Ps. 78.66 (eternal reproach and the new beginning)

He hit his foes / on the rump
he gave them / to eternal reproach. 

Now that the ‘sleeper has awakened’ the psalm moves towards its conclusion. As we saw yesterday, though, this final phase of the psalm begins with a very different momentum than the preceding sections. It is difficult to say that God is ‘acting more decisively’ but there is the sense that he is starting something new; that he is going to address this perpetual cycle of rebellion on Israel’s behalf in a different manner. This first act on his part in some ways gestures in that direction. The immediately preceding verses were largely focused on both God’s glory and his people being handed over to “the foe” and “the sword”. At least in regard to the arc of the covenant (“his power” and “his glory”), these were ‘given’ by God to the foe. Here, by contrast, God ‘awakes’ and attacks his foes. This clearly complicates the initial ‘giving into captivity’ of the arc. Is the psalmist indicating that this original ‘giving’ was done in a type sleep or drunkenness? Are we to hear in this a the type of ‘forgetfulness’ the psalmists often accuse God of lapsing into? By way of contrast, God is now fully ‘awake’ and acting in the full light of his will. I do think there is much to say for this interpretation. The psalmist clearly knows that God’s arc could not have fallen into the hands of the foes without God’s allowing it. Hence, God ‘gives’ it to them. Furthermore, it is also clear that this ‘exile of the arc’ comes about precisely because of Israel’s utterly unfathomable rebellion and idolatry. It is manifestly a form of punishment or covenantal curse. For this reason, however, the arc’s exile (and the people’s destruction) is permitted so as to move the people back into covenantal blessing. It is, as we have pointed out many times, the act of curse as penultimate to blessing. But, here is the rub: we have noted throughout that even in the midst of curse Israel continues to sin. The curse does not accomplish its intended goal of repentance. The entirety (God’s sanctuary and his people) is flooded (under the curse). The only alternative at that point is to recreate, for God to act in a new and decisive manner. The dynamic of blessing and curse must be repositioned. This, I think, is where we find ourselves in this verse. In this context we can now see God’s act against the ‘foe’ in a slightly different light. In the full light of his ‘new act’, the foe must be dealt with. Importantly, with new decisiveness they are ‘given over to eternal reproach’. There is the clear sense here of utter destruction, of creating the absolute primal condition necessary for what is to follow. This is not the ‘death of the first born’, as with the Egyptians. Their purpose as punishment has failed. These foes are given over to annihilation. This is key: when God looks to recreate, the penultimate act necessary for that recreation involves the act of annihilation, of “handing over his foes to eternal reproach” (much like throwing them into the lake of fire…). His foes will no longer be used for his purposes but rather consigned to eternal flame. This is also key though: this act sheds a brilliant light on what is to follow. It gains its momentum not ‘from itself’ but from the goal it is seeking to establish. Here: Zion and David. They will be established in purity.