week twenty-four
psalms 52 - psalms 74
Week Twenty-Four Reading Assignment:
"I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation. It is not out of compliment that lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are; the delight is incomplete until it is expressed... The Scottish catechism says that man's chief end is 'to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.' But we shall then know that these are the same thing. Fully to enjoy is to glorify. In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him."
(C.S. Lewis, Reflections on the Psalms)
This Week's Teaching Video: Learning to Pray: Complaining
Psalms to Hymns: by James Montgomery
During these weeks of reading the Psalms, we have been devoting some attention to Isaac Watts' treatment of the Psalms. Watts gave the Psalms the meter and rhyme that made them easy for congregations to sing. Yet while Watts is perhaps most famous for that work, he was not the only one to do it.
​James Montgomery was born about a quarter-century after Watts' death. As a young man, he showed a love and a knack for poetry. And his hymns continue to be sung nearly two-hundred years after his death.
Montgomery's most famous contribution to English hymnody is the familiar Christmas carol "Angels, from the Realms of Glory." You may also recognize his "Go to Dark Gethsemane" and "Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire." But below we have featured the text of his Advent hymn, "Hail to the Lord's Anointed." It is a very thoughtful treatment of Psalm 72, which is set side-by-side with Montgomery's hymn. A careful reading of the Psalm followed by the hymn will add meaning and understanding to both.
​Psalm 72 KJV
1 Give the king thy judgments, O God, and thy righteousness unto the king's son. 2 He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment. 3 The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. 4 He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. 5 They shall fear thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. 6 He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth. 7 In his days shall the righteous flourish; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. 8 He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 9 They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him; and his enemies shall lick the dust. 10 The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11 Yea, all kings shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve him. 12 For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. 13 He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. 14 He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight. 15 And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. 16 There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon: and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth. 17 His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. 18 Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. 19 And blessed be his glorious name for ever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. 20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
Hail to the Lord's Anointed
Hail to the Lord's anointed, great David's greater Son!
Hail in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free;
To take away transgression, and rule in equity.
He comes in succor speedy to those who suffer wrong;
To help the poor and needy, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing, their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemned and dying, were precious in His sight.
By such shall He be fearèd while sun and moon endure;
Beloved, obeyed, reverèd; for He shall judge the poor
Through changing generations, with justice, mercy, truth,
While stars maintain their stations, or moons renew their youth.
He shall come down like showers upon the fruitful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in His path to birth.
Before Him, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go,
And righteousness, in fountains, from hill to valley flow.
Arabia's desert ranger to Him shall bow the knee;
The Ethiopian stranger His glory come to see;
With offerings of devotion ships from the isles shall meet,
To pour the wealth of oceans in tribute at His feet.
Kings shall fall down before Him, and gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him, His praise all people sing;
For He shall have dominion o'er river, sea and shore,
Far as the eagle's pinion or dove's light wing can soar.
For Him shall prayer unceasing and daily vows ascend;
His kingdom still increasing, a kingdom without end:
The mountain dews shall nourish a seed in weakness sown,
Whose fruit shall spread and flourish and shake like Lebanon.
O'er every foe victorious, He on His throne shall rest;
From age to age more glorious, all blessing and all blest.
The tide of time shall never His covenant remove;
His name shall stand forever, His name to us is Love.
Psalms to Hymns: by Isaac Watts
The Book of Psalms is often referred to as Israel's hymnbook, yet the comparison is flattering to most hymnbooks. The fact is that the Book of Psalms is so much broader in scope and subject matter than the typical collection of hymns, and this week's sample Psalm is an excellent example.
Most hymnals do not include hymns of this sort. Here is a Psalm -- and, thanks to Watts, a hymn -- to challenge human rulers and to affirm the judgment of God intervening in human affairs to make things right. It is an altogether biblical hymn, yet it is not the sort that we sing.
The Psalmist begins with a pair of questions. Watts likes the technique and expands on it. He makes effective use of the original author's strong, picturesque language, including snakes, poison, broken teeth, lions, storms, and stillbirths.
In addition, Watts' poetry manages also to explicate theology. "Have ye forgot, or never knew, / That God will judge the judges, too" is a powerful yet economical expression of a crucial truth. Likewise, his versions of the Psalmist's initial questions are both pointed and poignant.
Tellingly, both the Psalm and hymn end with positive affirmations. For while the immediate context seems to be one of societal injustice, the overriding confi-dence is in the ultimate justice of God. He will hear, He will judge, and He will make all the wrongs right. And then, in the end, the righteous will be rewarded and will rejoice.
Even the most casual and uninitiated reader of the Psalms will recognize variety in what he is reading. One need not be a biblical scholar, a literary critic, or a student of ancient near eastern life and literature to be able to detect that the Psalms are of very different types. Yet what is obvious to the untrained eye has required the thoughtful analysis of many highly trained eyes to evaluate.
No serious discussion of the types of Psalms found in the Book of Psalms can proceed without mentioning the name of Hermann Gunkel. Gunkel was a late 19th- and early 20th-century German Old Testament scholar. He did ground-breaking work in analyzing the forms and genres of the Psalms, and most sub-sequent discussions of the Psalms at least begin with his categories.
Certainly other approaches to categori-zing the Psalms exist. We share Gunkel's categories here, not as a dogmatic way of understanding the Psalms, but as a helpful starting place for thinking about the material.
Hymns (e.g., Psalms 8, 29, 33) -- songs of praise to God.
Laments of the Community (e.g., Psalms 44, 74, 79) -- born out of occasions of national calamity and need, pleading for God's intervention.
Royal Psalms (e.g., Psalms 2, 18, 20) -- these songs celebrate Israel's (or, later, Judah's) king and throne; they are also often seen as celebrations of God's reign and anticipations of the Messiah.
Individual Laments (e.g., Psalms 3, 7, 13) -- this is the most common type of Psalm in the book and usually emerge from an experience of personal crisis and need, beseeching God's justice, mercy, and help.
Individual Songs of Thanksgiving (e.g., Psalms 30, 32, 34) -- personal expres-sions of gratitude to God for His mercies, kindnesses, and blessings.