Ps. 86.17 (when I am raised up)

Work a sign / that will be well / for me
that those who hate me / may see / and be dismayed
that you / O Yhwh / have helped and comforted me. 

One thing I want to focus on here is the fact that this act by Yhwh is one that is supposed to be undertaken in public view. It is supposed to be, in other words, a public display of Yhwh’s power; not a private or hidden act of redemption. This sense pervades these lines. First, the ‘wonder’ that Yhwh is to perform is a ‘sign’. It is something that is mean to be interpreted and, as such, is meant to be public. The ‘sign’s’ purpose and effect take place in public: for the psalmist, the signs ‘says’ “it will be well”; for the haters, it will be to “their dismay”. Further, the sign is meant to be seen—“that those who hate me may see…”.  This sign is to be the enactment of Yhwh’s ‘help’ and ‘comfort’. This is the first thing to notice. 

The second thing to notice is that this ‘sign’ operates with utter authority. Another way of saying this is that it effects what it signifies. We tend to think of ‘signs’ as passive recipients of our gaze, not as active agents that change the world around them. This sign no only is effective but it is judgment. As with any judgment, it redeems those for whom it operates and condemns those who are against it. This deepens the first point: because the ‘sign’ is a ‘sign of judgment’ it is one that re-orders reality around itself. As such, it is one that, in a sense, must be ‘on display’. The more total its scope (stretching from the redeemed to ‘the damned’), the more it moves into the public arena. If a sign is to be absolute, then, it must be performed absolutely in the public. We saw this ‘totalizing’ effect when saw how the ‘unity’ achieved by God’s signs stretches from ‘the nations to the heart’ (verses 9-12). His ‘sign’ was a sign revealed to the cosmos, as the cosmos was what was subject to its power. 

A third thing to note is that in this public sphere, there are, at least, two ways of conceiving of Yhwh’s ‘sign’. One is as a battle in which Yhwh is victorious over the wicked. The second is to see it more like a ‘play’ that is performed by Yhwh in front of those involved. It is the second that I think is much more in line with the psalm. This previous public sign was that which united the nations around Yhwh in a liturgical act of praise. There, as we have said, the nations were not conceived of as enemies, but were specifically described as “nations that you have made”. This ‘act of unity’ was not an ‘agonistic’ achievement by Yhwh. It was more a ‘prodigal son’ re-incorporation of the nations back into the ‘family of God’.  This ‘sign’ too, although it operates as an act of redemption on behalf of the psalmist, is not conceived of as, in any way, representing an ‘effort’ by Yhwh. Yhwh is not ‘striving’ to establish this sign. It flows from him, with utter responsiveness and displays Yhwh’s own authority when it is established. 

One final point to make. We cannot lose sight of the fact that this sign, although it establishes Yhwh’s supreme authority, and is not established by an act of agonistic aggression by Yhwh, is one that flows from his responsiveness to the psalmist’s petition. In other words, there is clearly the sense that this sign is a sign of responsive love. It is, as such, a representation (an ex-pression) of the covenant between Yhwh and his people. This does not rob it of its authority or Yhwh’s sovereignty (anyone who stands in the presence of a king would know that). The sharing of covenantal love is not a diminution on Yhwh’s part but an enactment of his boundless love for his people. The fact that this love is performed fully in public indicates that its scope is not limited to those for whom it works but for all who look upon it. (And when I am raised up, I will gather all men to myself…).