Ps. 91.14-15 (the inner life)

Truly / I will keep safe / the one devoted to me
I will protect / the one who knows my name
who will call upon me / and I will answer .  

We have already had the chance to reflect on nature of Yhwh’s speech in the context of the psalm. There, we emphasized the fact that Yhwh largely ‘mirrors’ and confirms what the psalmist has proclaimed about him. Here, we want to draw attention to the additional element that Yhwh introduces into the dynamic of his protection. Specifically, and we have alluded to this in other reflections, Yhwh here emphasizes both what he does but also what his people do. They are “devoted to me”; they “know my name” and they “call upon me.” Yhwh’s faithful protection is here matched, or initiated by, his people’s faithful devotion to him. It is important to note in this regard that the word translated ‘devotion’ is used throughout the Scriptures to describe devotion between people and to describe Yhwh’s devotion to his people, but it is only here that it is used to describe devotion toward Yhwh. It is perhaps important to note, then, that here, the only time the term is used in this way, it comes not from the mouth of the psalmist, but only from Yhwh’s mouth. It is a claim, perhaps, that only he can make directly on his people, as a type of expectation that carries with it the force of law (or command, or divine instruction). 

This reality is then deepened when Yhwh says that these people who are ‘devoted’ to him, “know my name”. Again, we need to be impressed by how this sense of profound attachment and intimate knowledge are coming from Yhwh himself. They are coming, as it were, ‘from above, ‘from his heart’ opened to his people. We might even say that what we are witnessing in these lines is the ‘secret conversation’ between Yhwh and his people; it is that communication between them that shapes their history, in that it is that conversation which makes Yhwh cleave to his people in a protective embrace. This is their ‘communion’. His people do not merely know that his name is Yhwh. They ‘know my name’ in the same way that Adam knew Eve—in an intimate and profound way, whereby the other is known in their depth. We might say, they are not only seen, but perceived and loved. It is this ‘knowledge of my name’ that impels Yhwh to come to earth and protect his people. In the ‘third movement’ Yhwh now describes the act of his people: they ‘call out to me’. We first need to note the progression: devoted to me – know my name – and now, ‘call out’. This is the final act that Yhwh’s people perform. To be ‘devoted to Yhwh’ and to ‘know his name’ inevitably leads to, or entails, a ‘crying out to him’. We might say, conversely, to fail to ‘cry out’ points to a failure to truly ‘know his name’. This can be seen, perhaps most glaringly, in the book of Judges where the people, as they descend their downward spiral toward Sampson, end up silent toward Yhwh at the end of the book and only “do what each thinks is right in their own eyes”.  They have ceased “crying out” for deliverance (for them, the ‘end’ is not so much rebellion as silence).  For our purposes, the point is two-fold: one, to ‘know my name’ leads to ‘crying out’ and not to silence in the face of injustice; two, to ‘know my name’ means to cry out ‘to me’. The people neither try to remedy the situation by themselves, and by their own wits (as in Judges), nor is their ‘cry’ general. They know to whom they appeal and from whom protection comes. 

And, when this ‘call’ is made, Yhwh answers. The way the line is structured is to show that Yhwh’s response follows immediately upon the call. The line is also structured in a chiasmus: A) I will protect B) the one who knows my name; B1) who will call upon me; A1) and I will answer. What we see is that “I will protect” matches “I will answer” with those who ‘known my name’ mirroring/matching those ‘who call upon me’. What Yhwh is trying to get across is that, here, where the people become ‘active’ toward Yhwh (meaning, this is the only place in the psalm where the people do anything other than receive protection), Yhwh faithfully, and without remainder, responds to them. Their ‘communion’ with each other is one of utter assurance and devotion.