Psalm 50:1-8, 22-23 (NRSV)
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 The mighty one, God the Lord,
speaks
and summons the earth
from the
rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God
shines forth.
3 Our God comes and does not keep silence,
before
him is a devouring fire,
and a
mighty tempest all around him.
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to
the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made
a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 The heavens declare his righteousness,
for God
himself is judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O my people, and I will speak,
O Israel,
I will testify against you.
I am God,
your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you;
your
burnt offerings are continually before me.
22 “Mark this, then, you who forget God,
or I will
tear you apart, and there will be no one to deliver.
23 Those who bring thanksgiving as their sacrifice
honor me;
to those
who go the right way
I will
show the salvation of God.”
Psalm 50:1-8,
22-23 is a part of a psalm that is difficult to classify due to its close
connection to prophetic literature. Its focus on divine righteousness and
judgment provide an opportunity for me to discuss forgiveness. I will want to
explore whether not forgiving is ever an option. The Psalm is part of the
Elohistic Psalter. The psalm may have been part of a prophetic liturgy. The
psalm was part of the covenant festival that celebrated the appearance of the
Lord. The essence of worship was not external sacrifice and ritual borrowed
from Canaanite practice. Rather, the essence of worship was praise offered by
the community and obedience to God. In its inscription, Psalm 50 is A Psalm of Asaph,
a collection of 12 psalms (Psalms 50, 73-83) linked to a prominent
musician in David's court (see I Chronicles 6:39; 15:17; 16:5-7). The
attribution may indicate authorship, editorship or simply the authority
conferred by a well-known name to an otherwise anonymous composition. Both this
psalm and the collection in general probably date from the very latest stages
of the Psalter. Scholars see this indicated by several common features: (a) an
understanding of history that is driven by didactic concerns; (b) a heavily
spiritualized conception of God; (c) an extensive use of vivid imagery drawn
from nature; (d) an emphasis on the role of divine providence in the life of
the individual; and (e) an elevated (or inflated) literary style. The
collection, which originally stood independent of the psalter, was probably
made in Babylonia, since the preponderant divine name in these psalms -
"Elohim" (as distinct from Yahweh) - was the preferred designation
for the deity in Babylonia.
Psalm 50:1-6, are
an introductory hymn describing the appearance of God. 1 The mighty one ('avir, with the root meaning of
"be strong"), and is ordinarily part of the set formulas "Mighty
One of Jacob" (Genesis 49:24; Psalm 132:2, 5; Isaiah 49:26; 60:16) or
"Mighty One of Israel" (Isaiah 1:24), epithets found exclusively in
archaic (or archaizing) poetry. God the
Lord, "El," the name the original "God of the fathers"
of the patriarchal narratives (e.g., Genesis 14:19-20, 22; 16:13; 17:1; Exodus
6:2). El was the head of the Canaanite pantheon, and was incorporated, with
varying degrees of alteration, into Israelite religion over an extended period.
Although the revelation of the divine name to Moses at the burning bush
explicitly identified El with Yahweh, the national God of Israel, the older
form never completely disappeared from Israelite religion, and both archaic and
archaizing texts (as here) invoked El freely to lend gravity and solemnity to
religious utterances. This God speaks and
summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.[1]
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, a designation of Zion
once widespread, but now only here and Lamentations 2:15, where we see an
ironic contrast to the sorry state of the destroyed capital of biblical
religion. Beauty is a soft image of God, for beauty gets our attention and
attracts us. The beauty of God shines
forth. From the seat in the temple
(see Isaiah 6:1), God "shines forth," a verb used nowhere else to
describe the emanation of the divine from Mt. Zion. 3 Our God comes and does not keep silence, before God is a devouring fire, (symbol of divine
presence) and a mighty tempest all around
God. Yes, God comes toward us and
is not silent. This would be comforting except for the next phrase, that God
comes as a devouring fire. The impression is a miraculous experience, similar
to Moses, Elijah, Isaiah, and Ezekiel. This introduction to the psalm clearly
describes a theophany, an encounter with the living God that shocks and dazzles
Israel. The entourage
attending the divine theophany - “a devouring fire” before him and “a mighty
tempest” all around him - is the natural elements commonly associated with the
manifestation of the divine. The classic expression of the appearance of the
divine warrior and judge is the hymn to Yahweh in Habakkuk 3, in which
pestilence and plague accompany him, the earthquakes at his movement, mountains
shatter and split, oceanic and subterranean waters roil, and celestial bodies
stand still in awestruck terror. Although the divine appearance, in both Psalm
50 and Habakkuk 3, is for saving the chosen people, judgment precedes salvation,
while making a full accounting of those who profess allegiance to the divine
sovereign. 4 God calls to the
