Ps. 33.10-12 (the word as harbinger)

“Yhwh frustrates / the plans / of the nations – he restrains / the schemes / of the peoples. – Yhwh’s plan / shall stand / forever – the schemes / of his heart / for generation to generation. – Blessed is the nation / whose God / is Yhwh – the people / he has chosen / for his own possession.” In light of what we have already said this transition could in fact not be seen as a transition at all but rather as working out or deepening. This should not blind us to the fact, though, of use of the verbs “frustrate” and “restrain”. For the first time in the psalm Yhwh is explicitly described as acting against something. Prior to this everything has progressed with a seeming ease (although the undertones have certainly been those of exodus liberation). Yhwh speaks, it happens. There are no intermediaries and no competitors. Here, by contrast Yhwh must ‘frustrate’ and ‘restrain’. To ‘frustrate’ a plan implies creating disunity or confusion, of introducing elements of disruption. The story of Babel seems to be a good example of this—frustration through the introduction of multiple languages. Likewise, in contrast to the nation’s ‘plans’, Yhwh’s ‘stand’ forever—this ‘standing’ could be a reference to the abandonment of the Tower. To ‘restrain’, by contrast, implies the holding back; making the scheme impossible to achieve. This is not the creation of disunity, but making the fulfillment impossible to achieve. The drowning of Pharaoh’s army could be an example of this, and the placing of a river between them and the Israelites. Admittedly, Babel could also be an example. In contrast to these plans and schemes, Yhwh’s ‘stand forever’ and go ‘from generation to generation’.  It is at this point that we can make to two observations as to how these verse deepen our understanding of Yhwh’s word. First, why would the verse have begun with Yhwh’s frustration and not with Yhwh’s ‘standing’ plan? Following on the heals of the previous verse, I think it likely that, with the reference to land “standing forth”, we are to hear of Yhwh’s ‘frustration’ of Pharoah’s plan to overtake Israel by making the river bed “stand forth” for the Israelites. This also points to Yhwh’s ‘plan’ itself ‘standing forth’ in solidity as against Pharaoh’s.  By placing the ‘nations’ between these two poles within the psalm it shows that they are utterly powerless to overcome Yhwh’s word/plan. The second point: the previous section of the psalm was very much hymn to the word. Here, the word changes to Yhwh’s ‘plan’ or ‘scheme’. This is a rather remarkable confirmation of our reflections: that Yhwh speaks a word that, in its power, remains and is an ongoing ‘plan’ of Yhwh. This is crucial it seems to me: that it is possible to distinguish between the two (word and plan) but to never oppose them. They are simply different aspects. Again, when Isaiah says that Yhwh’s “word goes forth” and will not return to him “void” he could be saying the same thing: his ‘word’ goes forth and it accomplishes Yhwh’s ‘plan’. Yhwh’s word is, in a sense, pregnant with his plans (this is, to me fascinating, in light of Yhwh’s ‘word’ ‘becoming flesh’…). Creation, then, is a harbinger of Yhwh’s plan (this may be, to me at least, the most succinct way of stating our previous reflections). A comment on “plan”: although implicit in previous reflections the fact that Yhwh’s word is so closely aligned with his “plan” indicates that that which is created by his word carries within it a ‘logic’ or ‘form’; it is pushing toward a goal; the word, is in a sense, a story, with creation being ‘the beginning’. Another interesting aspect to this is the emphasis on Yhwh’s heart and his ‘schemes’. We saw something similar in relation to understanding why Yhwh’s word is ‘right’: it is an accurate representation of Yhwh’s heart. Here, the ‘scheme’ functions in much the same way: as the accurate expression of Yhwh’s heart. It is therefore, important to note, again, that Yhwh’s heart is one that loves “justice” and “righteousness”. The final line seems like a conclusion: as if saying that a nation that stands on the side of Yhwh, whose plans cannot be shaken, is blessed. However, there is something else here—with all of the connotations that have gone before with the Song of the Sea, the exodus, and creation, something rather shocking occurs here: Israel itself is Yhwh’s creative plan. In being ‘elected’ it has been taken up ‘into Yhwh’s heart’ and made to be his active word to the world. Israel is Yhwh’s scheme ‘from generation to generation’. She is the nation that was both ‘created’ in the Reed Sea and ‘elected’ at Mount Sinai. Like Abraham, the world is to find ‘blessing’ or ‘curse’ in her as she moves, like Yhwh’s flaming pillar, through the world toward a goal she herself does not know.