns and represent a common poetic genre that flourished throughout the ancient Near East in late Bronze Age II, early Iron Age I. This genre and its forms were adopted by the Hebrew poets and became the instrument for expressing, in a collective voice, whether first person plural or singular, a radical new sense of time, space, history, and creation. Armed with the conviction that their God was the One and Only God of All, these poets and kings, singers and musicians, priests and teachers, braved the taunts and sarcastic affronts of their ancient neighbors and bet on the future and their life with יהוה. This psalmic character of individual and communal destiny found its greatest expression through these multiple liturgies that tracked their worship of יהוה and their celebrations of God’s life with them, which were inextricably bound up in their common life.3
There is no question that the Psalter is preeminently the book of prayer and praise in the Hebrew scriptures.4 Many of its songs, hymns, prayers, and laments have their setting in the cultic life of ancient Israel, which employed them daily in their individual and communal exercise of worship. We can seldom if ever be sure precisely what specific function each psalm 5 played in Israel’s worship. This is a grievous loss to us. The Psalms are never the sole product of human ingenuity and genius. Rather, they reflect the particular modes of expression employed by all Israel in the various and manifold exigencies of their daily life and historical existence.
The book of Psalms is the Bible’s book of the soul. In psalm after psalm, the human being turns directly to God, expressing his or her deepest thoughts and fears, asking for help or forgiveness, offering thanks for help already given. And so, for centuries and centuries, people have opened the book of Psalms in order to let its words speak on their behalf . . . These psalms–in fact, all the Psalms–open a direct line of communication between us and God. No wonder, then, that the pages of the book of Psalms tend to be the most worn and ragged in any worshiping family’s Bible. And even Americans who know nothing else of Scripture often know Psalm 23 in the majestic language of the King James Version 6
In keeping with this complex and expressive purpose many of the psalms, upon closer scrutiny, prove to have a tensile and semantic structure that one would not expect from the conventionality of the Hebrew language. Israel, gathered, stood in the presence of יהוה her covenant-keeping Lord. It is יהוה who reigned as king on the royal throne of the ark, which was sequestered in the small asylum of the sanctuary. Israel had journeyed through the wilderness and the ark of יהוה would eventually come to rest in Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem. Israel’s early life was first of all characterized by pilgrimage and wandering. Her later sedentary life with the institution of the monarchy provided the historical context for the eventual development of her own inspired theology which achieved a fuller explication in her liturgical life and worshiping practices. The Psalter is the achievement of all Israel—over a period of about a thousand years—and its purpose is the praise and the glory of יהוה who is uniquely Israel’s personal God.7
The
