Ps 25

For you / I have waited / O Yhwh – I will / lift up my soul / to my God. This is an interesting opening: immediately we are placed within an ‘unfillfilled’ time, a period of ‘waiting’. The psalmist occupies a sort of ‘dead-space’, a time between Yhwh’s past action and future deliverance. We are in the period of ‘forgetfulness’, when Yhwh’s face is apparently not turned toward the psalmist. Within such times the world (as including the ‘moral’ aspect of justice) seems to wither and chaos begins to gain the upper hand; enemies threaten. This may, however, be too strong—‘waiting’is a much more toned-down way of referring to this ‘space’. It seems to indicate not a plea for Yhwh to ‘remember’ but a way of saying he will ‘arrive’.In this ‘waiting-space’, the psalmist “lifts up his soul to my God”. There are two things to note about this: first, to ‘lift up my soul’ means to engage in worship. Second, by referring to ‘my God’, the psalmist is alluding to the covenant between Yhwh and his people (“you will be My people, and I will be your god”). There is an important point in this: this ‘dead/waiting-space’ is in fact still ‘inhabited’ by the covenant and, through that inhabiting presence, one can still engage in worship. By, in a sense, resting in the covenant, Yhwh is not deemed to be ‘missing’; rather, the covenant is calling him to attention. In other words, the covenant, which is to be the mode by which Yhwh is bound to Israel, is also that which attunes Israel to his absence. I wonder if this ‘soft’ request to Yhwh (rather than the “why have you abandoned me” of Ps. 22) is rooted in what we will see later: the psalmist’s own sense of his sinfulness. It could be that this ‘waiting’ is rooted in a deep-seated sense of a need for grace rather than his ability to demand Yhwh pay attention. “In you / I have trusted – let me not / be put to shame. – Let not / by enemies / exult over me.” The dilemma the psalmist faces—the ‘cause’ of the waiting-space—is not something internal or spiritual; rather, it is a real state-of-affairs. He is in danger of being shamed by his enemies. In other words, his public face (which is just as much his “I”) is about to be tarnished. This ‘shame’ will be exhibited by his enemies ‘exulting over him’:this is an entirely public action, something that the community will know of, and (at least some) will participate in. We see here that the ‘waiting’referred to above is now formulated as ‘trusting’ (supporting our conclusion that, inherent to the idea of ‘waiting’ was a confidence that it will end). The psalmist is watching his public face sink (his ‘honor’), and is imploring Yhwh to reach down and redeem it before the waters engulf it. The fact that he senses little control over the matter is emphasized by the “let me” and the “let not my enemies”.

“Indeed / all who are waiting / for you / will not be / put to shame: - the ones / who act treacherously / without reason / will be put to shame.” It seems as there are two forms of ‘waiting’: waiting for something that is certain to occur and waiting for something that might (or might not) happen. Here, based on the psalmist’s confidence, it would seem as if his ‘waiting’ is grounded in something he regards as certain to occur. In other words, it is only a matter of time. It seems thus because here we no longer have “let me not be put to shame” but “all who wait will not be put to shame”. I do not believe that this is some type of ‘end-time’ assertion, as in, “after the day of the Lord the righteous will inherit eternal life…”. Rather, the psalmist sees this as working out in the present time (which can make his confidence so much more daring or disturbing). “Cause me / to know your ways, / O Yhwh; - teach me / your paths. – Make me / walk in your truth / and teach me, - for you are / the god/ of my salvation.” There is an interesting parallelism here between Yhwh’s ‘ways’,‘paths’ and ‘truth’. Apparently, Yhwh’s ‘truth’ is to be understood as synonymous with his ‘way’ or ‘path’. These terms seem to refer back to psalms like psalm 1 and the wisdom tradition in Israel. However, in the context of this psalm they all point to covenantal obligations (as we will see later). Regardless, what is important is that Yhwh’s ‘truth’,here, seems to be a set of practical guidelines of holiness and not what we would typically associate with ‘truth’ as an abstract principle. In a sense, to walk in Yhwh’s ‘truth’ is to be some form of a disciple. It is something you “walk in”, it is a “path”. We might say it is a “way of life”. Interesting to note is that we would expect the word “Let” (as in “let me walk…) rather than “make” (or‘cause’) (“make me walk…”). “Let” implies a removal of boundaries. “Make” is much stronger and there is an element of almost force. These are not mutually exclusive; however, “make me” is a more direct calling for help. “And I have waited / for you / all day long, - on account of / your goodness / O Yhwh.” In many ways these lines mimic the opening lines and conclude a certain portion of the psalm. What we know now, though, is the fact that his ‘waiting’ is rooted in his desire to be conformed to Yhwh’s path. Perhaps we are to understand Yhwh’s path/truth/way as the ‘goodness’ that he is seeking—not only is he asking for protection; he wants to be given something (Yhwh’s ‘goodness’, or ‘truth’). It is not enough that a danger be avoided; a ‘good’ is sought after. “Remember / your acts of mercy and lovingkindness, - for they are from of old. – Do not remember – the sins of my youth – or my transgression; - please remember / me / according to your lovingkindness.” There are several structural things about these lines that deserve note: the first two ‘remembers’ parallel each other (by contrast):

