There is an initial observation to be made here that is not something that grows out of this psalm but as it relates to other assertions of innocence. In almost every other psalm we have seen where the psalmist declares his innocence it is invoked in order to ‘prick Yhwh’s ear’and to, therefore, call down judgment on the one attacking the psalmist. Here, by contrast, the psalmist declares his innocence so as to be granted entrance into Yhwh’s temple/abode. This seems significant. In both the psalmists are very aware of the fact that deliverance (asking that Yhwh’s presence ‘come close’)and blessing (asking to be admitted to Yhwh’s presence) are rooted in innocence/holiness. In one (judgment) one can be certain that if one is innocent Yhwh will act to redeem him; in the other, apparently, if one is innocent one can enjoy his presence. Here, the assertion of innocence employs juridical images (“Judge me…”), with the psalmist pleading his own innocence.
His opening statement involves “walking in my integrity – and trusting in Yhwh.” It would seem that almost everything that follows could be summed up in these two assertions: ‘walking’ involves, as we saw in Psalm 1 (and throughout) the ‘path’ of life one adheres to. The wicked deviate from the path (the ‘hide by the road to catch the innocent’). When misfortune, evil or sin arises, one can ‘slip’ or ‘fall’ from the path. The wise man is one who knows the ‘way’ and does not falter. Likewise, as we saw in the previous psalm, covenantal faithfulness (adhering to the covenantal stipulations) is the ‘way of Yhwh’. Here, the psalmist walks in ‘my integrity’.Unlike the wicked, this psalmist is unified and not double-minded or, worse, double-tongued. He ‘walks’ in his own integrity. In maintaining this inner consistency, he is able to ‘trust in Yhwh’. There is here the sense of Job-like innocence: his inner integrity matched by his observance of Yhwh’s commands. As a result of this dual role he claims: “I shall not slip.” Again, we find employed the image of the feet (something that will recur throughout, especially in the concluding lines). Something that is also going to emerge, almost line by line, throughout the rest of the psalm is this past-future dynamic: because I have walked in 1) my integrity and 2) trust in Yhwh—3) I shall not slip. What does this ‘slip’ refer to? Does it mean he will not fall into sin (that he will remain pure and holy)? Or, does it mean that evil will not touch him (slip in to the ditch were the evildoers are)? I don’t know that it is an either/or and these two questions can easily play into each other. In light of the fact that it is referred to later in the psalm perhaps it will be more clear then. (I will note: I wonder if this goes some way to explaining why Christ only washed the disciples feet in John? Was this both an act of purification and an act of strengthening?) From the image of judgment we now turn to that of ‘examination’: “Examine me / O Yhwh / and try me – test my kidneys / and my heart.” It would seem, at first glance, that this is a parallelism, a repetition of what has just been said. And it may be. However, the word ‘examine’calls to my mind the ‘examination’ for ritual purity for sacrifices (and for those to be admitted into the temple). Both had to be ‘without blemish’. Here, though, the ‘examination’ is not of the visible body but of the ‘heart and kidneys’, those things that only Yhwh can see (as with David). It therefore seems that the first verse looked to his past actions (which, in principle, anyone would be able to see) while the current verse looks to the inner disposition, the ‘heart’, that only Yhwh can see. In this way the totality of the psalmist has been placed under Yhwh’s scrutiny and judgment (in much the same way the Decalogue places the entirely of the person ‘under’ Yhwh). With the totality now placed under the judgment and examination of Yhwh (with his entire being now opened up to Yhwh’s gaze), the body of the psalm begins (the ‘defense’): “For your lovingkindness / is before my eyes – and I have walked / constantly / in your faithfulness.”Without understanding the previous as the ‘intro’ these lines would appear almost repetitive. Before going into the differences, though, formally it is important to see this as not repetition but, in a way, the ‘opening statement’. The psalmist is now laying out his case.
It is perhaps important then to note the differences. These verses come on the heels of the examination of heart and kidney which, as we noted, was an internal examination by Yhwh of what only Yhwh can see. Here, too, we begin in the same realm: “For your lovingkindness is before my eyes”. The unique feature of Yhwh’s covenantal faithfulness is his‘lovingkindness’. So, whereas the ‘heart and kidney’ are examined as the source of the psalmist’s reason, here the ‘eyes’ are appealed to do to their constant fixation on Yhwh’s unique act in covenant. Here, we find the ‘object’ of the psalmist’s devotion: Yhwh. In the opening, the psalmist alluded to his ‘trust in Yhwh’ but he spoke about ‘his integrity’ and ‘his heart and kidneys’. Here, everything is more decidedly Yhwh-focused. It is “Yhwh’s faithfulness” that he walks in (not “my integrity”). It is Yhwh’s lovingkindness that lights his path. Quickly, however, we see what ‘my integrity’ may entail: “I have not / sat with men / of falsehood, - nor will I / consort / with dissemblers. – I have hated / the assembly / of evildoers – and I will / go around your altar / O Yhwh – to hear / the sound /of praise – and to recount / all your / wondrous deeds.” There is here a very close parallel to Psalm 1 where the ‘blessed man’ does not sit/stand/walk in the company of the wicked. As a type of ‘wisdom’ saying, we see here the same list but put to use in a slightly different way: this type of guarding is appealed to in order to gain access to Yhwh’s presence (much like the entrance psalms 15 and 24). There is, then, a ‘natural wisdom’ employed here, perhaps akin to ‘my integrity’,that shows the psalmist to be ‘wise’ in the fact that he does not surround himself with evil men (and, therefore, sully himself). Everything moves from past to future in these lines: I have not walked—nor will I consort; I have hated—I will go around. It is in the ‘journey around the altar’ that we see that this psalm is rooted in a type of ‘admittance’ to the Temple liturgy, where the psalmist defends/declares his innocence and therefore the propriety of his admittance within the Temple. There is here, then, a combination of ‘wisdom’ and ‘covenantal fidelity’ and they most must be employed in order to enter Yhwh’s presence.
