“The earth / belongs / to Yhwh – the world / and those who dwell / therein” The psalm opens with two abrupt statements, which say much the same thing in slightly different ways. The first emphasizes that the earth itself, the actual ‘stage’ of creation belongs to Yhwh (much like the account in Genesis begins with ‘setting the stage’). The second emphasizes that, in addition, the living things (animal, but particularly human: as “dwellers”)belong to Yhwh. By drawing attention to the fact that man is a ‘dweller’ in the world, the psalm would seem to be indicating this in contrast to Yhwh’s ownership over the whole; man is like tenant—Yhwh, the landlord; man merely ‘dwells’in the earth Yhwh owns. So not only are they only dwellers, but man is ‘owned’,just as much as the earth itself, by Yhwh. There are threads here being sown that will weave together throughout the rest of the psalm. Now, however, we are told precisely why Yhwh is the owner. “For he / has fixed it / upon the seas –and established it / upon the rivers.” Although not contradicting the creation account of Genesis, we find here a a different emphasis. It would seem that in the back of the psalm there are remnants of a story whereby Yhwh slew the “chaos monster” (sea monster) Leviathan and thereby created order and the world. Here, there is not such an explicit image of battle and, in this regard, it is more in line with the effortless creation of Genesis. However, the image of ‘fixing’and ‘establishing’ is not quite so easy—there is something here of a craftman working with (or against) the sea and rivers. ‘Fixing’ denotes the fact that Yhwh must somehow ‘anchor’ creation, and that, otherwise, it might be engulfed by the sea; ‘establishing’ carries the image of building, as in pouring some foundation on top of the rivers. It seems, then, that the sea and rivers are, to some degree, at odds with the world and the earth, that they could, without Yhwh’s active ‘fixing’ and ‘establishing’, consume or destroy it. And, this, as we have seen, is not a threat merely to the inanimate ‘stage’ of creation but man as well. These ‘seas’ and ‘rivers’ are, in this regard, not to be taken only literally; they are also threats to mankind. They are chaotic forces that ‘wash’up over man, and man, therefore must also be ‘fixed’ or ‘established’ by Yhwh. It is with this in mind that the psalm asks: “Who / shall ascend / into the mountain / of Yhwh – and who / shall stand up / in his holy place?” This is an interesting transition for several reasons. First, to follow the line of thinking already established, these questions ask, it seems, how does man become ‘fixed’ or ‘established’ by Yhwh? Are we to suspect, then, that this act of creation by Yhwh is, in fact, something ongoing in man? That man’s living in accordance with whatever the answer is, is man’s continuing (or expressing) Yhwh’s act of ‘fixing’ creation upon the water’s of chaos? This leads into the second observation: the psalm began with abrupt statements regarding Yhwh’s ownership of the entire earth, world and its inhabitants. Here, though, we are, rather unexpectedly, shown that Yhwh is, himself, a ‘dweller’ on the earth. He has a ‘holy mountain’, a ‘holy place’ where he has chosen to dwell. The landlord has made a home within his own property. And so, while man may be the tenant of the earth, Yhwh, himself, has a space wherein he resides. And it, apparently, is in a type of ‘off-limits’ to the man-dwellers. There is no guaranteed access to this home. There is a place, within the ‘earth’ and the ‘world’were man must be granted access; his entrance is not guaranteed. Evidently, therefore, Yhwh as ‘fixer’ of the earth and world, has done so morally and ethically as well. Because man is not guaranteed access to this ‘mountain’ or ‘home’,and because man is also ‘fixed’ or ‘established’ by Yhwh, it must be that the psalmist realizes, without reflection almost, that Yhwh’s act of creation is, itself, a moral act of creation. For Yhwh, to ‘fix’ or ‘establish’ creation is to root man in Yhwh’s ‘goodness’ against the forces of chaos. In other words, to ‘own’ is ‘to govern’. One final point to make, the Temple (which is obviously being refereed to here as Yhwh’s ‘mountain’ or ‘dwelling), was understood to be a microcosm of the entire created order. This will become much more important latter in the psalm. Suffice to say, here, that Yhwh’s ‘home’ is more than a ‘dwelling’within the earth; in a very real sense, the Temple is the foundation of the earth and therefore represents, in a way, a place that is of a different order than the rest of the earth/world. This would go some way to explaining the abrupt transition for Yhwh as landowner to Yhwh as ‘dweller’ as well as the fact that to approach this ‘dwelling’ entails stringent interrogation about the one entering. Although one is entering ‘the world’ when one enters the Temple, one is also (more importantly) entering the ‘dwelling’ of Yhwh himself who created/established/fixed the world. It is an incredibly dynamic image.
