Ps. 91.2 (the beginning of Tradition)

I say / O Yhwh / you are my refuge / and my fortress 
my God / in whom I trust. 

We noted in the previous reflection how vs. 2-9a form a unit, although we did not greatly elaborate that point. Here, I want to note a few things. First, the name Yhwh appears here and in verse 9a. Second, verse 2 and 9a are the only addresses to Yhwh himself; between 2 and 9a the psalmist is talking to the audience (us). And, third, Yhwh is described as ‘my refuge’ in both 2 and 9a. So clearly these verses work as a structuring devise, bookending this unit. That, however, is not all they are. Rather, they serve an important thematic point. Verse 1, we notice, does not refer to Yhwh but only to ‘Most High’ and ‘Almighty’ (Elyon and Shaddai), which are names that refer to Yhwh but are not the Divine Name. Further, we also noted how one comes to ‘dwell under the protection’ of the Most High by ‘knowing my name’ (vs. 14). Here is the point. Verses 2 and 9a, by referring to the Divine Name, shows us how that Divine Name is ‘enacted’. In other words, the unit that verses 2-9a comprises is an enactment of ‘knowing my name’. These verses represent what it means to ‘know my name’—it is those who can speak these words with understanding. The more one enters into the reality described by these verses, the more one enters into the Divine Name and, hence, the more one enters into his protection. This points to a deeper reality. The psalmist first turns to Yhwh, speaks to him these words of devotion and then he turns to the people (us) and explicates the Name.  The following verses will be a lesson-in-the-Name provided by one who devoutly ‘speaks the Name’. 

Side-note and a Deepening
 
This is the beginning of tradition, of the ‘handing on’ (and, handing over) of the Name, the teaching of the name. It begins in this covenantal langue of fidelity (“my God”) and then turns to the community to deliver and hand over that fidelity. This is how Yhwh operates to perpetuate his Name—through the ‘tradition-ing’ (and spoken proclamation) of psalmists like this. We might put it this way: a spoken word is always already a spoken breath (or, spirit). It is never simply ‘a word’ but comes encased in breath. The ‘breath’ of the word-that which actually delivers the word—is the Tradition-ing of Yhwh. And it cannot be reduced to the word. The word, as a ‘living word’, lives in the breath. It lives in the ‘spirit’. So whenever Yhwh delivers, or speaks, his word he also speaks his spirit as that which will carry, perpetuate and unpack that word. We could say, that every ‘word’ of Yhwh is not simply a dead ‘word’, but a living word because it is encased and en-livened by the breath/spirit. The ‘manifestation’ of that spirit, is the tradition-ing of the word within the community. In other words, the tradition-ing of the word reveals it to be a living word, a perpetual word, a forever word—all qualities of Yhwh that he bestows upon his people (in covenant (and, in sacrament)). Here, in this psalm, the ‘tradition’ begins when the psalmist turns from Yhwh to the people and begins the process of inaugurating them into the Divine Name and thereby bringing them within the protection afforded by the Name/Presence of Yhwh.