Ps. 73.27-28 (priest as living sign)

Behold / those far from you / will perish
and you destroy / all those / who are faithless
But for me / the nearness of God / is my good
I have made the Lord / Yhwh / my refuge
telling / of all your works. 

These concluding lines summarize the entire psalm. Verse 27 summarizes, and largely condemns, the first half of the psalm, while verse 28 speaks to the ‘resolution’ of the dilemma posed by the opening ‘proverb’ in light of the abiding presence of God in the Temple. As to verse 27, it begins with a word that we have considered elsewhere, “Behold”. In the other contexts, specifically in verse __, it described the state of wicked in their ascendency at pain caused by their apparent blessedness. Everything that was ‘beheld’ seemed to utterly contradict the opening proverb that God is good to Israel and the pure in heart. Rather, it seemed that he was aloof and all the blessing of life were instead being imparted to those in open rebellion to him—the impure in heart. Now, however, the psalm has entered into the Temple, and received his “medicine of immortality” and, therein, he has come to see that the wicked will, in fact, perish. They will be cut off from the ‘forever’ time of the Temple and left to disintegrate in the time of vanity. That ‘time’ is time “far from God”, far from the “forever” of Gods presence as experienced in the Temple. The former “behold” of the wicked is now reversed and judged in light of God’s presence. Now, it is “behold, those far from you will perish.” This verse, likewise, tracks to ‘turn’ after the Temple entrance. Verses 18-20 described the action of God against the wicked when he “rouses himself’ (vs. 20). They will become like a forgotten dream. They will be “destroyed and completely swept away” (vs. 19). That same ‘destruction’ is here referred to again. This is the ‘outward’ expression of God’s judgment upon his ‘rousing’. The ‘inner’ expression of compassion, as expressed in verses 23-25, is restated here as well. It is at this point that we need to draw out more fully how the proverb of opening line, the reality of the wicked, and the experience of Temple interrelate. The opening psalm speaks of God’s “goodness” to Israel. The experience of the wicked is that they, in fact, have all the “goods” (the prosperity and the authority). The Temple experience, however, complicates the issue. The temple is the “goodness of God to Israel”. And yet, it is also a pledge of future, fulfilled goodness. It is both ‘already-but-not-yet’ the reality of Creation as Temple. Standing square in this dual reality are the Levitical priests. Unlike the rest of Israel their ‘portion’ is not land, but God himself (the Temple). And yet, they are required to live in the present time of wicked prosperity. In this way they become the human emblem of the Temple itself. They are “Adam-like”. And, like the Temple, they therefore come to represent, in their person, a type of “already-but-not-yet” experience. They are, like the Temple, oaths of the future completion of the Temple in Creation. This is why, in this concluding verse, the “goodness” of the opening verse is aligned not with “prosperity” but with “nearness to God” (the Temple-Presence). The levitical priest “already” has God’s presence as his “portion” but that presence has “not-yet” been fully ‘roused’ so as to cover all creation. It is then that the true foundation of ‘prosperity’ will be established, such that the ‘dream’ that now exists will be dispelled in the light of God’s awakening (vs. 20); then the psalmist will be “received in glory” (vs. 24). At that point, the ‘pure heart’ will be total (Jeremiah) and all of creation will dwell in the Temple (Ezekiel). Torah (heart) and Temple (God’s presence) will no longer be localized but will coincide with God’s people and creation. Until then, however, some of God’s people are specifically designated as priests to more fully anticipate that reality by making God their current “portion”. They are ‘living signs’ of the future. Finally, these priests accomplish this abiding-future-sign through liturgy in the Temple: “I have made the Lord / Yhwh / my refuge (Temple) – telling / of all your works (liturgy)”.

Ps. 73.26 (Temple: already-but-not-yet)

My flesh / and heart / were spent
but my strength / and portion / is God forever. 