A: Remember

B: Your acts of mercy and lovingkindness

C: For they are from of old.

A1: Do not remember

B1: The sins (or transgressions)

C1: Of my youth.

The psalmist here, formally, places himself in total contrast to Yhwh: whereas Yhwh’s actions should always be recalled/remembered, his should not; whereas Yhwh’s actions are those of ‘mercy and lovingkindness’,his are ‘sins and transgressions’; whereas Yhwh is entirely consistent, ‘from of old’; so too are his, but in sinfulness, ‘of my youth’. This contrast is concluded, as to be expected, with the emphasis falling on Yhwh—“please remember me according to your lovingkindness”. It is Yhwh’s undeserved grace in covenantal fidelity that we find the psalmist ‘redeemed’ from himself. The fact that this reference is to Yhwh’s covenantal act (lovingkindness) is important and it reveals something crucial about the covenant itself. It is in acts of forgiveness when, in a very real sense, the covenantal bond is most clearly seen. This concluding phrase ‘trumps’ to parallelism that went before; if it was just ‘tit-for-tat’ the psalmist would be doomed. Rather, at the heart of the covenant stands Yhwh who is desiring to overcome all strict calls for justice by and through the covenant established with his people. In a very real sense, Yhwh is seen as the true Lord of the covenant by this desire on his part to ‘cover over’ or ‘not remember’ the sins of his people. In this way, he shows himself to be the originator of the covenant and its king. There is another point that flows from this: one thing we have noted in almost every psalm is the fact that Yhwh’s ‘punishment’ is very much an outworking of the person’s evil (all Yhwh needs to do, in a sense, is nothing in order for the judgment to ripen into punishment). Here, however, we find a positive act on Yhwh’s part as he ‘does not remember’ the sins. It seems as if here we stumble upon something crucial: Yhwh’s ‘act’ is most clearly seen in his forgiveness and this ‘act’ as a covenantal act is one which reveals the heart of the covenant itself as Yhwh’s establishing communion between himself and his people. It is here where Yhwh’s ‘transcendence’is perhaps most clearly seen. Incidentally, I believe this is the first time we have encountered an actual admittance of sin in the psalms. There have been other assertions such as, “If you find fault with me, then…” but, as we saw, they were really assertions of innocence (the psalmist knew no fault would be found).

“Good and upright / is Yhwh; - therefore / he is showing sinners / the way. – He will make the humble / walk in judgment, - and he will teach the humble / his way.” It is interesting to note how the progression here mimics what we saw above in regard to the psalmist: “know your ways”—“make me walk”—“teach”. Whereas before the request did not seem to have to do with penitence, here, ‘sinners’ are explicitly included within those whom Yhwh teaches (are we to see the ‘humble’ as similar to ‘contrite’?). There is also something here which we have not necessarily seen before, but follows from our previous reflections: Yhwh as making a positive movement toward sinners. In almost every other psalm were sinners appear they are almost universally doomed to judgment; of course, it is important that these psalms originate as pleas by the innocent for judgment whereas here we actually have the voice of an acknowledged sinner.