At this point, the answer (‘of who can dwell/stand in the landlord’s home’) is given: “He who has / innocent hands / and a pure heart, - who has not / raised his mind / to what is false – and has not sworn deceitfully.” The structure of the answer is not uncommon. It is something we have seen throughout when the ‘righteous’ conduct of a person is identified: two positive characteristics are followed by two negative oens. Here, the positive are ‘innocent hands’ and a ‘pure heart.’ I do not think it is at all a stretch to say that the ‘condition’ of this visitor must be something that mimics the owner himself (“be holy as I am holy”). The focus is twofold: ‘hands’ and ‘heart’. The first draws our attention to the only ‘active’aspect of the ‘visitor’ in all four descriptions. The ‘hands’ are ‘innocent’.As will become apparent, this ‘innocence’ must refer to an inner consistency, to the hands not being used for two purposes; they are ‘double’. The ‘heart’,likewise, must be ‘pure’. If the ‘hands’ were the active part, here we have the organ of ‘intention’. It would seem, then, that we find here both ‘right’intention (heart) and right act (hands). These stand in contrast to the “mind raised to falsity” and the deceitful oath. To “raise one’s mind” implies an act of worship/adoration. It is apparent that the person so doing would not regard the object of his worship as ‘false’ and so this is a judgment by the psalmist on the activity and not as much a description. We can, however, get some clue as to what he may be referring to when he says they also ‘swear falsely’. It would seem therefore that to ‘raise one’s mind to what is false’ bears some resemblance to swearing falsely. Apparently, these men enter the Temple in order to take an oath but, inwardly, have no intention of ever fulfilling what they are swearing to. They are who we have seen throughout the psalms: the double-minded and wicked. Their outward ‘oath’ in no way mimics their inward intention in stark contrast to the pure visitor whose hands and heart are aligned with each other. Lastly, it deserves to be noted that Yhwh’s ‘words’ are always described as ‘pure’ and ‘without alloy’. It would seem that these ‘visitors’ must, themselves, exhibit the same unity: their purity is single-ness. In these ‘true worshippers’ therefore we catch a glimpse of who the ‘owner’ is, in himself so to speak. They reflect his purity and ‘innocence’ by the fact that they can, Moses-like, enter and stand in his presence. In a sense, then, these ‘visitors’are the ‘fixed’ and ‘established’ men of creation. To see these ‘visitors’ is to ‘see creation’. They are Adam-like, while those who exhibit double-mindedness show forth the chaos waters on which the earth/world is fixed. Yhwh ‘owns’ these visitors as his prize possession; the others are subject to his control (as the waters are) but also represent a force at odds with his purpose. Interesting to note here: Yhwh is not described as ‘owning’the waters/rivers but, rather, the earth/world.
We now come to see the ‘effect’ of a properly ‘fixed’or ‘established’ visitor: “He will receive / blessings from Yhwh – and righteousness / from the god / of his salvation.” If what we have said thus far is correct (that we have been given a picture of man as ‘owned’ by Yhwh, but, that ownership being exemplified in his moral purity), then this further develops the vision of creation as the place of blessing and reward/righteousness. This is important in several respects. First, I have often heard it said that creation is not an event but an ongoing act. This seems well played out in our psalm, in that Yhwh’s ‘ownership’ of creation is by his ‘anchoring it’ on the seas, meaning, it is by his ongoing warding off of the powers of chaos. In the human realm this is accomplished by admitting visitors into his presence, specifically, those that exemplify his holiness and purity. As astonishing as this is, there is more: the purpose (the goal) of it all is so that creation and man can be a vessel of blessing and reward. This reminds me, to a large extent, of the verse in Isaiah that says that Yhwh’s word will not ‘return to him void’ but will reap a harvest. The purpose of creation is not to simply ‘be there’ but to be inspired to praise and worship by being a vessel of Yhwh’s blessing. Arguably, then, to understand what ‘creation is’, one must first look at what the ‘effect of creation’ is—one does not move behind the effect to its ‘nature’and thereby understand creation. This is much like the ‘saints’: one does not attempt to ‘get behind the saints’ so as to see the face of Christ. Rather, the saints are themselves the ‘fruit’ of Christ and, therefore, are not only not in competition with him but are his designated modes of revelation (the iconostasis is not a barrier but a window). Creation, in this sense, is vibrant, always growing, always producing, always moving, always becoming a greater vessel for blessing (the more it receives the more it can receive).And, in this ‘receiving’ it is exemplifying Yhwh’s ‘anchoring’/fixing/
The progression thus far has been: an assertion of Yhwh’s ownership/governance over the earth/world and everything that ‘dwells’on it; a shift to a focus on Yhwh’s (the landlord’s) home in the midst of his possession and the criterion by which visitors/tenants are allowed entrance (the movement has therefore been from landowner to land-dweller); the fact that the visitors have entered the house as those who ‘seek the face’ (an audience) with the landlord/king. At this point, the perspective shifts once again. We now realize that while the visitors have been deemed worthy of standing in the king’s/landlord’s home, he is not actually present but is arriving. One thing we need to note here is the fact that the psalm first asserts Yhwh’s ownership, shows that he has a dwelling therein and also the fact that one must accommodate oneself in order to dwell in his home. The focus, then, has been on the