What at first glance seems to be a very generic statement is, in the context of this psalm, full of deeper significance: “my flesh and heart were spent…”. Initially, we must situate this verse in its immediate context. We have traced how the psalmist has come to see his present situation, prior to God’s ‘arousal’, as one of “counseling” and “hand-holding” (vs. 23-24). It is the time of the (localized) Temple and is, in this way, the ‘time of the wicked’ (or, the time of vanity). This will, however, come to an end when God ‘arises” at which time the present evil will (astonishingly and immediately) dissipate like a forgotten dream. At that time, the psalmist will be “received in glory”. That which was localized will become total. Creation will become Temple; or, Temple will become Creation. Until that time, in the present, the heart is the battleground of the covenant. And, more importantly for our psalmist as a levitical priest, the heart of the priest is the stage upon which God will administer himself to his people. That heart, in so far as it stands outside of God’s presence in the Temple, will be drained of vitality (and will, then, potentially be a source of ‘turning’ for the people vs. 15-16). When it turns, through coveting and envy of the wicked, it will break away from the life of the covenant and, more importantly, it will become alienated from the Temple (only one with a ‘pure heart’ can enter the Temple). Alienation from the Temple is alienation from the “goodness of God to Israel” (vs. 1). The heart will enter into the twilight of vanity. Within this twilight and realm of vanity, the heart and strength can do nothing but be poured out and spent. It will tend to see itself as a ‘nothing’ (vs. 13). This is the first half of the verse. The second half, however, contrasts this state with the psalmist in the presence of God: “but my strength and my portion is God forever”. Here, we see the psalmist within the Temple, the dwelling of God and the “goodness of God to Israel”. Unlike the wicked, whose strength is their own, the psalmist comes to see his strength as one that is rooted in the presence of God. Likewise, as a levitical priest whose ‘portion’ and ‘possession’ is God alone, the psalmist’s desire for prosperity is here to be grounded in the abiding presence of God in the Temple. The “flesh” is here met by “strength” while the “heart” is met by his “portion” which is God. We see here a priest who perfectly mirrors the covenantal fidelity of God’s partner as he is filled, completely, with the presence of God in the Temple. And, finally, within this sphere of communal exchange, the psalmist is introduced into the ‘time of God’, into ‘forever’. This is the experience of the Temple, as contrasted to the time of vanity. The time of vanity will end, and it will end suddenly (vs. 19). When it ends the “heaven and earth” of the wicked will likewise end suddenly (vs. 9). The time of the Temple, however, is the time of God’s covenantal presence (Torah; “counsel” (vs. 24)). It is “forever-time”. Just as creation is made into Temple, so time is made into forever within the presence of God. This is the localized glory that will be total once God ‘rouses himself’ (vs. 20, 24) and, likewise, this glory will remake all of time into the forever of God’s presence. This real presence is both a present reality (the localized Temple) and a seal, promise or oath, of the future absolute and total reality (Creation as Temple). It is already-but-not-yet. “Forever” is present (in Temple and Torah) and will be complete.

Ps. 73.24-25 (levitical possession)

With you / what can I lack / in heaven
and with you / I desire nothing else / on earth. 

There are several layers to this verse. The first is to ask the rather odd question of what exactly would the psalmist ‘own in heaven’? In order to address this I think we need to turn to the only other reference in this psalm to ‘heaven’. There, the wicked’s ‘mouths are in the heavens’ while their tongues strut on earth. We saw there that a ‘mouth in heaven’ represents an assertion of incredible power; what they say happens. The mouth ‘speaks on earth’ and the tongue struts on earth. This spanning of heaven to earth, was also seen as the ‘filling of earth’, the sense that the wicked’s power was nearly absolute. So in one sense what we see is the fact that ‘heaven’ is the ‘place of power’, the place where a ‘word’ becomes a ‘reality’ on earth (or, that earth represents the ‘speaking of heaven’). Further, there is the fact that the Temple as the dwelling of God is the meeting place between heaven and earth. When one is in the Temple on is ‘in heaven’. This is probably why we see refrain here of “with you” as it relates to both heaven and earth. When the psalmist is in the Temple he is “with God” in both heaven and earth. The third point is the fact that this ‘lack in heaven’ is paralleled to the lack of desire on earth. “With God” both the desire of heaven and the desire on earth are satisfied. We see here the psalmist recalling his opening ‘fall’ when he “envied” and “coveted” the wicked and their prosperity (vs. 2-3). In the Temple, “with God”, that desire is more-than-met-and-satisfied. Which leads to a fourth point: we noted how it is likely that the psalmist is a levitical priest. We also noted how, unlike other Israelites, he was not given land when the Israelites divided up the promise land; rather, his ‘portion’ was God himself. Here, we see the coinciding of the levitical calling to God’s possession with the psalmist’s satisfaction with that possession. He has, in a way, fully inhabited (and regained) his role/ His previous ‘wandering’ was not merely that of an ‘everyman-righteous-man’, but a sin against his allotted position as priest. Now, his heart and his appointment are married.  It is, therefore, in this particular levitical calling that we see the full import of these verses: more than any other Israelite, his ‘possession’ was God. It is with this final observation that we come to an important insight—that the tension wrought in the first half of the psalm is one that finds its root in the levitical priesthood and its unique calling for God to be the ‘sole possession’. In this way, the Temple, as the ‘possession’ of the levitical priest, likewise takes on an added depth as the ‘answer’ to the wicked. We will flesh this out more in the concluding verses but for now we can say this: the more God is understood to be one’s sole possession the more agonizing does the ‘problem of the wicked’ become when one covets their prosperity. Likewise, however, the more God is one’s sole possession the more one comes to see how his presence utterly reveals and dwarfs the angst caused by this ‘swerving heart’. God’s presence is more precious the more it is possessed.

