BiND:  Day 44 and 45 (I)

 

Book V of the Psalter includes both the shortest (117) and the longest (119) psalms—quite a difference from 2 verses to 176 verses!  (An interestingly bizarre aside:  Psalm 119 is almost entirely about God’s law and how great it is to live in covenant relationship with God.  Which is also the topic of Psalm 1 and Psalm 19.  Hmm…)  In between we have psalm 118, which has become part of our Christian consciousness as we’ve used it to reference Palm Sunday (verses 26-27 especially, but 25 as well:  the word translated “save us!” is “Hosanna!”). 

A few things I noticed reading book V…in no particular order!

* This book contains a section (psalms 120-134) of “Songs of Ascent” which are, in essence, pilgrimage songs.  They would be used when people go up to Jerusalem (which was on a hill and surrounded by hills) for the various festivals.  So these songs have both liturgical use and traveling use, reminding us that going up to the house of God involved preparations both inward and outward!

* This book seems to contain a lot more references to God’s steadfast love, to God’s continual forgiveness (for example, psalm 130) and faithfulness, than previous sections of the Psalter.  And yet there’s still the contractual understanding of God too—“I’ve been good, so what’s the deal?”

* There are really great descriptions and metaphors in this section.  We’ve moved beyond “rock” to God as knitter, writer, builder, and even, if taken out of context, stalker. 

* This section contains the depths of despair (Psalm 137, likely written after the exile, remembering what it was like) to the heights of joy (Psalm 150) and everything in between, and it has psalms for every use imaginable—blessings, curses, traveling, eating, reading, meditating, worship, prayer, battle, peace, families, grief, happiness….God is part of all these aspects of life, and people have been talking to God about everything (the good, the bad, and the ugly!) for ages.

 

What did you notice, appreciate, or have questions about in these psalms?

 

I’ll leave you with a video of David LaMotte (who came to our church last fall) singing Psalm 137 with himself.  There’s such beauty, even in the despair.  (This song is in our hymnal too, if you’d like to learn it.)