Otium Sanctum

Psalm 138 Before The Gods I Will Sing To You

Submitted by alesmeralda on Wed, 2006-03-08 19:13.

• The Psalms

There are difficulties in the first part of the text. The first difficulty is introduced by the phrase neged elohim ezmrka "before the gods I will sing to you. (v.1)" The NIV places gods between quotation marks indicating that the psalmist may be referring to false gods. The Septuagint translation has "angels" in this place. I must admit that the image of the psalmist singing to God while the angels look on is quite appropriate. It is the image I adopt for my Tagalog translation of the verse. I think however that the psalm reflects a henotheistic background. Henotheism is the belief that though there are many gods, there is only one God that deserves my worship. In mythopoetry, this is translated into an Olympian canvas with one's god at the head of the other gods. This is the imagery in Psalm 82. Such also is the imagery here.

The second difficulty is found in the last part of verse 2. Below are the ways in which some versions translate it:

RSV/NIV

for you have exalted above all things your name and your word

JB

your promise is even greater than your fame

NLT

because your promises are backed by all the honor of your name

KJV

Thou hast magnified your word above all Thy name

NASB

For you have magnified your word according to all your name

Noticeable is the agreement of the RSV and NIV in partially adopting the rendering proposed long ago that appears now in the footnote of the Biblia Stuttgartensia: "you have exalted over all your heavens your name and your word (promise)". The translation "over all things" is based on the Septuagint's epi pan onoma, "above every name".

The JB translation is faithful to the consonants of the Hebrew, translating kol in an intensive way, and shem as "fame", thus (literally): "Indeed you have totally magnified your word over your fame." Otherwise, one gets a translation that can be confusing: "Indeed you have magnified your word over all your names" This latter is how the translators of the "The Dead Sea Bible" (1999:575) render this verse. Note also the similarity of the JB's rendering with that of the KJV (but remember that the Hebrew shem can mean "name" or "reputation" (fame)).

The NASB is very literal here, but "according to all your name" is awkward. The sense is clear however: God has upholded His Word for God's name is "True" and "Merciful". But wouldn't it also be correct to say, with the translators of the Qumran Psalm 138 that God, by responding to a prayer has made His word of promise more famous than all his attributes (his names)?

In any case my rendering would be "Indeed you've made your word great in accordance with your names (in the sense of attributes)¹. God after all is Mercy, Truth, Help, Holy, Exalted, Salvation -- all of which titles (and some more) are implicitly proclaimed in this psalm.

A third difficulty is presented by how consonant groups are divided. Manuscripts had no spaces between word-groups. This becomes evident in v. 7

NRSV (see also NLT, NIV)

you preserve me against the wrath of my enemies
you stretch out your hands
and your right hand delivers me.

REB (see also NASB, KJV)

you preserve my life
putting forth your power against the wrath of mine enemies
and with your right hand you deliver me

JB

you give me life -- to my enemies' fury
you stretch out your right hand
and you save me

The question is this: Does the consonant group "upon/against the anger of my foes" go with the preceding "you revive me/give me life" or with the following "you extend your hands"? The Septuagint has "against the wrath of my foes you extend your hands". The Vulgate has the same. In any case the sense is still clear: The psalmist is so confident in God's providence that even in the midst of afflictions or even confronted by his enemies, he knows that he'd always be saved by Yahweh.

The psalm can be divided into two parts:vv.1-5 and vv. 6-8. In the first part, the psalmist expresses his gratitude to God for answering his prayer for courage and strength (v.3). Because of the prayer thus granted, even kings will thank the Lord (vv. 4-5). About this, the Pope explains:

The content of this common praise that rises from all the peoples enables one to see already the future Church of pagans, the future universal Church. This content has as its first subject the "glory" and "ways of the Lord" (see verse 5), namely, his plans of salvation and his revelation. Thus one discovers that God is certainly "high" and transcendent, but "cares for the lowly" with affection, while he averts his gaze from the haughty in sign of rejection and judgment (see verse 6).

As Isaiah proclaimed, "For thus says he who is high and exalted, living eternally, whose name is the Holy One: On high I dwell, and in holiness, and with the crushed and dejected in spirit, to revive the spirits of the dejected, to revive the hearts of the crushed" (Isaiah 57:15). God chooses, therefore, to be with the weak, with victims, with the last: This is made known to all kings, so that they will know what their options should be in the governance of nations. Of course, he does not just say it to kings and to all governments, but to all of us, as we also must know which option we must choose: to be on the side of the humble, the last, the poor and the weak².

The psalmist's thanksgiving is directed to two directions: to God as He sits in the council of the gods (v.1) and second, towards His temple, for it is there that His name dwells (v.2). He recognizes that the answer to his prayer is due to God's mercy and truthfulness. With exuberance he declares that God has magnified His word of promise in accordance with all the names by which He is known. The psalm implicitly enumberates these titles.

In the second part of the psalm, the psalmist paints in words the names of God.

Though Exalted above the heavens, Yahweh keeps watch over the little ones, the humble of the earth who are at His feet. On the other hand, those who exalt themselves and who keep themselves far from God are still known by Him. The psalmist here is contrasting God's "seeing the humble" and "knowing the proud." God "sees" the humble at His feet while He "knows" the proud from afar. God's "seeing" also includes the idea of "choice" and "election". The psalmist is here expressing a conviction about the anawim whose only hope is in God and who are in turn loved by God. The haughty and proud who exalt themselves aren't given the same attention, but they are watched nonetheless, for all the harm they can do against the powerless.

God is also called "Help", "Protection", "Savior" and the psalmist illustrates this. Verse 7 echoes Psalm 23:4

Even though I walk
through the valley of the Shadow of Death
I fear no evil for You are with me
Your rod and Your staff
they comfort me.

The confidence of the psalmist extends to situations of life where there is trouble and affliction (The Septuagint has thlipsis, here, which in the NT is the word for "tribulation"). He knows that the hand of God is there to give him life, protect him from his foes, delivering him from evil.

Finally, the psalmist expresses confidence that God will complete all His plans for him as the All-Knowing one, in accord with His mercy. God does all things well as the Creator and the psalmist is convinced that He will complete what He has begun for his sake. He expresses this confidence even as he concludes with a prayer of supplication: "Do not forget the work of Your hands". This is understandable, for the psalmist is aware that he is not a finished story yet.

Pope Benedict XVI explains this confidence thus:

We must be certain that, no matter how heavy and tempestuous the trials are that await us, we will never be abandoned to ourselves, we will never fall from the Lord's hands, those hands that have created us and that now follow us on life's journey. As St. Paul would confess: "The one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it" (Philippians 1:6).

---

1 The rendering for "all Your names" would require an extra tau since "Your names" would be shemotka, following the Qumran consonants as reported in the Qumran Bible. And the LXX is intriguing: what was the text it rendered for "epi pan onoma"? Did the translator have al kol-shem, i.e. without the pronominal suffix "-ka"?. The Vulgate has "Magnificasti super omne nomen tuum eloquium tuum" which reflects the consonantal form of the line as we have it now. Could it be that "kol-shemka" which modern exegetes find problematic wasn't problematic at all in the past?

2 Shades of Augustine here: "Look at how the kings wist to sing along the way, they humbly carry the Lord, not extolling themselves against the Lord, for if they should extol themselves, what follows? Because the Lord is exalted, he looks down at the humble. Do the kings wish to be looked at? Let them be humble!" (Ennarationes 137, 11). For the commentary of the Pope on this psalm, go here.