Ps. 89.10 (the covering)

The mountains / were covered / by its shade
and mighty cedars / by its vines. 

Unity. Although we have drawn attention to it before, it deserves to be noted again. This Vine of God is not collection, but a single, undivided plant. This is important, especially in light of the opening reflections on the potential fracturing of the tribes and the (re)call to the primordial blessing of Jacob/Israel to his descendants. That blessing became the power of unity (much like the Holy Spirit would be the blessing power of unity (and unification) delivered to the Church). When we look further into Scripture there are, in opposition to this holy unity, the impure unities of the apocalyptic literature: the single statute, but made by several metals. The emphasis here must be on the fact that this Vine’s growth is a single, unified one. In a sense, it grows out of and into unity. Its growth expresses (or, is) the blessing-power delivered to it. 

The location. It has been observed that these verses encapsulate Deuteronomy 11.22-25 where God says, “Every place where you set your foot will be yours: Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the Euphrates River to the Mediterranean Sea.” (vs. 24). In this verse we find the first two areas: the dessert (in the south) to Lebanon (the cedars, in the north). The growth of the Vine, then, is not simply a ‘formless’, although astonishing, growth. It is, rather, the growth of and into the promise. It is, in other words, a realization. This is rather remarkable because we find from the beginning the sense of an utterly profound and prodigal power at work (how quickly it grows) that finds in its end an utterly profound and prodigal realization (how extensive it is). The psalmist is attempting to convey something that is, from beginning to end, completely shocking. That reality cannot be reduced; it remains. 

The covering; shade and vines. The Vine’s expanse is not simply a quantitative one but a qualitative one as well; it is not simply present throughout the Land but, literally, over-shadows the Land. We need to see in this image of a vine providing shade to mountains something of a reverse of the image of Israel drinking her tears by the keg-full (vs. ). There, we saw how the image was something of an absurdity because of its self-negating quality; Israel literally drank itself in a deathly prodigal fashion. The image worked against itself in this way. Here, however, the reverse happens. The image is one of ever-expanding beyond itself. While the first image was one of implosion, this is of explosion. This first was an image of absurdity and of the grotesque; this second is blessing and of (a glorious) prodigality. Something by nature ‘lowly’ (the Vine) is now growing so powerfully that it is raised high enough to provide shade to the highest of all earthly formations (mountains). (Perhaps we are to see here an anticipation of the Isaiah vision of Zion becoming the ‘greatest’ and highest of all the mountains.) This ‘covering’ is, in fact, so pronounced that it participates in God’s own non-competitive mastery over the cosmos (either in creation or redemption). As it participates, it mirrors and enacts that mastery. This ‘covering’, in its own way, shows forth the ‘shalom’ of God’s covering-mastery. Which leads to another point. 

Serenity. These lines, both formally and in content, are deeply peaceful. Contained within these and the previous verse is the sense that the Vine was transplanted in order to preserve its life. Its redemption was, in this way, necessary. Its re-planting, however, was not. It was, rather, for the Land. Meaning, the Vine was planted so that it would provide this beneficial ‘shade’ and covering to the entirety of the Land. It is important to note that, in this regard, it was not enough for the Land to be only “cleared” of the weeds (the nations). That was only a pre-amble to the Vine’s planting and then growth. In the end it was the Vine that was to provide the blessing, the covering and the shade. What this insight captures is the fact that, as the Vine grows into its unity, it unifies the Land itself. Like Adam tilling Eden, and protecting it, the Vine, in its growth, enacted the shalom of Eden, bringing peace and serenity (shade) to the entire Land. This was the purpose of the clearing-and-planting. It was, in the end, the Vine’s ‘covering’.