“All of Yhwh’s paths / are lovingkindness and truth, - for the ones / who keep his covenant stipulations.” Here we find a good confirmation of our previous reflections on Yhwh’s truth as adherence to his covenant stipulations. We might add here that it seems that there is an element of ‘trustworthiness’ associated with ‘truth’ due to the fact that is here paired with ‘lovingkindness’ (which is the characteristic most often associated with Yhwh’s activity within the covenant). “For your name’s sake / O Yhwh –please forgive / my iniquity – for it is great!” The psalmist here resumes his plea; whereas before it was couched in terms of ‘forgetting’, here it is ‘forgive’.Furthermore, this forgiveness is rooted in Yhwh’s name, as if his ‘great sin’is something that causes shame to Yhwh and that in order to cleanse his name forgiveness should flow. It is important that the psalmist roots his plea for forgiveness not, for example, in the fact that he may ‘descend into Sheol and therefore stop praising Yhwh’, but in Yhwh’s name itself. The act of forgiveness, here, is rooted in Yhwh. What I can’t answer is what this ‘great sin’ is. Previously, he referred to sins ‘of his youth’. It would seem, though, that this is referring to something else, something he is currently guilty of. “Who / then / is the one / who fears Yhwh? – He will show him / the way that / he shall choose. – His soul / shall dwell / in prosperity, - and his seed / shall inherit / the earth. – The friendship of Yhwh / belongs to those / who fear him, - and indeed / he makes them / to know his covenant.” One of the most interesting aspects of this psalm is how it has combined images from wisdom literature with covenantal ideas. No where is this as clear as here: the “fear of Yhwh” is almost always the “beginning of wisdom” and yet here it is the beginning of Yhwh’s making known “his covenant”. At first it seems muted—the ‘way he shall choose’ (the ‘way’ being a wisdom term). This begins to shift though when it says his ‘seed shall inherit the earth’. One is here reminded of the promise that if one follows the covenant one “will live in the land and prosper”.Then it is made explicit: fear (not terror or horror but deep reverence) is yoked with friendship with Yhwh which results in his “making known his covenant”.For the first time in the psalms, too, we find the notion of ‘friendship’ with Yhwh. Embedded within the covenantal relationship (and yoked with fear of Yhwh) is this rather powerful idea of ‘friendship’. I am not aware of anyone other than Moses who is referred to as a ‘friend of God’. One interested note about Moses: Yhwh’s ‘spirit’ was given to him; when a portion of that spirit was given to other men who would be called upon to help Moses judge Israel, they nearly went mad. This would seem to indicate precisely how profound a ‘friendship with Yhwh’ might be. And, this Moses was the one who “was made to know the covenant”. At this point the psalm seems to recapitulate itself: “My eyes / are constantly toward / Yhwh, - for he is the one / who brought forth / my feet / from the net.” The ‘waiting’ of the opening verse is here, literally, embodied in the eyes ‘constantly toward Yhwh’. This does allow for more contemplation and reflection: when one’s eyes are focused on a single object, they do so in order to detect movement; there would be no need otherwise. Because these eyes are those of a admirer, ‘fixed eyes’ are also used in order to adapt oneself to the perceived changes, to be ready to respond appropriately. The psalmist, therefore, knows of Yhwh’s freedom in acting and desires to make sure he does not miss the smallest movement on his behalf. What ‘caused’ this fixation is the fact that Yhwh has redeemed him in the past ‘from the net’ (is this another name for Sheol, or are we to see here the net that evil men lay for the innocent?). He was partially caught and was going to be fully captured when Yhwh intervened on his behalf. And here we find out what he is looking for: “Turn to me / and be gracious / to me – for I am alone / and afflicted. – Trouble alarms / my heart, - bring me forth / from my straits! - Meet my affliction / and my trouble, - and take away / all my sins.” It is apparent that whatever situation he was in before, he has returned. His “feet are in the net” and he is asking that Yhwh do what he has done in the past. Here, though, there is the added need that just as he needs lifting out of his ‘straits’ so too do his sins need to be ‘taken away’. He is therefore asking for the removal of two things: his enemies and his sin. “See how numerous / my enemies are. – And they have / hated me / with violent hatred. – Guard my soul / and rescue me. – Don’t let me / be put to shame / for I have / sought refuge in you.” The psalm is now beginning to fold in on itself: it opened with the request he not be put to shame and it is closing with the same. “May integrity / and uprightness / protect me, - for I have / waited for you / O Yhwh. – O God, / ransom Israel / from all its troubles.”The psalm has now come full circle by use of the term ‘wait’, except that here we are to recognize that his request for protection from “integrity and uprightness” also applies to him and his own sinfulness. This recapitulates, in the psalmist, the ideal man of the psalm: the one who fears and desires to walk in Yhwh’s covenantal ‘way’. The final concluding remark expands this to all of Israel.