Psalm 80 is addressed to the “shepherd ( ra’ah ) of Israel,” Yahweh, who leads Joseph like a flock. The Psalm is a lament; instead of bringing the flock of Israel to green pastures, he pastures them with the bread of tears and makes them to drink tears. Worse, though he led them . . . . Continue Reading »
Psalm 103:1 is a small chiasm that hints at large anthropological conclusions: A. Bless Yahweh B. O my soul B’. All that is within me A’. [Bless] His holy name. Though the verb “bless” is not repeated in the final clause, it is implied. Yahweh and “holy name” are . . . . Continue Reading »
Israel’s priests were to offer ascension offerings ( ‘olah ) continuously ( tamid ) before Yahweh. By performing these offerings, the priests were calling on God to remember His promises and act accordingly. Continuous ascension was a continuous memorial. Psalm 74 ends with this: . . . . Continue Reading »
Bless the Lord, O my soul. And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits. Psalm 103 rushes on to enumerate some of those benefits: God pardons our sins. He heals our diseases. He buys us back from the pit. He crowns us with lovingkindness . . . . Continue Reading »
I have some reflections on the political character of liturgical music at http://www.firstthings.com/ this morning. . . . . Continue Reading »
The third trumpet blows, and a star named Wormwood poisons the rivers and springs (Revelation 8). Since the trumpet sequence is following the sequence of creation days, we would expect a judgment on the land or the grain and trees at the third trumpet. Instead, we get a judgment on rivers. The . . . . Continue Reading »
In his The Lord Has Saved Me , Michael Barre points to various numerical and other patterns used in the Psalms. Barre’s discussion of the Psalm of Hezekiah (Isaiah 38) gets extremely detailed, but his introduction to the techniques of Hebrew poetry is excellent. For instance: “Several . . . . Continue Reading »
Eric Enlow of the Handong University Law School in South Korea sent along these thoughts in response to my musings on Psalm 87, posted here a few weeks ago. The remainder of this post is from Eric. Your interpretation of Psalm 87 as reflecting a hidden ancient history reminds me of Amos 9, which . . . . Continue Reading »
The “kings of the earth” who rebel against Yahweh are mentioned at the beginning of the Psalms, and Yahweh’s response is to install His own king on Zion (Psalm 2:2, 6). Then Yahweh’s king drops out of the picture for awhile. Yahweh is identified as King (Psalm 5:2; 10:16) . . . . Continue Reading »
Why write? Psalm 102 says that we write for the unborn: “This will be written for the generation to come” (v. 18). Recording Yahweh’s compassion to Zion, His deliverance of His people, His gracious responses to their prayers leaves a fixed record for those who come after. Writing . . . . Continue Reading »
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