Almost twelve months ago I noted that the uniting of Pss. 1 & 2 is rather deuteronomistic in “Pss. 1 & 2 and the Deuteronomist” and over the next few months I wish to explore this further. Stay tuned!

See John’s take here.

In a sermon at the Eucharist and Baptism in Durham Cathedral on the feast of Pentecost entitled “The Power of Heaven Let Loose on Earth” Bishop N. T. Wright made reference to Psalm 2:

In Psalm 2, to which the early Christians looked back as they pondered the mystery of who Jesus really was, the nations and their rulers make a great rage and fuss, but ‘he who dwells in heaven laughs; the Lord has them in derision.’ Then there comes the enthronement of God’s anointed: ‘Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.’ ‘You are my son’, says God to his anointed and enthroned king, ‘this day I have begotten you; ask of me and I will give you the nations as your inheritance; the uttermost parts of the earth as your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ And the Psalm ends with a call to the rulers of the earth to be wise, to submit to the rule of God’s anointed king. We cannot ponder this too deeply. The one who is enthroned in heaven is the one who is ruling over the earth, to whom all earthly rulers must give account. That is the meaning of the Ascension, and with it the meaning, also, of Pentecost.

Recently I came across a series called Studies in Biblical Literature in which I found some interesting Psalm related books:

The Narrative Effect of Book IV of the Hebrew Psalter by Robert E. Wallace.

Text and Concept Analysis in Royal Psalms by Randy G. Haney.

The Book of Psalms Through the Lens of Intertextuality by Beth LaNeel Tanner.

The King-Priest of Psalm 110 in Hebrews by David R. Anderson.

Whilst many Psalms do not mention covenant (berith) explicitly, the theme of covenant runs through the Psalter seamlessly. The basic covenantal formula is “You shall be my people and I shall be your God” so whenever we find the psalmist saying “my God” or “my King” the reason he can say this is because a covenant relationship exists, so for example in Psalm 3:7 we read “Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God!”

The first three books of the Psalter have Royal Psalms at their seams (Pss. 2, 41, 72 & 89) indicating that these should be understood as a collection. Not that they stood as a collection independently from Books 4 and 5 but that they stand as a unity in and of themselves within the Psalter. Their focus is the Davidic covenant and the (apparent) failure of this covenant vocalised in Ps. 89:

Lord, where is your unfailing love?
You promised it to David with a faithful pledge.
Consider, Lord, how your servants are disgraced!
I carry in my heart the insults of so many people.
Your enemies have mocked me, O Lord;
they mock your anointed king wherever he goes.

This questioning is met by the assertion that Yahweh is king in Pss. 93, 95-99 and Book 4 is replete with assertions that Yahweh is the protector of Israel concluding with a Psalm on creation and two on the exodus, the two great events whereby Yahweh displays his sovereignty and love for Israel.

Book 5 then opens, following upon two exodus psalms, by saying:

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out!
Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
For he has gathered the exiles from many lands,
from east and west,
from north and south.

This answers the question that had been raised by the Babylonian captivity and Psalm 107 is characteristly Deutero-Isaianic.
Books 5 proceeds to unpack this by showing the hope of the Davidic king to be ‘renewed’ and so we find Pss. 110 and 132. The whole tenor of Book 5 seems to be eschatological so linking up with Deutero-Isaiah and Deutero-Zechariah culminating in Ps. 150 where the whole creation unites to praise Yahweh.

Ps. 9:7 “The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.”

Ps. 9:11 “Sing the praises of the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.”

Ps. 10:16 “The LORD is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.”

Ps. 11:4 “The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
his eyes examine them.”

What does the resurrection of Jesus have to do with politics? I believe that Psalm 2 provides us with the answer.

vv. 1-3: A picture of political leaders

Why are the nations so angry?
Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
The kings of the earth prepare for battle;
the rulers plot together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.
“Let us break their chains,” they cry,
“and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

The Psalm begins with the leaders of nations plotting to turn from the rule of God and rule in accordance with their own laws.

vv. 4-6: God’s response

But the one who rules in heaven laughs.
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then in anger he rebukes them,
terrifying them with his fierce fury.
For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne
in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

God’s response is simply to laugh at them declaring that he has established the kingdom of his chosen king and proceeds to explain what this means.

vv. 7-9: The resurrection of Jesus

The king proclaims the Lord’s decree:
“The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son.
Today I have become your Father.
Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance,
the whole earth as your possession.
You will break them with an iron rod
and smash them like clay pots.’”

This king is Jesus who has, by his resurrection (Acts 13:33 & Romans 1:3-5), been enthroned over the whole world, i.e. God has given all the nations to Jesus to rule over them.

vv. 10-12: An exhortation to political leaders

Now then, you kings, act wisely!
Be warned, you rulers of the earth!
Serve the Lord with reverent fear,
and rejoice with trembling.
Submit to God’s royal son, or he will become angry,
and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities—
for his anger flares up in an instant.
But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

This forms the conclusion of the content of the Gospel that the Church is to declare to the powers that be. They are to be exhorted to rule in accordance with the law of God, this will be a rule that is described in Psalm 72:

Help him judge your people in the right way;
let the poor always be treated fairly.
Help him to defend the poor,
to rescue the children of the needy,
and to crush their oppressors.
He will rescue the poor when they cry to him;
he will help the oppressed, who have no one to defend them.
He feels pity for the weak and the needy,
and he will rescue them.
He will redeem them from oppression and violence,
for their lives are precious to him.

So far from the Church having no place in the political life of our nation the resurrection of Jesus demands it!

Over on his blog Bob MacDonald argues that the theme of the Psalter is praise rather than “the ideal Joshua-like warrior and king who through divinely given authority vanquishes his enemies” (R. Cole). Whilst it is undeniable that the Psalter moves from lament to praise, I find the final form to have been canonically shaped with the overarching theme of Yahweh is King, Yahweh will rule through his Davidic king, this king will come and conquer all nations, all nations shall praise Yahweh.

Hence, the enthronement psalms that declare that Yahweh has become king through redeeming his people (the Isaianic second-exodus) brings forth the imperative of “sing a new song” (i.e. convert to Yahwism and take the praise of Yahweh upon your lips) and culminates in Psalm 100 with the evangelistic sermon, “Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth” and “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.” Through this ‘preaching’ nations are conquered and the new heavens and new earth are described in Psalm 150 where the whole creation praises Yahweh, “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.”

Hence the importance to take on board Mitchell’s position: the king comes (Psalm 45), Israel is gathered in (Psalm 50), the nations gather for war (Psalms 73-83), the king is cut off (Psalm 89), rescue by the messianic king (Psalm 110), paeans of messianic victory (Psalms 111-118), and the ascent of all Israel to celebrate the feast of tabernacles (Psalms 120-134).

Of course using Zechariah 14 we should note that all nations shall go to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast of tabernacles,

Then the survivors from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, and to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD Almighty, they will have no rain. If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The LORD will bring on them the plague he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles.

So, yes praise is a dominant theme of the psalter, but this is grounded upon the theme of “the ideal Joshua-like warrior and king who through divinely given authority vanquishes his enemies”. It is because we know that our king will come that we can praise.

If we are asked to sum up the message of the Psalter what should we say? I would echo the following statement by Robert Cole:

Psalms 1 and 2 were not read as two disparate Torah and royal psalms respectively in the final redaction of the Psalter; rather, both depict the ideal Joshua-like warrior and king who through divinely given authority vanquishes his enemies. From this eschatological perspective the Psalter opens and sets the tone for all subsequent psalms.

Cole, R. (2002) “An Integrated Reading of Psalms 1 and 2”, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, pp. 75-88