His opening statement involves “walking in my integrity – and trusting in Yhwh.” It would seem that almost everything that follows could be summed up in these two assertions: ‘walking’ involves, as we saw in Psalm 1 (and throughout) the ‘path’ of life one adheres to. The wicked deviate from the path (the ‘hide by the road to catch the innocent’). When misfortune, evil or sin arises, one can ‘slip’ or ‘fall’ from the path. The wise man is one who knows the ‘way’ and does not falter. Likewise, as we saw in the previous psalm, covenantal faithfulness (adhering to the covenantal stipulations) is the ‘way of Yhwh’. Here, the psalmist walks in ‘my integrity’.Unlike the wicked, this psalmist is unified and not double-minded or, worse, double-tongued. He ‘walks’ in his own integrity. In maintaining this inner consistency, he is able to ‘trust in Yhwh’. There is here the sense of Job-like innocence: his inner integrity matched by his observance of Yhwh’s commands. As a result of this dual role he claims: “I shall not slip.” Again, we find employed the image of the feet (something that will recur throughout, especially in the concluding lines). Something that is also going to emerge, almost line by line, throughout the rest of the psalm is this past-future dynamic: because I have walked in 1) my integrity and 2) trust in Yhwh—3) I shall not slip. What does this ‘slip’ refer to? Does it mean he will not fall into sin (that he will remain pure and holy)? Or, does it mean that evil will not touch him (slip in to the ditch were the evildoers are)? I don’t know that it is an either/or and these two questions can easily play into each other. In light of the fact that it is referred to later in the psalm perhaps it will be more clear then. (I will note: I wonder if this goes some way to explaining why Christ only washed the disciples feet in John? Was this both an act of purification and an act of strengthening?) From the image of judgment we now turn to that of ‘examination’: “Examine me / O Yhwh / and try me – test my kidneys / and my heart.” It would seem, at first glance, that this is a parallelism, a repetition of what has just been said. And it may be. However, the word ‘examine’calls to my mind the ‘examination’ for ritual purity for sacrifices (and for those to be admitted into the temple). Both had to be ‘without blemish’. Here, though, the ‘examination’ is not of the visible body but of the ‘heart and kidneys’, those things that only Yhwh can see (as with David). It therefore seems that the first verse looked to his past actions (which, in principle, anyone would be able to see) while the current verse looks to the inner disposition, the ‘heart’, that only Yhwh can see. In this way the totality of the psalmist has been placed under Yhwh’s scrutiny and judgment (in much the same way the Decalogue places the entirely of the person ‘under’ Yhwh). With the totality now placed under the judgment and examination of Yhwh (with his entire being now opened up to Yhwh’s gaze), the body of the psalm begins (the ‘defense’): “For your lovingkindness / is before my eyes – and I have walked / constantly / in your faithfulness.”Without understanding the previous as the ‘intro’ these lines would appear almost repetitive. Before going into the differences, though, formally it is important to see this as not repetition but, in a way, the ‘opening statement’. The psalmist is now laying out his case.