Ps. 73.23-24 (in the afterward glory)

Yet / I am / always with you
you hold / my right hand
with your counsel / you guide me
and afterward / with glory / you will receive me. 

We argued yesterday that verses 21-22 were largely a recapitulation of the first section of psalm, particularly verses 13-16 where the psalmist describes the anguish caused by the ascendency of the wicked. Here, we come to the same ‘turn’ accomplished in verse 17. There, the tone of the psalm changes utterly when the psalmist enter the sanctuary/Temple. From anguish and a lack of understanding suddenly emerges a supreme confidence and comprehension. Likewise, here, the psalmist shifts in a profound manner from his being regarded as a “brute beast” to “Yet I am always with you; you hold my right hand.” And, like the shift in verse 17, the change comes about because of God’s presence. There, it was specifically related to entering the sanctuary. Here, it is simply described as being “with you”, although it seems clear that the psalmist is referring to the presence of God in the Temple. Another important element of this shift is that the first half of the psalm never directly addresses God. It is only after he has entered the Temple that God is spoken to directly as “You”. Here, too, once the presence of God is engaged, the “you” emerges once again. In the first section, once God’s presence was entered, God’s action was comprehended as focused on the destruction of the wicked (vs. 18-20). Here, God’s action will be on his righteous ones: “you hold my right hand”; “you guide me”; “you will receive me with glory”; my provider, strength and portion. All of the ‘realities’ of God’s presence come into focus for the psalmist once he has entered into the Temple. On the outside he is “brute beast”. In God’s presence, however, he comes to comprehend that “I am always with you”. The one who was in exile was the psalmist, not God. This is a recurring idea throughout: that the blindness suffered by the psalmist is one of his heart, not one of history. When his heart turned, he entered into a realm whereby he was unable to perceive that “I am always with you”. He could not hear the voice that was constant because his heart had “turned” to the wicked (vs. 2-3, 10). Once he enters into the Temple, however, he comes to see his rebellion. He comes to see that his heart is God’s concern. We must notice the resemblance between these concluding lines and the psalmist initial turning. In verses 2-3 the psalmist described his turning from God as one related to walking: “my feet almost stumbled; my step had nearly slipped”. Here, upon entering the Temple, the psalmist comes to see that he is “always with God” because “you hold my right hand; through your counsel you guide me.” God is perpetually faithful through guidance. God’s constant instruction is the presence the psalmist turned from when he coveted the wicked; it was the ‘path’ he abandoned. The point is that God, and his instruction, is as constant as the Temple. When the heart journeys into darkness, it is a darkness that is engendered by a turning away from God, the Light. The ‘theodicy’ portion of this psalm is not the ‘true’ analysis. Rather, it is in God’s Temple that the wicked are truly perceived. This is not to say that the psalmist’s observations are without weight. However, if one gives equal weight to the first portion of the psalm one is entirely missing the point: that God’s perpetual and constant presence in the Temple reshapes the question entirely. The ‘problem of the wicked’ is more a ‘problem of the heart’. If one seeks to understand the ‘problem of the wicked’ as it relates to God’s “goodness” (vs. 1), one must seek to understand that in and through the Temple. For the Temple is that constant and perpetual goodness (vs. 14). This leads to the final note struck in these verse: the receiving with glory. We remarked yesterday that the ‘time of the wicked’ is the ‘time of the localized Temple’, and that God’s judgment on the wicked comes about because of his desire to make all of creation into that Temple. Here, we could say—that his desire is that the glory that is purely and perpetually present in the Temple is one that is to dwell as completely in every corner of creation. That sense is not something current. It is in the future. As ‘constant’ as God’s presence is (“I am always with you”) God’s presence has not yet become present to all of creation. Here, the psalmist envisions a point in time when God will “receive him” with “glory”. His time now is one of constant and perpetual “hand-holding” (23) and “counsel” (24) but there will come a time when that will be fulfilled in “glory” (24). It is not clear what this “afterward” is. However, in the context of the psalm, we must say that the psalmist envisions a time when the wicked will be, not merely crippled, but utterly destroyed and “swept away” (vs. 18-20). All of those references are to the future. Until that time, the psalmist must rely upon and follow God’s “counsel”. Then, when the wicked are removed, the “glory” that resides in the Temple will “be complete” in the earth. Therefore, this ‘afterward’ may refer to his death, but I think it more likely that it refers to the time when God “rouses himself” (vs. 20), the wicked are “despised as mere images” (20) and God awakens himself (he is not ‘woken up’). And that ‘time’ will be utterly unpredictable and ‘sudden’ (19) for it will of necessity reveal itself as judgment on those who believed themselves constant and secure (the wicked). For now, however, the psalmist has the Temple where all of this is guaranteed. The Temple is God’s oath of his future ‘rousing’. In a sense, in the Temple, the psalmist stands ‘in the ‘afterward’ glory’.

