Often the end of a psalm will shed light on its beginning. Or, perhaps more accurately said, when the end of the psalm is compared to its beginning, a gateway is opened into the psalm. That is the case here.
The psalm opens with calls to rejoice in Yhwh. That is putting it mildly, however. Acclaim Yhwh; call out his name; sing to him; hymn to him; speak of his wonders; revel in him; and let the heart rejoice. This is the prodigal flame of joy in Yhwh's presence.
And that is also how the psalm ends. It, quite literally, ends in a torrent. Yhwh opens a rock in a dessert and water flowed, it went forth in parched land as a stream. And from this flowing water, the people's voices also 'went forth' in "joy, in glad song". The past becomes present. The end becomes the beginning.
This mirroring is significant for a psalm that has as its focus "memory", both the people's memory and Yhwh's. The opening of the psalm is not simply a call to rejoice. It is, most fundamentally, a call to remember. To remember the story of Joseph-and-Moses. And yet, again, there is a mirroring even here.
The psalmist implores the people to remember. "Make his deeds known...speak of all his wonders...Recall the wonders that He did." And then, only a few lines later, he draws our attention not to the people's act of memory but to Yhwh's. The people's memory needs to be renewed, over and over again. Yhwh's memory, on the other hand, is "for a thousand generations." And again, at the end, the psalmist sums up the entire Joseph-and-Moses story as Yhwh "remembering his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant."
This is key. When Yhwh remembers his promises, things happen. Nations are born and nations are destroyed. One could say that all of salvation history is the act of Yhwh's memory, the outworking of his promises. Or, to put it another way, Yhwh's memory can be another way of saying Yhwh's faithfulness.
And so, the Mirror. When Yhwh's people remember his deeds; when they speak of his wonders and recall what he did. They are, in fact, remembering Yhwh's memory. And because Yhwh's memory is active, because it is the outworking of his promises, the people are not simply recalling Yhwh. Instead, they are joining into his memory and making his memory--his acts of faithfulness--present. That is what it means to "make known Yhwh's acts." It is not simply the handing on of mental information. It is, in a way, the match that strikes at heaven, and ignites the presence of Yhwh on earth. To remember this story is to enter the story. And to enter into this story is bring it forth, to make it present.
We can see this at work in the psalm itself. And, with this, we will conclude this initial reflection. As we have said, the psalm implores the people to "make known his deeds among the people". This is a very public thing. It is meant to be displayed, to be openly heard. With what we have said about memory, it is meant to spread the flame of Yhwh "among the peoples." To spread Yhwh's memory. The psalmist drives this point home when, in the middle of the psalm, he shows us that this act has already taken place.
The psalm opens with calls to rejoice in Yhwh. That is putting it mildly, however. Acclaim Yhwh; call out his name; sing to him; hymn to him; speak of his wonders; revel in him; and let the heart rejoice. This is the prodigal flame of joy in Yhwh's presence.
And that is also how the psalm ends. It, quite literally, ends in a torrent. Yhwh opens a rock in a dessert and water flowed, it went forth in parched land as a stream. And from this flowing water, the people's voices also 'went forth' in "joy, in glad song". The past becomes present. The end becomes the beginning.
This mirroring is significant for a psalm that has as its focus "memory", both the people's memory and Yhwh's. The opening of the psalm is not simply a call to rejoice. It is, most fundamentally, a call to remember. To remember the story of Joseph-and-Moses. And yet, again, there is a mirroring even here.
The psalmist implores the people to remember. "Make his deeds known...speak of all his wonders...Recall the wonders that He did." And then, only a few lines later, he draws our attention not to the people's act of memory but to Yhwh's. The people's memory needs to be renewed, over and over again. Yhwh's memory, on the other hand, is "for a thousand generations." And again, at the end, the psalmist sums up the entire Joseph-and-Moses story as Yhwh "remembering his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant."
This is key. When Yhwh remembers his promises, things happen. Nations are born and nations are destroyed. One could say that all of salvation history is the act of Yhwh's memory, the outworking of his promises. Or, to put it another way, Yhwh's memory can be another way of saying Yhwh's faithfulness.
And so, the Mirror. When Yhwh's people remember his deeds; when they speak of his wonders and recall what he did. They are, in fact, remembering Yhwh's memory. And because Yhwh's memory is active, because it is the outworking of his promises, the people are not simply recalling Yhwh. Instead, they are joining into his memory and making his memory--his acts of faithfulness--present. That is what it means to "make known Yhwh's acts." It is not simply the handing on of mental information. It is, in a way, the match that strikes at heaven, and ignites the presence of Yhwh on earth. To remember this story is to enter the story. And to enter into this story is bring it forth, to make it present.
We can see this at work in the psalm itself. And, with this, we will conclude this initial reflection. As we have said, the psalm implores the people to "make known his deeds among the people". This is a very public thing. It is meant to be displayed, to be openly heard. With what we have said about memory, it is meant to spread the flame of Yhwh "among the peoples." To spread Yhwh's memory. The psalmist drives this point home when, in the middle of the psalm, he shows us that this act has already taken place.
When Moses and Aaron approach the Egyptians, the psalmist says they "set among them the words of His signs, His portents in the land of Ham." Once these "words" are delivered, the plagues begin. Moses and Aaron have already done what the people are commanded to do--set among the people, the wonders of Yhwh. In another reflection we will note how the psalmist is revealing the dangerous nature of 'memory'. But for here it is important to note that the psalmist is telling the people that their act of "memory" and their act of "proclaiming the deeds among the people" is a participation within the prophetic act of Moses and Aaron. This simply confirms everything we have said above--to "remember Yhwh's deeds" and to "make them known" is to participate within those deeds and to spread them. Yhwh's faithfulness is carried forward through his people's participation within his own memory.
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