Ps. 68.26-27 (the ecstatic nature of deliverance)

Bless God / in the assemblies,
bless the Lord / you who are from / the source of Israel!
Look! / Benjamin, the youngest / is ecstatic!
The chiefs / of Judah / their noisy leaders!
The chiefs / of Zebulon / and the chiefs / of Naphtali! 

These verses in their particularity (the fact that they make specific reference to particular tribes) are marvelous in how they further and deepen our reflections thus far. We concluded yesterday with insights into the nature of publicity and beauty, and how at the victory of God the world is revealed in its beautiful vulnerability in liturgy. Further back we noted how, in the victory of God, there was established a unity to the world as well (these are all threads of a single cloth, which I am unable to adequately synthesize in words). Zion became the vessel of world-gifts and even God’s enemies brought homage to him in recognition of his authorial power. What we have been groping toward is the fact that in God’s victory the unity of his people is absolutely key. We might even say that God’s victory is the unifying of his people, his ‘drawing forth’ of them from the nations so that they may be one. Here, that idea emerges in full display as the tribes of Israel are represented as all encompassing, North to South. This vision is as miraculous as the ‘drawing forth’ of his people from the belly of Leviathan (vs. 22). Or, we can also say, in his providing of an ‘escape from death’ (vs. 20). The reason: the northern tribes of Israel entered into Leviathan; they were swallowed, destroyed and dead. To history, the northern ten tribes were lost. As in Isaiah and other prophets, this vision of a unified Israel is shocking in the extreme. It is resurrection. (And this is true regardless of when the psalm was composed.) A unified Israel means, especially in the context of this psalm, the destruction of Death by and through the taking of Zion and the establishment of God’s ‘dwelling forever’. Zion and the unity of Israel are integrally related; indeed, they coexist, one for the other. And, most importantly: the unity of Israel in the ‘taking of Zion’ is the beginning of a liturgical empire. Their unity is ecstatic, tremendous joy. These tribes are cavorting in the same manner as David before the arc, in utter abandon. This extreme is the reverse side of the graphic nature of deliverance we spoke of earlier (vs. 21-23): it is pure abandon in joy. It is reveling in the finality of victory and deliverance, without remainder. Finally, we must also note that the psalmist, the narrator, is positioned as if he were watching these tribes pour into Zion. Their ecstasy at entering Zion is perhaps matched as surpassed by his joy at seeing their entrance. What I mean is this: his joy is ‘made complete’ in seeing this unity, this very real, particular redemption and gathering of God’s people. His joy is public, corporate and, we should say, familial. This is the joy of a father watching his sons ‘return from a far land’.