Ps. 73.21-22 (beast ravings)

When my heart / was as sour as vinegar
and my insides / were torn up
I was senseless / and ignorant;
I was a brute beast / before you. 

These verses largely recapitulate the experience of the psalmist prior to his entrance of the Temple. Importantly, he begins where the drama of the psalm has played out: the heart. The opening described God’s goodness to those in Israel who are “pure in heart” (vs. 1). By contrast, the wicked have “conceit” in their hearts (vs. 7). The righteous, who must endure the seeming blessed life of the wicked experience the “clean heart” as “nothing”. (vs. 13). The attempt to “understand” and “comprehend” this reality becomes, for them, a “torment” (vs. 16). However, once the “clean heart” has entered the Temple, everything is revealed; the righteous ‘comprehend’ the destiny of the wicked. (vs. 17). It is the experience of the heart, prior to it entering the presence of God, that is the focus of these verses. It is portrayed in visceral ways—sour as vinegar; insides are “torn up”. This is the “torment” and “overwhelming” plague and punishment of verses 13-16. Further, the need to resolve, to “comprehend”, this reality is here, as there, the question goes unresolved: “I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.” Outside the Temple, his ability to understand the wicked rises no higher than that of an animal. I think, too, this summary of his experience is also related to another portion of the psalm—the swilling of the water of the wicked in verses 10-11. There, we saw that the righteous “turned”, then “drank” and then, after appropriating the wicked, they speak horrendous and arrogant words directly aimed at mocking God. I do not think the psalmist partook of these ‘drinks’. However, he was, by admission, envious of the wicked and coveted their prosperity (vs. 3). Within the context he “turned” to them, even if he did not drink. The point is that this ‘turning’ put the psalmist in a twilight of comprehension. It began in him a process leading to torment and a brutish existence “before God”. When the heart ‘turns’ it begins to lose its ability to perceive and comprehend the reality that the Temple was established to solidify. The wicked grow in their presence, and in their oppressive weight. As we saw, the wicked eclipse the glory of God as dwelling in the Temple. When that glory is eclipsed, man falls lower than his status as human and devolves to the position of a brute animal before God. Any attempt to comprehend the wicked in this state of ‘turning’ will not be satisfied but will only lead to an ever-growing torment. More importantly, perhaps, is the fact that the psalmist can now, after entering the Temple, accurately perceive his former state: he can pronounce judgment on himself saying, in effect, that he was unable to perceive what was obvious (he was “senseless” and “ignorant”). This places the entire first section of the psalm under judgment (and a question mark). They were the ravings of a beast.