Ps. 20

As a preliminary insight to this psalm: from the moment Adam leaves Eden violence is (one of) the marks of humanity. This often finds expression in forms of inner-familial fighting, but, once the nation is established, it clearly emerges as war. From its initial birth in Egypt, Israel is at war. This continues, almost unabated, from the wilderness journey, into the land, and into the establishment of the kingdom. Once they have lost their ability to mobilize (once the kingdom is destroyed), Israel is simply moved between great nations, always imploring Yhwh to ‘deliver them’in the same manner that they were delivered from Egypt. At almost no point in Israel’s history does peace gain any foothold. In essence, Israel is always praying for deliverance and only tastes the shalom of Yhwh in its prophetic experience. It lives, therefore, with the hope of peace, and the present experience of anxiety in the face of the surrounding nations. Like some mountain around which is rising the flood of chaos waters, Israel must always implore Yhwh to keep them safe (or, deliver them from that ocean). With the rise of the kingdom, all of this hope for deliverance and peace became centered on Yhwh’s ‘anointed’.It was through him that Yhwh would focus his mighty power and it was through him that the nation would find its security; the king was not simply a man—he was the nation in the face of the nations (and, in the face of Yhwh). To ‘strike the king’ would mean the ‘scattering’ of the sheep. Likewise, the deliverance of the king was the deliverance (and, sometimes, the ‘finding’) of the sheep from the wolves and jackals. It would seem to me that it is only in this context that we could begin to understand the type of devotion to Yhwh’s ‘anointed’ that is embodied in this psalm. On him rests, to a large degree, the fate of the nation. And yet, most importantly, what I think is the most important verse in this psalm is: “some boast in chariotry, some in horses, but we boast in the name of Yhwh our God”. Due to the nature of the king it always stood in danger of eclipsing Israel’s unique understanding of Yhwh. Here, and throughout the psalm, we see that the king’s power resides, wholly, within Yhwh and his name. As much as Israel was anxious about the origins of kingship, once David arrives there emerges the possibility of an almost utter harmony between The Enthroned One and his anointed that can be characterized as that between a father and his son (Ps. 2). David, and the Davidic kings, become ‘new Adams’in a sense (Ps. 18), ‘raised up’ in order to ‘subdue’ creation.