It is perhaps important then to note the differences. These verses come on the heels of the examination of heart and kidney which, as we noted, was an internal examination by Yhwh of what only Yhwh can see. Here, too, we begin in the same realm: “For your lovingkindness is before my eyes”. The unique feature of Yhwh’s covenantal faithfulness is his‘lovingkindness’. So, whereas the ‘heart and kidney’ are examined as the source of the psalmist’s reason, here the ‘eyes’ are appealed to do to their constant fixation on Yhwh’s unique act in covenant. Here, we find the ‘object’ of the psalmist’s devotion: Yhwh. In the opening, the psalmist alluded to his ‘trust in Yhwh’ but he spoke about ‘his integrity’ and ‘his heart and kidneys’. Here, everything is more decidedly Yhwh-focused. It is “Yhwh’s faithfulness” that he walks in (not “my integrity”). It is Yhwh’s lovingkindness that lights his path. Quickly, however, we see what ‘my integrity’ may entail: “I have not / sat with men / of falsehood, - nor will I / consort / with dissemblers. – I have hated / the assembly / of evildoers – and I will / go around your altar / O Yhwh – to hear / the sound /of praise – and to recount / all your / wondrous deeds.” There is here a very close parallel to Psalm 1 where the ‘blessed man’ does not sit/stand/walk in the company of the wicked. As a type of ‘wisdom’ saying, we see here the same list but put to use in a slightly different way: this type of guarding is appealed to in order to gain access to Yhwh’s presence (much like the entrance psalms 15 and 24). There is, then, a ‘natural wisdom’ employed here, perhaps akin to ‘my integrity’,that shows the psalmist to be ‘wise’ in the fact that he does not surround himself with evil men (and, therefore, sully himself). Everything moves from past to future in these lines: I have not walked—nor will I consort; I have hated—I will go around. It is in the ‘journey around the altar’ that we see that this psalm is rooted in a type of ‘admittance’ to the Temple liturgy, where the psalmist defends/declares his innocence and therefore the propriety of his admittance within the Temple. There is here, then, a combination of ‘wisdom’ and ‘covenantal fidelity’ and they most must be employed in order to enter Yhwh’s presence.
“O Yhwh / I have loved / the habitation / of your house – and the place / where your glory / dwells.” Following on the heels of the similarities with Psalm 1 we find this statement of positive love of the psalmist toward Yhwh. This would seem to recall the fact that in Psalm 1 the blessed man also had a similar object of devotion: Yhwh’s torah (instruction). In this way, the this attraction by the psalmist, as in Psalm 1, is an emblem of his ‘wisdom’ (or, of his ‘blessedness’). It is part-and-parcel to his defense. This is important for the same reason noted in Psalm 1: that one’s worthiness to step into the Temple involves whether (or the degree) of one’s love for the Temple. Simply avoiding evil, if it is not marked by a corresponding positive attraction of the things of Yhwh, would presumably not be enough to enter Yhwh’s presence. Arguably, the avoidance is secondary in the sense that these positive movements of the psalmist toward Yhwh (either for his Temple or walking in his faithfulness) are the real ‘grounding’ of the psalmist and would, in a sense, be the real prerequisite and the reason for the avoidance of evil (one does not avoid evil simply for its own sake but so as to gain admittance to Yhwh's presence).
One other thing that seems to go without saying is that the Templeis, here, not merely some ‘symbolic’ or ‘metaphoric’ representation of Yhwh’s abode. Rather, this is Yhwh’s house and the place where his glory ‘dwells’.This dynamism between Yhwh and ‘his glory’ is important. Often the Temple is described as being the place where Yhwh’s name resides. In all of this it seems as if the psalmists want to say both that Yhwh truly resides in the Temple while, at the same time, and in some manner, not equating Yhwh (in his totality?) with his ‘name’/’glory’.Perhaps we see here the fact that Yhwh can be both truly present to Israel without thereby being contained. Regardless, for the psalmist, Yhwh was truly present in the Temple. And it is his love for this presence (Deut.: you shall love Yhwh, your God, ….)that operates like some password for admittance. Perhaps here we see the ‘examination’of his ‘heart and kidneys’. After this exclamation, the psalm shifts rather dramatically: “Do not gather up / my soul / with sinners – or my life / with bloodthirsty men, - in whose hands / is wickedness – and their right hand / is full / of bribes.” This petition is, actually, quite similar to Psalm 1, except for the fact that there there was no petition but more of an assertion that the one who performs certain deeds and is marked by certain loves will not be found to judged like the wicked. Here, by contrast, it seems as if the psalmist recognizes that, regardless of his innocence and his love, he still must petition Yhwh to not ‘gather him’ with the wicked. Perhaps we find here a recognition of Yhwh’s freedom and that, regardless of one’s protestations of innocence, the decision of judgment resides, nonetheless, with Yhwh. Or, there is here a latent recognition that, no matter how well one knows oneself, there still could be something worthy of the individual being ‘gathered’ with the wicked. Or, it may simply be the fact that he is reiterating what he has said before about avoiding such men and that he asks that Yhwh enable him to continue to avoid them. To be ‘mixed’/gathered with them would potentially compromise his integrity—his unity of purpose—his love of Yhwh’s house. Which leads into the next verse: “But I shall walk / in my integrity – redeem me / and be gracious / to me.” Here, there seems to be an assertion something like that made by Daniel (even if Yhwh will not save us from the flames, we will not bow down…). This statement of total integrity/faithfulness that will persist regardless is impressive: it will await redemption, but knows it cannot demand it (but, at the same time, it can have a sense of total assurance). “My foot / has stood / on level ground – in the assemblies / of worship / I will bless / Yhwh”. Here, the ‘walking’ ends and he ‘stands’ on level ground. He has arrived at his goal: the Templeand the assemblies of worship. The pilgrim has come to his destination. On this level ground he will not ‘slip’. In this way, this ‘arrival’ at the end of the psalm, and its mimicking of the opening lines forms a formal conclusion to the psalm, in confidence.
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