dwellers. Here, in a very ingenious turn, the focus now shifts to how the home itself must accommodate itself to the Landlord’s/King’s arrival. “Lift up / your heads / O gates! – and be uplifted / O eternal doors! – Then / the King of Glory / shall come in!” It seems a consensus that these lines were first used when the arc of the covenant was returned to the Temple/shrine after being carried into war, thereby taking Yhwh’s ‘throne’ into battle. This, however, does not explain how the psalm survived long after the arc disappeared or lost its central focus to the Temple. Regardless, on a literary level, the psalm is coherent in its movement already detailed. There is found here a very interesting conclusion that the Temple itself, like those visiting it, must adapt to the overwhelming presence/arrival of the King. What this does is actually cast a greater glory on the Temple---even its permanent structure exudes a sense that it cannot contain the presence of its owner/king. In this way the Temple would continuously ‘shimmer’ due to the fact that it must, continuously, and like the ‘visitors’, be malleable. Theology has formulated this sense by saying that in ever revelation of Yhwh, there is also revealed a greater distance. Even when Yhwh establishes a ‘home’ within his creation in his Temple, there is an intense sense that this establishment (this ‘fixing’) also reveals an ever greater sovereignty of Yhwh. No matter how grand the Temple could be, it will always need to grow ‘higher’ in order for Yhwh to dwell there. In other words, although Yhwh can dwell in the Temple, he is not contained (or circumscribed) by the Temple. Isaiah 6 gives a very good sense of how overpowering this sense of Yhwh’s presence in the temple can be: only the train of his gowns actually fill the temple while he sits upon the throne in the heavenly temple. “The King of Glory”: this is, I believe, the only place in the OT where this description occurs, and it is use used no less than five times. The term ‘glory’ is a fairly pregnant term. It often denotes the ‘heaviness’one feels in the presence of a royal figure (their sovereign power ‘bearing down’ on the person). In relation to Yhwh, his ‘glory’ is his visible self-manifestation (often in the fire-cloud). There are other important aspects to this, specifically in light of the psalms derivation of the arc procession. The widow of Phineas, the high priest of 1 Sam, names her child “Ichabod” after the arc was stolen (the name means “the glory has departed”). The arc, therefore, was a type of physical emblem of Yhwh’s presence and operated in many ways like the fire-cloud; it was, in fact, his throne and he ‘dwelled’ or ‘sat’ above the cherubim (again, see Isaiah 6 for a description of this as well).
Notice too how the first question and answer focused on the sufficiency of the worshippers. Here, the question and answer focuses on the sufficiency of the Templeitself, thereby drawing attention to the absolute uniqueness and total sovereignty of Yhwh.
Whatever its original use, in the context of this psalm this ‘entrance’ of the King of Glory has taken on different aspects. As we have already seen, the psalms has focused on Yhwh’s ‘ownership of’ and ‘dwelling within’ the earth/world. Through the use of the verbs ‘fixing’ and ‘establishing’we are supposed to see the act of creation as Yhwh’s ‘battle’ with the waters of chaos; this image is not foreign to the OT and can be seen in Isaiah, the psalms (particularly 74, I believe) and Job. It seems, then, that if the original setting of this “King of Glory” portion of the psalm was in Yhwh returning from battle, here it refers to Yhwh as King who battles chaos and establishes creation. Incidentally, this would explain why this psalm survived in the Psalter long after the arc was lost. If this is the case it may explain why Yhwh’s name is mentioned six times: to represent the six days of creation. So we find here not simply the “Creator” coming to his home/Temple; rather, we find the King Creator—the king who, in creating asserts his mastery, in an act of conquering force, over chaos—coming to his established/fixed home/Temple. It is a different image than in Genesis but no less powerful. It is this King who is now coming (this is his parousia) and is on his way. It seems as if the people, and indeed the Templeitself, are shaking in anticipation of his arrival. There is one final aspect to the ‘raising’ of this Temple: when one ‘raises one’s head’, one is performing an act of worship. Not only is the Templecalled upon to ‘expand’ to allow Yhwh to enter, but it is, itself, called upon to perform an act of homage/worship to Yhwh as he approaches. Now, for the question: “Who / then / is the King of Glory? – Yhwh / strong and mighty; -Yhwh / mighty in battle.” This confirms our conclusions above; the only actions performed thus far by Yhwh are his ‘fixing’ and ‘establishing’. Here, the “king of Glory” is identified as such by the fact that he is a conquering warrior. Creation is here matched with the ‘battle’ as described above against chaos. If this Psalm was used in a liturgy, as it probably was, it would confirm our other intuition: that creation is not an act performed but an ongoing establishment and, likewise, it is carried out and forward in and through those who accommodate themselves to Yhwh’s ‘coming’. And this just occurred to me: the purpose of creation is not only to be a vessel of blessing—it is to be a vessel of Yhwh…(perhaps we can return to this later). The refrain is taken up again, with the only change being that in answer to “Who is the king of glory” we find “Yhwh Sabaoth (Yhwh, of hosts) – he is the king of glory”. The ‘hosts’ likely refers to heavenly beings and, at this point we might consider what role these ‘hosts’play in the ‘fixing’ and ‘establishing’. The psalm does not specify but does seem to hint at (“Let us make man in our image…”).
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