There are two related structural observation that I think pertinent to note beforehand as well, both of which pertain to the number 7: 1) there are 7 “may”pleas to Yhwh directed at the king, at the end of which is the prophetic announcement that guarantees success; 2) Yhwh, or ‘his name’ is mentioned seven times. There is no doubt that this is not a coincidence. By making seven petitions the psalmist (the congregation of Israel) is crafting and giving voice to what they believe is a perfect petition to match their ardent desire that Yhwh protect and strengthen his anointed. It is out of reverence to Yhwh that they structure it this way and does not have to do with some type of ‘number-magic’.The whole psalm is geared as a plea and rests on Yhwh’s freedom; however, that said, their structuring of their pleas as the ‘perfect seven’ is similar to the psalmist who asks, with every ounce of his being, that Yhwh ‘hear his prayer’.This is a liturgical plea. Likewise, the use of Yhwh or ‘the name’ seven times is appropriate here—it is precisely in ‘the name’ that the anointed would conquer and in which he would find protection. By pronouncing ‘the name’ seven times the congregation is, in a way, pronouncing a blessing on the anointed, and calling down Yhwh’s presence. This should not be far removed from the fact that this prayer certainly took place within a liturgy prior to the king’s leaving for battle or campaign. Formal perfect is the liturgical method of showing honor, respect and reverence. With this observation in mind, we can, I think, better feel the emotional plea at the heart of this psalm as all of Israel focuses its attention on one man, Yhwh’s anointed and their king. May Yhwh / answer you / on the day of distress. May the name / of Jacob’s God / make you secure. It is appropriate that the first ‘may’ plea (and the last) refer to Yhwh explicitly. The idea of Yhwh ‘answering’ has been common to nearly every psalm we have encountered and it has, in almost every situation, referred to Yhwh delivering the individual from either sickness or from danger due to enemies. The phrase “day of distress” we have seen before, particularly in psalm 18, another royal psalm, where David spoke of “his”day of distress and how Yhwh saved him, pulling him out (and, therefore, allowing him to defeat) the nations. It may, there, have referred to a particular battle. Here, it may be the same. This is buttressed by the next phrase of “Jacob’s God”. In Genesis 35.3, the same ‘day of distress’ is spoken of in reference to Yhwh’s saving of Jacob. There could be here a large connection: Genesis 35 concerns Yhwh’s saving of Jacob from surrounding enemies and when Jacob was renamed into Israel along with the promise of the land reemphasized. Also, it is when Yhwh protects Jacob from the surrounding peoples by instilling in them ‘terror’ such that they do not harm Jacob. All of these themes could easily be captured in this initial prayer over the anointed (the representative of Israel itself): deliverance from a neighboring ‘brother’, protection through a veil of terror, rededication of the promise of the land. As to the structure of the plea: the first part seems to ask for an act, whereas the second feels more like a request for an abiding help. This same sense is followed in each following plea: the first is very strong and emphatic, the second, which is a type of recapitulation of the first, is less so but more ‘abiding’. It lends a type of rhythmic and solemn air to the opening of the psalm (something like a chant). May he send you help / from his sanctuary and from Zion / may he sustain you. What may seem like an obvious point is that while this liturgy is taking place within the Temple (where the sacrifices are performed), the whole purpose of the petitions is the battle that will soon take place away from the Temple. It was crucial that the king first enter the Temple, appeal to Yhwh for strength and protection, and guidance, as well as to offer sacrifice. These are necessary preliminaries and point, most obviously, to the fact that Yhwh will/would be the power behind the king’s attack. Prior to the establishment of the Temple, the arc of the covenant would be taken into battle; however, once the Temple was established, the arc was moved to the Temple and, from that point on, the arc (as the ‘footstool’ and therefore presence of Yhwh) was immobilized. Here, that same mobility of Yhwh is appealed to. The congregation asks that Yhwh ‘send help’ from this source of astonishing power (the Temple, Zion). Likewise, this power will not only ‘help’ but will ‘sustain’ the king during his campaign/battle, just as the arc would have before. In psalm 3, David appealed to something similar when he had been chased out of Jerusalem by Absalom, asking that an ‘answer’come from the ‘holy mountain’. As we noted there, the establishment of the Temple coincides with the establishment of the Davidic covenant—the Temple and the King were intimately associated. Here, the same idea emerges: the congregation is aware of the connection (the ‘son’ in ‘his father’s house’). May he remember / all your offerings and regard with favor / your burnt offerings. Selah. It would seem important that these be understood as offerings and not so much as ‘sacrifices’. There is no sense here of the king’s ‘sinfulness’ but more of the fact that these are ‘gifts’, ‘offerings’ to Yhwh. They are signs of devotion and praise. There is a tendency to forget this—that these are not ‘sacrifices’as in ‘painful releases’ but joyful gifts to Yhwh. The therefore seem to operate like physical praises, although, of course, they must also have functioned as attempts to win Yhwh’s ‘favor’ (although they are not ‘magic’ in this sense). In furtherance of this, Yhwh is typically described as ‘remembering’his people’s ‘plea’, or simply remembering them—here, the remembrance is to the sacrifices. May he give you / your heart’s desire and fulfill all your purpose. There is an interesting connection here between these ‘burnt offerings’, this ‘heart’s desire’ and psalm 51. There, David says Yhwh does not delight in sacrifices but in a broken and contrite hear. He then, however, immediately goes on to implore Yhwh to ‘build the walls of Jerusalem’and, at that time, he will ‘delight in whole burnt sacrifices’. It seems as if, there, the ‘burnt offerings’would not be acceptable so long as David’s heart was not contrite and humble. However, once that ‘sacrifice’ was made the whole burnt offerings would be a delight to Yhwh and be emblematic of a restored Jerusalem. Could it be that these ‘burnt offerings’ also function in some way as the expression of a ‘whole’ and ‘secure’Jerusalem? That for Yhwh to ‘remember’ them is to grant David’s ‘heart’s desire’ of a realm pacified and protected? It seems as if these two concluding ‘may’ please may have to do with celebratory anticipation, a sense that what one enacts now, is a foreshadowing or a request of what will be to come if Yhwh grants success in battle. May we shout for joy / in your victory and raise a banner / in the name of our God. May Yhwh fulfill / all your requests. We are now in slightly different section of the psalm. The tone has shifted to the anticipatory victory of the king. Likewise, the ‘may’ petition is now at “us” not Yhwh (may ‘we shout for joy’…). This verse reveals the intimate connection between the congregation and the anointed. His victory is theirs. They will rejoice just as he will. It concludes with a totalizing request: may Yhwh fulfill a your requests. As pointed out above, here the name emerges again at the conclusion and it is a fitting one—wedding the entirely of the king’s desires to the will of Yhwh.

Some boast in chariotry / some in horses, but we boast / in the name of Yhwh our God. If it had not been apparent before from the ‘perfect’ supplications (numbering 7) we now find the summation of the psalm here: that Israel’s strength (it’s ‘boast’) is (and this is an impressive combination of terms) in the name – of Yhwh – our God. The first term “in the name” has been referred to already throughout the psalm and has such deep resonances and meaning that it is impossible to go into here. Suffice to say that it is ‘the name’ from which Yhwh’s presence is made manifest as it is his ‘presence’. Second, the congregation actually names Yhwh, as the one who will strengthen their king and be the source of their victory. Third, they designate him as “our God”, which harkens back to covenantal language (“you will be my people, and I will be your God”). It is this Yhwh, this name, who is theirGod (I assume this is El or Elyion). This Yhwh is then also understood to the‘highest god’. So not only do we have the ‘name’ that was revealed at the deliverance of people from Egypt, but we also have the fact that this Yhwh is the one who, then, became Israel’s own God and is the highest of all gods. When this is grasped, the fact that some would ‘boast in chariots’ seems almost comical—Israel has standing behind their king, El(yon) who has revealed himself in covenant to them as Yhwh. Furthermore, and importantly, Israel perceives itself as not boasting in chariotry; whether or not other nations actually would make this boast or not (or would, in turn, boast in their god), is not as important as the fact that Israel sees itself as centering its boast solely and entirely on Yhwh. Furthermore, according to law, Israel was not to maintain chariotry. Israel constantly left open ‘space’ within which Yhwh would inhabit in order to show that Yhwh was, in fact, their support. This is not to be regarded as Israel, in some form, denying the efficacy of created things (horses, etc…). Rather, it reveals Israel’s intense commitment to Yhwh and their desire to “give him all the glory”. It also seems to mimic their initial act of deliverance form Egypt when Yhwh, single-handedly, destroyed the Pharaoh and his army. They will bow down / and fall / but we shall rise / and stand upright. O Yhwh / save the king and answer us / on the day / that we call.