heavens above and to the earth. In the poetic tradition of Deuteronomy
32:1-2, Isaiah 1:2 and Micah 6:2a, the natural elements "the earth" and
"the heavens above" (v. 4) are the personified witnesses to the
lawsuit El/Yahweh is bringing against his misguided devotees and opponents,
both within Israel. Thus, God calls to them as witness, so that God may judge the people of God. The psalmist extols God as the judge of the earth. The image of
the psalm is a trial in the heavenly courtroom, to which the supreme judge of
both heaven and earth summons those with whom he has a case to prosecute and
those who shall bear witness to the proceedings. The heavens declare the
righteousness of God, for God is judge. 5
“Gather to me my faithful ones (hasidim)[2], which likely refers to the founding of
the original covenant with Yahweh. Such an interpretation is consistent with
the forensic context of the psalm. Thus, it identifies them as those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
Ancient luminaries as Noah, Abraham, Moses and Joshua would be the obvious
witnesses with the natural elements of Israel's departure from the covenantal
relationship they had helped to establish between God and the people (see
Genesis 8:20-22; 15; Exodus 24:5; Joshua 8:30-35). They are a call to renew the
covenant between the people of Israel and their God, a God who shows divine
righteousness in both judgment against those who break faith with the covenant
and salvation of those who remain true to its obligations. 6 The heavens declare divine righteousness, for God is judge. Selah
We may need to
reconceive not forgiving. Not forgiving is not an avoidance of forgiveness or a
retreat into paranoia, but a legitimate action in itself, with its own
progression, motivation and justification. We need to consider the
possibility that in many circumstances, the proper and most emotionally
authentic course of action is not to forgive. Let us take a minute to slip into
the possibility of not forgiving, and see if it fits. What could it mean to be
a "moral unforgiver," a truth-teller who finds that the most moral of
stances is to refuse to pardon? Perhaps we will see that in some situations,
forgiveness really flops and we would do well to avoid the temptation to rush
to reconciliation. Such a stand would say: Excuse me, but I will not reconcile
with you until you acknowledge that you have abused me. You say: Thank you very
much but I will not forgive you unless accompanied by the confession and
repentance that I John 1:8-10 commends. Easy forgiveness makes for hard
justice. Justice, in fact, will not happen through the path of easy
forgiveness. When people persist in mouthing empty phrases and despising
discipline, justice cannot happen. Thus, we may need to consider that
forgiveness and unforgiveness are not polar opposites but points on a
continuum. The same internal processes can lead to emotionally authentic
resolutions in either direction. Anyone who has gone through the profound and
punishing process of conscious forgiving or not forgiving emerges more
self-aware, more related to others, and less burdened by the past. A famous
saying is "Tout comprendre rend très-indulgent," commonly translated
as "To know all is to forgive all."[3]
This is not quite right. Understanding need not lead to forgiveness, but it can
lead to wisdom.[4]
In Psalm 50:7-8,
part of a segment that continues to verse 21, we find a rebuke against the
sacrificial cult and the moral life of the wicked. One should note here the reference to some of
the Ten Commandments. In addition, the speech from God is quite similar to what
we find in Micah. Verses
7-15 express concern for the misunderstanding of the righteous. The imagery of
the psalm assumes a decidedly acrimonious tone in verses 7-8. 7 “Hear, O my people, and I will
speak, O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. In verse 8, the spiritual
attitude of the people is that God is dependent upon their offerings. However, God owns it all, so God is not
dependent. Even if God did get hungry,
God would not need the help of people to eat.
8
Not for your sacrifices do
I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. Yet,
in their behavior at the sacrificial cult and in their moral conduct,
they deny the sovereignty of God.
In Psalm 50:
22-23, a warning, a threat, and an exhortation form a conclusion. We have the
continuation of an acrimonious tone that began in verse 16. 22 “Mark this, then, you who forget
God, or I will tear you apart, and
there will be no one to deliver. The
poet confronts the hearers as God really is and confronts them the demands of
God. They do not take God seriously. 23 Those who bring thanksgiving as
their sacrifice honor me; to those who go the right way I will show the salvation of God.” God wants the faithful to
bring thankfulness and gratitude a life lived in accord with the Ten
Commandments as their sacrifice. Thus, one must take the judgment from God
seriously. If they do so, it determines the course of their lives.
[1]
Thus, “the earth” may refer to the totality of the inhabited world (as in Psalm
113:3; Malachi 1:11). As we shall see, however, in this psalm that
interpretation is unlikely.
[2]
Faithful ones” may refer to pious Israelites (least likely), the people as a
whole (more likely), or the founding fathers who established the original
covenant with Yahweh "by sacrifice" (most likely).
[3]
Madame de Stael, Corinne, Book 18,
Chapter 5.
No comments:
Post a Comment